Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

257
QUESTION 5. If you were to choose between the current licensing
process and the revised process proposed in
legislation submitted by NRC and DOE to Congress,
which process is better in terms of enhancing the
'safety of nuclear power? Which process is
preferable in terms of meaningful public input?
Which process would lead to a better technology, a
more streamlined construction and licensing
time-period, a more reliable power plant, and lower
electricity costs for ratepayers?
ANSWER .
The following answers are based on the provisions of S. 836, the
NRC proposal, without attempting to account for differences in
S. 2073, the DOE proposal. As the Commission indicated in
testimony before the Senate Committe on Energy and Natural
Resources earlier this year, however, the differences between the
NRC and DOE legislative proposals are small. Therefore, they
would not likely affect the answers given below.
The revised licensing process in the proposed legislation would
result in the development of more complete information at an
earlier stage of the licensing process. Standardization would
foster improvements in design, management, and operation of