He’s been critical of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s budget in the past and this week, Sen. Jim Inhofe will have another opportunity to grill the four commissioners about their budget. As chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Inhofe will chair a hearing Wednesday on the NRC’s proposed budget and all four commissioners are expected to be there to answer questions.
The formal hearing is called “Oversight Hearing: The President’s FY 2017 Budget Request for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission” and the hearing will be held to examine just how much the President is requesting.
Eleven months ago, Sen. Inhofe felt that the NRC budget had grown to levels he felt were not justified.
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s workload is decreasing but regulations are increasing. I am going to work with Senate appropriators to adjust the NRC’s budget,” said Sen. Inhofe last May as he noted that the budget had grown 35 percent and the workforce increased 25 percent while the agency had a goal of reducing its budget by 10 percent by 2020. It also planned to cut staff by 9.5 percent by September 2016, going from 3,778 employees to 3,600.
Commission Chairman Stephen Burns will be joined by Commissioners Kirstin Svinicki, William Ostendorff and Jeffrey Baran in Wednesday’s committee hearing.
