The White House has created an internal working group of selected federal agency officials to accelerate an expansion of nuclear power in the country. The panel, which includes officials from a half-dozen cabinet-level agencies, is expected to serve in part as a “sounding board” for nuclear industry officials who have expressed frustration over the slow pace of government licensing approvals for upgrading and expanding the nation’s aging nuclear power plants.
A revival of the U.S. nuclear industry is a priority for the Bush administration, which argues that nuclear offers a reliable no-emissions source of power for meeting the nation’s growing energy needs. The nuclear power industry has mounted an aggressive campaign to generate public and political support for the construction of a new fleet of nuclear plants, the first that would be built in the United States in decades.
The new White House group, which held its first meeting earlier this month, will be headed by the National Economic Council and include officials with DOE, Office of Management & Budget, Council of Economic Advisors, Council for Environmental Quality, Office of Science & Technology, Office of the Vice President, and possibly the Environmental Protection Agency, according to Lisa Epifani, special assistant to the president for economic policy. Epifani announced the creation of the group May 18 in San Francisco at the Nuclear Energy Institute’s annual Nuclear Energy Assembly conference.
It is unclear whether the group will recommend any regulatory and statutory changes to the nuclear licensing process, but nuclear industry officials this week applauded the creation of the group, hoping it will influence the NRC licensing-approval process. “It’s clear it needs to be done,” says one official. “There is no reason why it should take four years to license a nuclear plant that’s going onto an existing nuclear plant site with known technology. It doesn’t make any sense for it to take four years.”
The group was formed to advance nuclear energy as a core piece of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, which was announced earlier this year and seeks a 22 percent increase in funding for clean-energy technology research at DOE. In addition to investments in nuclear energy, the initiative seeks the accelerated development of zero-emission coal-fired plants and solar and wind technologies.
Epifani said the working group met for the first time May 4 to lay out its agenda. It plans to meet every two weeks. The chief purpose of the group is to provide “real-time oversight” of federal efforts to advance nuclear power in the U.S., including licensing approval.
This process continues to come under fire from some in the industry, who say changing rules and the slow pace are major barriers to achieving a true nuclear “renaissance” in the U.S. over the next two decades. Of the nation’s 104 nuclear power plants, 42 have received renewal of their 40-year operating licenses. Thirty-six renewal requests are still pending before the government, according to the nuclear industry.
The industry is also exasperated by continued federal government delays in advancing construction of the Yucca Mountain, NV, nuclear waste repository. This controversial issue is also expected to be a key focus of the working group, and was discussed at the panel’s first meeting earlier this month, Epifani said.
The White House group will serve as a contact point for the nuclear industry to let officials know “what’s working and what’s not,” she added.
Epifani said White House legal counsel and organizers of the working group are being “very careful” to ensure the effort avoids any ethical pitfalls or triggering public disclosure requirements under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). FACA limits the ability of special interest groups to influence public policy behind closed doors. FACA was enacted in 1972 to ensure that Congress and the public are aware of the number, purpose, membership, and activities of advisory committees set up by the executive branch.
Epifani said many of the ground rules and details of the nuclear working group are still being discussed. Communication between the group and congressional members is expected to take place, she said.
The White House wants to avoid the controversy sparked by the formation in 2001 of the National Energy Policy Development Group, which was headed by Vice President Cheney and held closed-door meetings with energy industry groups on developing national policy. The group was eventually upheld in federal court.
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