Vitter, Upton: GAO Report Confirms NRC's Unreliable Cost Analyses62129

U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Representative Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Chairman of the House Energy and Business Committee, announced a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), regarding the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) cost estimating procedures. NRC's cost estimates for a regulation failed the cost-benefit test in a recent case. The GAO report found that NRC staff failed to sufficiently follow the best practices to determine a reliable cost estimate for regulations.

"GAO's report confirms my suspicion that NRC's cost estimates are egregiously off target from the actual costs of implementing their regulations," said Vitter. "Nuclear safety is absolutely a priority, and at the same time, we must ensure that the consumers and businesses who bear the brunt of the regulatory burden are protected from unnecessary costs."

Upton said, "Nuclear power is critical to an all-of-the-above strategy needed to meet our energy and environmental goals. To ensure this important clean energy source remains part of our energy mix, we need to be promoting balanced and effective policies that meaningfully enhance safety, and we cannot do that without accurate cost estimates."

In May 2013, Vitter and Upton requested a report from the GAO on the methods and procedures currently being utilized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to conduct cost analyses when developing and proposing new policies and regulations. Click here to read more.

Click here to read GAO's report, "Nuclear Regulatory Commission: NRC Needs to Enhance Its Cost Estimates by Incorporating More Best Practices."

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