'I Never Ask Incorrect Questions': Diana DeGette Grills Secretary Wright On Cuts To Office Of Nuclear Energy

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During a House Energy Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) questioned Energy Secretary Chris Wright on the Trump administration's plan to bring three reactors to criticality despite a more than 20% cut in funding for the Office of Nuclear Energy

Transcript

00:00General A's time has expired.

00:01The chair now recognizes General A from Colorado's first district.

00:04Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.

00:05Welcome to my fellow Coloradoan.

00:09Mr. Secretary, one of the things that frustrates us on this side of the aisle

00:13is the expression of lofty goals regarding energy expansion and operational efficiency.

00:19You talked about it in your opening statement.

00:22And I want to expand on my colleague's exploration of the issue of nuclear energy with you,

00:28which I know is one of the administration's energy goals.

00:32Is that right?

00:34Yes.

00:35Yeah, absolutely.

00:36And so just to let you know, last Congress, former Chair Jeff Duncan and I

00:40worked with the committee in the Senate to enact into law a bipartisan bill.

00:45I'm sure you know about it, the Advance Act.

00:47It seeks to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy technologies

00:51while ensuring the protection of public health and environment for future generations.

00:55I was really proud to be the co-sponsor of that.

00:58We had to do that bill because the NRC was already severely understaffed and overleveraged.

01:05In 2022, the NRC had shrunk by 23% in just six years,

01:10and over a third of the agency personnel were eligible for retirement as recently as last year.

01:17So this was even before the Trump administration came in.

01:21So I want to talk about some of the cuts the administration is proposing in nuclear energy to the DOE

01:29because what we're worried about, the NRC is already struggling, the DOE is cutting money.

01:35I don't see how we can achieve these lofty goals.

01:38So isn't it true the administration's budget would cut the Office of Nuclear Energy's funding by more than 20%?

01:46I believe it's a little bit less than 20%.

01:49It's actually about 24%.

01:51I may be in error, but I'll check that.

01:56The budget also cuts the Advanced Reactors Demonstration Program funding by half.

02:02Is that correct?

02:04That program is phasing down, so yes.

02:08Okay, so yes.

02:09Since the beginning of the administration, DOE has lost over 20% of its staff

02:14due to terminating probationary employees and employees taking deferred resignations.

02:19Isn't that correct?

02:21Dominantly from deferred resignations.

02:23Yes, it's about 20%, correct?

02:25I don't have final numbers yet.

02:27Okay, I'll guarantee you it is.

02:29And finally, DOE is currently under a hiring freeze right now.

02:34Is that correct?

02:36That is correct.

02:36Okay, now, so I want to talk about the administration's own stated goals for a minute.

02:44The president signed an executive order last month charging DOE with bringing three new reactors

02:51to criticality by July of 2026.

02:55That's just a little over a year.

02:56Is that correct?

02:57That is our goal, absolutely.

03:00Okay, that was what the executive order said.

03:02Is that right?

03:04I don't have it in front of me, but we have an aggressive goal to ramp things up in many years.

03:09I will tell you that I never ask incorrect questions.

03:14I wish I was as flawless as you, but I'll accept that.

03:16I'm not flawless, but I check my facts.

03:19Looking at all reactors built since 1950, are you aware that the average build time of those reactors was 8.1 years?

03:30And dramatically longer these days, but yes.

03:33Yes.

03:33Now, are you aware that the average application review process can take up to 5 years,

03:41and the commission phase typically takes 1 to 2 years?

03:45Yeah, I think you are correctly identifying some problems.

03:49Here's some good news.

03:50I have a minute and 16 seconds left, so I would like you to explain to this committee,

03:58given all the cuts that I just outlined, and given the personnel freezes,

04:05how the administration thinks that it is going to approve and bring online three new reactors to criticality by July next year.

04:14So, number one, there are going to be demonstration reactors at the Idaho National Laboratory.

04:18These are commercial companies that have technologies they want to test.

04:21So, they're going to be demonstration, not actual energy-producing reactors.

04:25That is correct.

04:26Okay.

04:27That's number one.

04:28Go ahead.

04:29And thank you for your leadership on the Advance Act, by the way, Representative.

04:32You're welcome.

04:33And the work on nuclear, it's not directly tied to the number of people.

04:38The NRC has grown hugely over decades and didn't deliver approved reactors.

04:44So, there's difference between throughput and number of people.

04:48I don't disagree with that, sir, which is one reason I did the Advance Act.

04:52But if you're going to have a plan, even to put these three demonstration reactors up by next year,

04:59you have to have a – do you actually have a plan of how you're going to do that between now and then?

05:05And if so, I would like you to send it to me, seeing as my time is up.

05:10Yes, and will do.

05:12I yield back.

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