[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14969]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      BURNS AND BARAN NOMINATIONS

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, yesterday I cast votes against the 
nominations of Stephen Burns and Jeffrey Baran to be Commissioners on 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I hope I am wrong in my conclusion. 
The NRC is an incredibly important body at this time in the history of 
civilian nuclear generation. While low natural gas prices put economic 
strain on our fleet of nuclear generators, the NRC has to carefully 
evaluate the costs and benefits that its regulations provide. In the 
past the NRC has had talented scientists and nuclear experts compose 
the Commission. But for these two vacancies the President has nominated 
lawyers with legal and policy experience. Neither Stephen Burns nor 
Jeffrey Baran has the technical experience, I believe, that will enable 
them to effectively serve on the NRC.
  Moreover, Stephen Burns--during his service with the NRC as General 
Counsel--authored several important legal memoranda that enabled then-
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko to improperly undermine the licensing of 
Yucca Mountain resulting in severe criticism by a Federal court. He 
also provided a legal opinion that improperly advised Chairman Jaczko 
that he, alone, could use emergency powers to conduct the business of 
the Commission in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster. This was not 
a close question, in my opinion. Mr. Burns should not have issued such 
an opinion. While Mr. Burns is familiar with the Commission's 
procedures, he has no technical nuclear power experience and I am not 
convinced that he will resist interpreting the law with a political 
bent. For Mr. Baran--a House Committee staffer who has worked for many 
years for an opponent of Yucca Mountain--there is not evidence that he 
can impartially consider highly political Commission decisions.
  This critically important Commission must be led by persons who are 
able to be competent and independent persons of strength. Reluctantly, 
I have concluded that I must oppose the nominations.

                          ____________________