US Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner (NRC) Christopher T Hanson has been fired, according to a brief email seen by NPR from White House Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse. The e-mail said only that Hanson’s position as “is terminated effective immediately”.
Hanson said in a statement that he was removed from the position “without cause” and “contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees”. He added that he had devoted his term to “preserving the independence, integrity and bipartisan nature of the world’s gold standard nuclear safety institution…. I continue to have full trust and confidence in their commitment to serve the American people by protecting public health safety and the environment.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told NPR via e-mail: “All organisations are more effective when leaders are rowing in the same direction. President Trump reserves the right to remove employees within his own Executive Branch who exert his executive authority.”
Hanson was nominated to the commission by Trump in 2020. He was appointed chair by President Joe Biden in January 2021 and served in that role until Trump’s inauguration to a second term as president. Trump selected David Wright, a Republican member of the commission, to serve as chair. Hanson continued to serve on the NRC as a commissioner. His term was due to end in 2029.
“As a five-member bipartisan commission, the agency was deliberately structured by Congress to promote independence from outside influences that might turn the focus away from safety,” Hanson said at the agency’s annual regulatory conference in March. “This was a purposeful lesson learned from the days of the Atomic Energy Commission and implemented through the creation of the NRC.”
NRC said it could conduct its work without Hanson. “The NRC has functioned in the past with fewer than five commissioners and will continue to do so,” it said in a statement.
His removal sparked criticism. “I think that this coupled with the other attacks by the administration on the independence of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission could have serious implications for nuclear safety,” said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It’s critical that the NRC make its judgements about protecting health and safety without regard for the financial health of the nuclear industry.”
He added: “The loss of such a highly knowledgeable and fair-minded individual will imperil the public from coast to coast as the White House continues to compromise the safety and security of the U.S. nuclear fleet.”
New Jersey Representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called Hanson’s firing illegal and an to undermine independent agencies and consolidate power in the White House. “Congress explicitly created the NRC as an independent agency, insulated from the whims of any president, knowing that was the only way to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the American people.”
