[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 96 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S2579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF CHRISTOPHER HANSON

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to support the 
confirmation of Christopher Hanson to be a Commissioner at the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
  Chris has diligently served the Senate and the people of California 
over the last 6 years as a key member of the Senate Energy and Water 
Development Appropriations Subcommittee staff. During that time, he has 
advised me and the full Senate Appropriations Committee on issues 
surrounding the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including its budget, 
its oversight of nuclear reactor decommissioning at San Onofre in 
California, and issues related to proposed new reactor technologies.
  He has also overseen nuclear energy research and development, 
radioactive waste cleanup, nuclear weapons, nonproliferation, and naval 
reactor programs.
  Prior to coming to the Senate, Chris worked at the Department of 
Energy, where he advised the Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy and 
worked on appropriations issues for then-Secretary Steven Chu.
  In all, Chris has 25 years of experience working on the very issues 
at the heart of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's mandate.
  As the Senate knows, the members and staff of the Energy and Water 
Appropriations Subcommittee work seamlessly together in order to 
produce a bipartisan bill each year. Chris's expertise, his 
professionalism, and his quiet, good nature are instrumental in that 
effort. He is respected and appreciated by Members on both sides of the 
aisle.
  It is not surprising, therefore, that Senator Alexander, our 
subcommittee chairman, sent a letter to the Environmental and Public 
Works Committee in support of Chris' nomination, which I very much 
appreciate. Senator Alexander and I have spoken about how much the 
subcommittee will miss Chris, but we are happy for him, and we look 
forward to working with Chris in his new role.
  I have every confidence that Chris will give his usual thoughtfulness 
and insight to the issues that come before the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission. And I know the other Commissioners will find him to be a 
joy to work with.
  I thank Chris for his dedicated service to the people of California, 
to the Senate Appropriations Committee, and to the U.S. Senate, and I 
look forward to his success in his new role and continuing to serve the 
country with all the expertise and professionalism he has shown us 
these past 6 years.
  Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the nomination of 
David Wright to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 5 
more years. Amidst a global pandemic that has caused the greatest 
public health crisis in a century and the worst economic catastrophe 
since the Great Depression, we are spending our time in the United 
States voting on a nominee for the NRC who will likely take actions 
that put the lives and livelihoods of Nevadans at even further risk.
  David Wright has a long history of working to advance the failed and 
fiscally irresponsible proposal to dump our Nation's nuclear waste at 
the Yucca Mountain site. In his previous work as chairman of the Public 
Service Commission of South Carolina, he supported continuing licensing 
of Yucca Mountain. Additionally, in 2005 he founded the Yucca Mountain 
Task Force and criticized local opposition to the project, calling it 
``myopic resistance.'' That is how he characterizes the people of 
Nevada fighting back against the injustice of having no say in whether 
or not we are to become the Nation's nuclear dumping ground.
  For these reasons, in August 2018, the State of Nevada filed a formal 
petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
Circuit challenging now-Commissioner Wright's refusal to disqualify 
himself from participating in NRC Yucca Mountain licensing decisions. 
According to the State of Nevada at the time, Wright's participation in 
any licensing decisions would violate Nevada's constitutional right to 
unbiased decision makers at the NRC.
  Numerous studies have since shown that Yucca Mountain, only 90 miles 
from Las Vegas, is a physically unsuitable site that would threaten the 
health and safety of Nevadans and would take half a century to 
complete. Notably, Yucca Mountain is located above an aquifer in an 
area of moderate to high seismic activity and is subject to oxidizing 
and corrosive elements. In fact, just this week, only days before we 
have been asked to vote on this pro-Yucca nominee, two earthquakes--one 
of which was of 6.5 magnitude--struck Nevada less than 150 miles from 
Yucca Mountain and less than a dozen miles from one of the proposed 
transportation routes for shipping nuclear waste to Yucca. In addition 
to threatening the health and safety of Nevadans, transporting all of 
our Nation's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain would threaten our 
national security, as the site is directly adjacent to the Nevada Test 
and Training Range, NTTR, the largest air and ground military training 
space in the contiguous United States. Establishing a nuclear waste 
repository in such close proximity to NTTR could therefore directly 
jeopardize the readiness of our Air Force.
  Most importantly, Nevadans have never consented to storing other 
States' waste at Yucca Mountain. With thousands of Nevadans dying of 
COVID-19 and jobless claims in the State at unprecedented levels, 
today, among the numerous actions this Senate could have chosen to 
take, we are voting on the confirmation of an individual who wants to 
add insult to injury by proceeding with an ill-advised plan for nuclear 
waste storage that ignores the voices of Nevadans.
  I will not stand for this. I, therefore, cast my vote against the 
nomination of David Wright to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the 
nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate; that if 
confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made laid upon the 
table, and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's 
action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Hanson and 
Wright nominations en bloc?
  The nominations were confirmed.

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