Senate Energy Committee Member Meeting on Fukushima

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the one that has jurisdiction over both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy, held a Member Meeting to hear updates from both agencies regarding the ongoing nuclear messiness at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.  You will recall that three of the six units at the plant were damaged following a tsunami on March 11th which, in turn, was caused by a massive 9.0 earthquake.  The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is still struggling to get the situation under control.

The two panels, convened today on the Hill, had the following witnesses:
Panel 1
Dr. Peter Lyons – Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
Mr. Bill Borchardt, Executive Director for Operations, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Panel 2
Mr. David Lochbaum – Director, Nuclear Power Project, Union of Concerned Scientists
Mr. Anthony R. Pietrangelo – Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, Nuclear Energy Institute

Testimony and an archive of the webcast can be found here:

http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=e8a6b69c-9a06-a2e4-eb1e-2ed705f85bd6