NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BUDGET GRECORD ONLY: OVERSIGHT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS ONE HUNDREDTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BUDGET REQUEST FOR FISCAL HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC FEBRUARY 5, 1987 Serial No. 100-24 Printed for the use of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs JONSSO STANFORD UNIVERSIT NOV 1988 83-277 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1988 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MORRIS K. UDALL, Arizona, Chairman GEORGE MILLER, California JAMES MCCLURE CLARKE, North Carolina JOHN LEWIS, Georgia BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado PETER DEFAZIO, Oregon DON YOUNG, Alaska, Ranking Republican Member MANUEL LUJAN, JR., New Mexico ROBERT J. LAGOMARSINO, California RON MARLENEE, Montana DICK CHENEY, Wyoming CHARLES PASHAYAN, JR., California LARRY CRAIG, Idaho DENNY SMITH, Oregon JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah BILL EMERSON, Missouri BARBARA F. VUCANOVICH, Nevada BEN BLAZ, Guam JOHN J. RHODES III, Arizona ELTON GALLEGLY, California RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana STANLEY SCOVILLE, Staff Director and Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT MORRIS K. UDALL, Arizona, Chairman GEORGE MILLER, California JAMES MCCLURE CLARKE, North Carolina MANUAL LUJAN, JR., New Mexico RON MARLENEE, Montana CHARLES PASHAYAN, JR., California LARRY CRAIG, Idaho BARBARA F. VUCANOVICH, Nevada JOHN J. RHODES III, Arizona SAM E. FOWLER, Counsel ELIZABETH MCMILLAN, Clerk TIMOTHY W. GLIDDEN, Minority Legislative Counsel NOTE: The first listed minority member is counterpart to the subcommittee chairman. (II) CONTENTS Additional correspondence were also received from: Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment: 1. Letter from Chairman Udall to NRC Chairman Zech, Jr., January 20, 1987, transmitting questions to be responded to in anticipation of 3. Letter from Chairman Udall to NRC Chairman Zech, Jr., February 17, 1987, transmitting followup questions relating to the budget hearing 4. Letter from NRC Chairman Zech, Jr. to Chairman Udall, April 8, 1987, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Letter from Hon. Victor Stello, Jr., Executive Director for Operations to Chairman Udall, February 18, 1987, enclosing a complete list of all final rulemaking actions taken by the NRC 194 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BUDGET REQUEST FOR FISCAL YEAR 1988 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1987 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS, The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Morris K. Udall (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The subcommittee will be in session. This is the first meeting of the "congregation" this year-undoubtly not the last-but we gather together today to address matters pertinent to the NRC budget request for fiscal year 1988. The Commission has submitted a 1988 budget of almost $428 million, which represents about a 4-percent increase over 1987. The largest chunk of the request-almost $120 million-is for NRC's research program. I want to look closely at this program to ensure that these research dollars are being well spent. I would especially like to hear the Commissioners' response to the criticism of NRC's current research program outlined in the recent National Research Council study on nuclear safety research. I would also like to discuss the Commission's concern that cuts in the research program may compromise plant safety. Chairman Zech indicated in his prepared testimony that lack of information from safety research could force shutdowns of operating plants or delay licensing others. I would hope the chairman will be specific as to his concerns and tell us what the problems are and which reactors might be impacted. In the context of the 1988 budget, I would also like to discuss the concept of user fees in the hope that we might come up with a fair and practical method of imposing and collecting such fees. I note that the Commission has changed its position on how to calculate these fees since last July. At that time the Commission urged Congress to adopt a statutory, uniform fee based on plant capacity. Now I understand the Commission is recommending that it be allowed to set the amount of the fee based upon the amount of resources the Commission expends on each plant. Along these same lines I also want to explore the possibility of recouping at least part of the NRC's waste program expenses from the Nuclear Waste Fund as Commissioner Asselstine proposed last year. In addition to looking at the budget, I hope we might examine some of the regulatory issues of current concern, including the (1) |