H.R. 3132, the “NRC Reorganization Plan Codification and Complements Act”

After the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979, Congress and the Carter Administration developed and approved the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980, which established the basic responsibilities and authorities of the Chairman and Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  The Reorganization Plan explicitly vests the Chairman with the authority to respond to a nuclear emergency.

Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) introduced H.R. 3132 on September 18, 2013. The bill rescinds the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980 and enacts a significantly modified version of the Plan along with several additional provisions.  The bill erodes the Chairman’s authority in a nuclear emergency.  Under the bill, the NRC Chairman could not exercise any emergency authority to respond to a domestic nuclear crisis until the Chairman declared an emergency and notified the other four Commissioners, two Congressional committees, and the general public.  In addition, the bill requires the Chairman to consult with the four other Commissioners before taking emergency action, provide the Commissioners with complete access to information and staff in the midst of an emergency, and even to explicitly include the Commissioners in decision-making when they believe that emergency decisions would have broader policy ramifications in the future. This could create confusion and distraction in a nuclear crisis.

The bill includes several other unnecessary or potentially counterproductive changes to NRC procedures that could undermine the current collegiality among the Commissioners.