the n.r.c. released a report on the industry and suggested improvements for safety and plant preparedness but the industry is concerned about what those recommendations might cost. some environmental groups do not believe any steps could make nuclear power safe enough. it is with this news backdrop we are pleased to have our guest speaker. president obama appointed our guest head of the n.r.c., a doctorate in psysi crmp s and a congressional science fellow. his next job was science adviser to senate majority leader of harry reid in nevada. senator reid says he supports building new plants but opposes storing nuclear waste in his state. we are pleased to have him address this topic and i believe he is our first guest speaker who i now learned has a spouse of the national press club and works for c-span. give a warm welcome to n.r.c. chairman gregory jaczko. [applause] >> i should say after that introduction, at least my wife will be happy with whatever i say today. i want to thank you for that int

the n.r.c. confirmed that diablo canyon is one of the highest risk -- power plants in the country. we can't say for certain whether an earthquake along the shoreline fault or others nearby would result in a knew leer accident. my amendment only affects the diablo canyon power plant, it won't shut down the power plant or even prevent pg&e from gaining new operating licenses to run diablo canyon in the future. instead, it would simply ensure the n.r.c. gets answers to the unstudied and unresolved seismic questions before it issues the draft environmental report. my amendment is also consistent with pg&e's own request that the n.r.c. delay the final issuance of the plant's license renewal until seismic research in the area is completed. the n.r.c. made it clear it will review those findings before making a decision on whether to grant renewed operating licensers in plant to operate. moreover, last month, pg&e asked the california public utilities commission to suspend proceedings associated with lic

in the n.r.c. is a holding their annual meeting with the support of the local authorities here on the other hand and mark. the last. thing. we're here in is staying in town a cinema for the annual gathering of the veterans of the staying in waffen s.s. now the event has attracted widespread criticism of the is being seen to glorify nazi is your theory. here is saying you're being heavily criticized for being seen not only to condone this type of event but the having made it increasingly difficult over the years for those who oppose this to come and has to rally now the anti fascist movements hold a rally very nearby at the same time as this is going on and as we said in recent years we've seen people coming from latvia from the way in year from finland they've been detained at the borders and not being able to enter and take part again today coming in a lot of the people who are involved in the anti fascist movement rally that's happening nearby have been stopped and questioned by police we know a t

according to the n.r.c.'s very recent task force 90-day report, which examined the safety of nuclear power plants, the hardened vents are not universally installed on the mark 2 containments inside the united states. the task force noted further that because the mark 2 containments are only 25% larger than the volume of the mark 1, it's conceivable that the mark 2 containments under a similar situation would suffer the same consequences as units 1-4 at fukushima. we should install hardened vents on all mark 2 containment reactors and not allow any more time to pass before making deliberate improvements to address these safety concerns. now, as we press forward with nuclear power generation, i believe that the n.r.c. should also update our emergency planning zones. this is the evacuation zone that's preplanned around every nuclear power plant. it seems prudent now in the light of the experience at fukushima that we should expand the emergency planning zone to the japanese radius of 20 kilometers, or 12.5 miles

including $35 million to keep yucca mountain going and language to ensure the political appointees at the n.r.c. commission can no longer inappropriately use their insider positions. it also includes new reporting requirements so the administration must track and show that the investments we make in science and technology are effective use of taxpayer dollars. mr. chairman, i take seriously our responsibility to rein in federal spending and fiscal year 2012 -- in fiscal year 2012. the bill is premised upon hard questions and focused cuts where answers didn't hold up to scrutiny. this is a sort of analysis that will get our house in order. this bill deserves our members' support and i look forward to an open and full process and discussion and i thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from indiana, mrs. visclosky, is recognized. mr. visclosky: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. visclosky: mr. chairman, i would like to express my appreciation to c

we had proceeded to contact the n.r.c. at 12:19. when we tallly pinpointed the issue as was mentioned, they had come and visited our control center and gone through the log of the various steps that were taken. when the valves were closed. but that's the actual details of what the actual process detailed. >> thank you. we're obviously seeing reports of plenty of wildlife impact. but apart from direct wildlife impact, there clearly must have been impacts to soil and plants on the banks of the river that will impact wildlife including fifth. what are you doing to address that? >> we are working closely with the unified command, of course led by the e.p.a. working with the state and responsible parties. each day we go out and survey the river. using area flights as well as walking the river. that data is then brought back on a daily basis and the plan is amended to identify where you're going to send resources out the next day to do the clean-up work. as was mentioned earlier, we have over 500 people now out on the banks of the river do

the n.r.c. are only talking about delaying the final decision. the licensing process is still going forward, despite the fact that the decisions to be made about the licensing of the plant would be affected by what the seismic studies tell us. the cart is clearly being put before the horse here my constituents deserve answers to questions about the ability of the plant to withstand an earthquake and nuclear accident at the same time and how long the plant could be self-sustaining in the event of such taj. it is particular lippert innocent given that in march, the n.i.c. confirmed that diablo canyon is one of two plants in the highest risk seismic air dwhreefs country i am, to put it lightly, concerned that they have not take then seismic risks seriously enough. it has failed to support the recommendations from a 2008 commission report delineating that more information is needed to determine the true seismic risk at diablo canyon. just yesterday, an n.r.c. task force review of the japanese reactor

the n.r.c.'s review which was virtually complete when the administration pulled the plug apparently shows that the site can safely store the fuel for thousands and thousands of years if that were necessary. even the face of in the administration hasn't changed its position. we can only keep the pressure on and trust that good policy and good science will eventually overcome bad politics. we need to finish the yucca mountain license application so that we as a nation can take into account all of the facts as we determine the future of nuclear energy in this country. i want to thank the gentleman, both mr. inslee and mr. shimkus, members of the authorizing committee and may i say i had an opportunity to attend mr. shimkus' subcommittee as an observer and i may say i was impressed by how you questioned the n.r.c. commissioners and particularly the chairman on some of the very questions you and other members have raised and i want to commend you for your vigor and for your astuteness and for coming t