Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - March 28, 2007)
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By Mr. SANDERS:
S. 1008. A bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to improve and strengthen the safety inspection process of nuclear facilities; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation that would provide greater assurance to the citizens of our Nation that their elected officials will do everything within their power to provide the highest levels of safety at nuclear facilities. The bill does this by allowing certain State officials to request that the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conduct an independent safety assessment at key times in the life of a reactor. I ask that the full text of the bill be printed in the Record.
Too often we have found that the NRC has been uninterested in the legitimate concerns of national and State legislators who have requested greater safety oversight, especially at problem-plagued nuclear plants. In some instances, safety violations of the highest level have been allowed to continue, undetected, for years before discovery. Citizens deserve to have some greater assurance that when a plant has reached what was the intended end of its useful life and has applied for a license extension--another few decades of operating life--or when a plant seeks an ``uprate''--an increase in power output from what it was permitted previously--or when there have been significant safety problems, that a facility will get a thorough review to protect the public safety. Without this bill, the public will continue to worry.
Under the legislation I am introducing, State officials would be able to request that a special Independent Safety Assessment Team be assembled to thoroughly review the safety of plants that meet the criteria listed in
this bill. The team would be composed of individuals selected by the NRC and the requesting Governor or State public utilities commission to insure greater balance and independence on the Team. The Team's report would make recommendations on safety features that should be improved before additional licensing requests and other operational matters are favorably acted upon.
My legislation offers a simple and fair solution to a technical problem faced by citizens across the Nation and I encourage my colleagues to join me to ensure greater safety at our nuclear facilities.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1008
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