National Defense Authorization Act Threatens to Roll Back Safety Standards at Nuclear Sites
This week, the full House will debate two important amendments to last week’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) related to nuclear safety: one offered by Representatives Miller (CA), Visclosky (IN), and Sanchez (CA) to strike NDAA provisions that would erode safety standards and weaken oversight, and another offered by Rep. Smith (WA) that would strike provisions removing nuclear weapons from the Secretary of Energy’s jurisdiction.
The Miller et al. amendment would protect the “adequate protection standard” that has guided nuclear safety oversight for more than a quarter century, ensure that nuclear oversight agencies retain a “transactional” oversight model, and prevent new layers of bureaucracy from undermining technical experts. The Smith amendment would prevent jurisdictional overreach by the House Armed Services Committee, as power to determine the Secretary of Energy’s jurisdiction rests with the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Right now nuclear oversight is “transactional”, meaning that it prescribes best practices for contractors to follow in the hopes of avoiding an accident. “Performance-based” oversight – the standard that the NDAA would dictate – is the style used by the National Transportation Safety Board, which would only investigate an airline’s safety procedures based on an airline’s performance after a plane crash.
Katherine Fuchs, Program Director for the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) said “The results of the U.S. nuclear complex regulating itself are evident in the billions of dollars that the federal government has paid in compensation to sick nuclear workers and contaminated communities. The current NDAA’s shift to contractor self-regulation puts the fox in charge of the henhouse.”
“The decades that communities surrounding the U.S. nuclear complex struggled for justice, compensation, and hope for future generations must not be diminished by this Congress. The Miller and Smith amendments would ensure that others don’t have to struggle the way my family has.” said ANA Board member Sharon Cowdrey. Ms. Cowdrey is the president of Miamisburg Environmental Safety & Health and worked for cleanup at the Mound Site, part of NDAA author Rep. Mike Turner’s home district, where nuclear weapons components were manufactured.
ANA is a national network of organizations living in the shadows of the nuclear weapons complex. ANA and 32 other organizations recently sent a letter to House members requesting support for the amendments to protect safety standards on strengthen oversight of nuclear weapons facilities.
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