Republican lawmakers want investigation of Markey investigation into NRC’s Fukushima failures; Request undermines minority’s oversight ability, creates chilling effect on Energy and Commerce Committee
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republican lawmakers’ attention would be better focused on the failure to promptly implement expert nuclear safety recommendations made by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Near-Term Task Force on Fukushima than on launching a Congressional investigation of a Congressional investigation of nuclear safety, wrote Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) in a letter to four Chairmen on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In response to a December 15 letter from Reps. Fred Upton, Cliff Stearns, Ed Whitfield, and John Shimkus to the NRC that asked the Commissioner to justify sending documents to Rep. Markey without also informing them, Markey expressed strong concerns that the requests from the Republican lawmakers could undermine the minority’s ability to conduct oversight of and investigations into agencies within its jurisdiction.
“It seems that Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee would rather investigate my investigation into how the four NRC Commissioners have called for endless studies of the post-Fukushima study, instead of actually examining the state of nuclear reactor safety in the first place,” said Rep. Markey, top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
A copy of the letter to the Energy and Commerce Committee Chairmen can be found HERE .
“I am equally concerned about the apparent disregard for the rights of members of the minority on the Committee that is evidenced by your letter,” writes Rep. Markey in his letter to Reps. Upton, Stearns, Whitfield, and Shimkus. “Indeed, I believe your request could have a chilling effect on and cause serious damage to the ability of members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and by precedent, to all members of Congress in the minority, to conduct effective oversight of the agencies within its jurisdiction.”
On December 9, Rep. Markey released the report “Regulatory Meltdown ”, which documents how NRC Commissioners William Magwood, Kristine Svinicki, William Ostendorff and George Apostolakis sought to impede the NRC response to the Fukushima meltdowns by delaying the public release of and action on the recommendations made by the NRC's Near-Term Task Force on Fukushima.
On December 15, the four Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans sent a letter to the NRC requesting 1) all the materials provided by the five Commissioners and the NRC Office of the Secretary related to the Fukushima meltdowns that were provided to Rep. Markey, 2) all documents related to the NRC’s response to the press surrounding the October 13, 2011 correspondence between some NRC Commissioners and the White House and the Congressional hearings of December 14 and 15, and 3) an explanation as to why the NRC did not formally notify the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee of the release of “sensitive Commission voting records” to Rep. Markey.
Rep. Markey also sent a letter to the NRC requesting copies of any materials provided to the four Chairman that he has not yet received and asked for confirmation of the Commission’s general practice to “provide sensitive documents requested by Members of its Congressional Oversight Committees.”
A copy of Rep. Markey’s letter to the NRC can be found HERE .
After the Near Term Task Force released its report in July, Rep. Markey called for the rapid adoption of all recommendations, and sent letters criticizing the proposals to delay even their consideration that were put forward by Commissioners Svinicki, Magwood and Ostendorff.
Rep. Markey also introduced legislation to overhaul nuclear safety. The Nuclear Power Plant Safety Act of 2011 will impose a moratorium on all new nuclear reactor licenses or license extensions until new safety requirements are in place that reflect the lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster.
Rep. Markey’s office also released the report, “Fukushima Fallout: Regulator Loopholes at U.S. Nuclear Plants ”, detailing several concerns about NRC safety regulations following the Fukushima crisis.
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