Pete Sessions: “Yesterday I cast votes against the nominations of Stephen Burns and Jeffrey Baran to be Commissioners on the Nuclear…”

“Yesterday I cast votes against the nominations of Stephen Burns and Jeffrey Baran to be Commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I hope I am wrong in my conclusion. The NRC is an incredibly important body at this time in the history of civilian nuclear generation. While low natural gas prices puts economic strain on our fleet of nuclear generators, the NRC has to carefully evaluate the costs and benefits that its regulations provide. In the past the NRC has had talented scientists and nuclear experts compose the Commission. But for these two vacancies the President has nominated lawyers with legal and policy experience. Neither Stephen Burns nor Jeffrey Baran has the technical experience, I believe, that will enable them to effectively serve on the NRC. Moreover, Stephen Burns--during his service with the NRC as General Counsel--authored several important legal memoranda that enabled then- NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko to improperly undermine the licensing of Yucca Mountain resulting in severe criticism by a Federal court. He also provided a legal opinion that improperly advised Chairman Jaczko that he, alone, could use emergency powers to conduct the business of the Commission in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster. This was not a close question, in my opinion. Mr. Burns should not have issued such an opinion. While Mr.…”