By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
As Nuclear Energy sits at the forefront of public attention in the Castle Country, Sen. John Curtis is pushing in Washington, D.C., for regulatory certainty surrounding the industry.
During a Senate hearing for David A. Wright to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Sen. Curtis grilled the nominee on how he envisions the NRC working with entities in Utah to make the nuclear dream a reality.
Wright, who has been serving as a commissioner of the NRC since 2018, was nominated by President Donald Trump to continue his service on the commission as chairman on Jan. 20, 2025.
“I know that there have been some issues there with UAMPS and everything, but, you know, we’re a safety regulator, right? And so we, utilities and other nuclear companies out there, companies that have nuclear, they make decisions on their energy assets, whether it’s nuclear, gas or anything else. They make that in a boardroom. And we’re not a part of that financial discussion,” said Wright.
He continued, “But what we are committed to as a safety regulator is to get to collaborate with the states, like Utah, to have discussions early on, things that they are looking at, maybe technologies they’re looking at, or other permits that they’re, like it’s early site permits or things like that. And we commit to getting it done efficiently. We have been getting our house in order to do that. And that’s the lesson learned that we took from the early work with new scale.”
Curtis also questioned Wright on how he and the NRC could assist businesses and municipalities in navigating the licensing process for these technologies. “First off, we have to be transparent about everything, and we’ve got to provide clarity along the way. We need to be sure that we’re truly communicating what needs to be done and we’re not playing hide the rock with the people who come before us,” explained Wright.
“Although we are “not supposed to be consultants or to be promoters,” you know we do promote nuclear safety. That’s one thing we do. And if we know the answer to what an applicant might need to get a decision reached by us, we’ve got to share that information with them.”
The final question from Curtis was how Wright’s experience, both professionally and personally, could help him lead the NRC. “I’m a colon cancer survivor. As is my daughter. And having to fight that battle with both of us, for both of us, and as a dad and supporter of a daughter, you learn a lot about metal and about what it, you know, what you’re made of,” said Wright. “Everything I learned about leadership came from either cancer, baseball, or serving as mayor of a small town. And in the end, it’s about people. It’s just about people and leading people.”