PE Licensing and Nuclear Energy
NSPE Executive Director Larry Jacobson presented the below statement on August 31 to the Reactor and Fuel Cycle Technology Subcommittee of the Department of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. President Obama directed Energy Secretary Steven Chu to establish the commission to conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. The commission will provide advice and make recommendations on issues including alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defense spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste.
NSPE Comments to the Blue Ribbon Commission
The National Society of Professional Engineers is grateful for the opportunity to comment before the Blue Ribbon Commission’s Reactor and Fuel Cycle Technology Subcommittee. NSPE supports investment in nuclear energy technology. Green and renewable, nuclear power will be an essential component to our energy future.
The nuclear energy industry has an excellent safety record, thanks in part to strict regulation, comprehensive safety planning, and rigorous training and qualification standards for employees. Nuclear power’s great potential, however, is accompanied by the risk of disaster. Though unlikely, an accident at a nuclear facility would cause serious harm to people, their livelihoods, and the environment.
NSPE believes that the nuclear energy industry should require a licensed professional engineer to supervise all engineering design, operations, and maintenance decisions. Licensure serves to maintain an acceptable standard of competence for the protection of the public’s health and safety. When professional engineers make decisions, they are taking full, personal responsibility for those decisions. NSPE recommends that professional engineering services be used to help maintain the nuclear energy industry’s strong safety record and minimize the potential for disaster.