Vitter Leads Senators, Caution NRC on Hasty Rule Implementation

The ranking Republican member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee issued the following news release:
Senator David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, along with six other Senators urged Chairman Allison Macfarlane of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to carefully approach regulatory changes before implementing costly requirements.
"It is hugely important for nuclear power plants in the United States to proceed with high safety standards, but the NRC must move forward having considered all consequences, including the cost-benefit analysis," said Vitter. "It's not the time to be rash with hasty new rules, especially when the NRC has added forty-plus 'safety enhancements' to the Tier 1 requirements that have not been carefully reviewed."
The NRC has been re-evaluating the United States' approach to safety measures for nuclear power plants since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. The Senators note in the letter that the official report of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident states that the accident may have been preventable had Japan implemented certain safety standards already in place in the United States.
The Senators signing the letter are: David Vitter (R-La.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
Text of the letter is below. http://www.utilityproducts.com/news/2013/02/05/vitter-leads-senators-caution-nrc-on-hasty-rule-implementation.html