A Nuclear Regulatory Commission member should not be appointed to a second five-year term because of her record on safety issues, Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Thursday. The senator cited Kristine Svinicki's vote to extend the operating license for the problem-plagued Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor one week after the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The commission acted in haste "without even pausing to consider the safety implications for the Vermont plant which shares the same design as the Fukushima reactors that melted down," Sanders said.

Sanders is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over the five-member commission. He repeatedly has raised concerns about commission foot dragging on safety measures recommended by a panel of experts in the wake of the reactor meltdowns in Japan. "The commissioner has not supported full implementation of all post-Fukushima safety reforms recommended by an NRC task force, and has in fact voted to approve licenses for two new nuclear reactors without requiring them to implement these safety reforms," he said.

The senator also was critical of Svinicki and two other commissioners who voted in secret to recommend that the Department of Justice side with Entergy in a lawsuit against the state of Vermont over continued operation of the Vermont Yankee reactor. "The NRC's job is to ensure safety, not to promote nuclear power," he said.

"Based on my concerns about Commissioner Svinicki's record, I believe we need a new commissioner who is fully committed to implementing safety reforms expeditiously."