STATEMENT OF NILS J. DIAZ
before the
Committee on Environment
and Public Works
United States Senate
September 21, 2001
Mr. Chairman, members of
the Committee:
It is a pleasure to appear
before you today. I am honored by
President Bush=s nomination and by the Senate=s consideration of my
qualifications for a second term as Commissioner, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC). I also appreciate
that this complex and thorough process was started and continues with
bipartisan support.
You may be aware of my
credentials from previous appearances before you, so rather than take your
time, I will briefly state that I am a nuclear scientist and engineer by
profession. Before coming to the NRC in
1996, I was Professor of Nuclear Engineering Sciences at the University of
Florida, Director of the Innovative Nuclear Space Power Institute (INSPI) - a
national consortium of industries, universities and national laboratories - and
President and Principal Engineer of Florida Nuclear Associates, Inc. My experience includes thirty-four years designing, researching, teaching,
training, evaluating and managing the engineering, technology and economics of
the peaceful uses of atomic energy. I
have been formally trained in and have practiced nuclear medicine in both
academic and clinical environments and have also owned and operated a few small
businesses.
To the above, I have added
five years of regulatory experience, participating in the exercise and
direction of the Commission=s licensing and regulatory functions. The mission of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission is to ensure adequate protection of the public health and safety,
the common defense and security, and the environment in the use of nuclear
materials in the United States of America.
This mission is carried out by an exclusively regulatory mandate. If confirmed, I pledge to continue to carry
out this mandate and to work for a consistently more effective and efficient
regulatory framework. There is no doubt
that the people of the United States want and must benefit from effective
regulatory operations that assure safe
nuclear power, radiological and medical industry activities.
The issue of effective
regulation touches every American in our increasingly technological
society. The effects of a
safety-focused, efficient NRC regulatory framework are applicable across the
board, to nuclear power reactors, to fuel manufacturing facilities, to nuclear
medicine and the radiological industry, to the safe handling, transportation
and storage of radioactive wastes, and to the NRC itself.
During my first term as
Commissioner, many of NRC=s activities were centered on the safe operation and license renewal of existing nuclear
power plants. The NRC established
initiatives to increasingly focus the prescriptive, deterministic regulatory
regime on the most safety-significant matters, employing a more risk-informed
and performance-based approach. By
focusing on the most safety-significant matters, through a risk-informed
approach, the NRC has developed a more effective licensing, inspection and
enforcement process. Now, it appears
that the challenge of new power reactor applications could be added to the
Commission=s deliberations. I am prepared to face both the existing and
the new challenges with the requisite accountability and transparency.
The Commission is also
responsible for assuring that the people of the United States, and the Congress
as their representatives, are fully informed of how its responsibilities are
discharged, and for maintaining its decision-making process fully accessible to
all concerns. I have been, and will
continue to be, especially attentive to this responsibility.
I would be honored by the
opportunity to help the Commission address these issues in a manner consistent
with the responsibilities assigned by the Congress to the agency. If confirmed, I will assume the Office of
Commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission fully cognizant of these
obligations and pledging to discharge them to the best of my ability.
Mr. Chairman, Senators,
thank you. I am prepared to answer any
questions that the Committee might have.