{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/curtis-calls-for-regulatory-certainty-to-promote-clean-nuclear-energy-in-utah", "CURTIS CALLS FOR REGULATORY CERTAINTY TO PROMOTE CLEAN NUCLEAR ENERGY IN UTAH", "2025-06-25", "2025", "2025-06", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "John R. Curtis", "C001114", "www.curtis.senate.gov", "curtis", "https://www.curtis.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "The full transcript of the exchange is below and the video file can be downloaded here.\n\nSenator Curtis: Thank you. And to the senior Senator from California, I think I heard you say California had a lot of faults.\n\nSenator Padilla: Earthquake faults, to be precise.\n\nCurtis: Just clarifying. Actually, Senator, really appreciate the work we\u2019ve had together on Fix Our Forests [Act] and appreciate the good work that you\u2019re doing.\n\nMiss Turner and Mayor Wright, may I use that term? I continue to believe that mayor is one of the best public positions that we can hold. As mayors, you have to be nimble. You have to deliver results. You have pragmatic accountability and, it\u2019s my experience that those are all important things in this current role that you\u2019re approaching as well. And I appreciate your service there. We\u2019ve had a conversation to talk about Utah and as you know, Utah aspires to be a centerpiece in nuclear as we move forward. It\u2019s just a great solution to clean baseload. And as you\u2019re aware, we\u2019ve had some attempts, not always successful. And I\u2019m curious how the NRC can work with our entities in the state on paths forward and specifically lessons learned, so that we can make this a reality in Utah.\n\nDavid A. Wright: So first off, once a mayor, always a mayor. All right, Mayor? So, you know, I know that there have been some issues there with UAMPS and everything, but, you know, we\u2019re a safety regulator, right? And so we, utilities and other nuclear companies out there, companies that have nuclear, they make decisions on their energy assets, whether it\u2019s nuclear, gas or anything else. They make that in a boardroom. And we\u2019re not a part of that financial discussion.\n\nBut what we are committed to as a safety regulator is to get to collaborate with the states, like Utah, to have discussions early on, things that they are looking at, maybe technologies they\u2019re looking at, or other permits that they\u2019re, like it\u2019s early site permits or things like that. And we commit to getting it done efficiently. We have been getting our house in order to do that. And that\u2019s the lesson learned that we took from the early work with new scale.\n\nWe learned how to, you know, put core teams together, tiger teams together, to break things apart, so to speak, and to project manage each one of them in the advanced reactor side of our house is a shining star right now. We\u2019re ahead of the game in every area there, and we\u2019re going to make sure that we can get everything done that needs to get done. We\u2019re not going to be the problem.\n\nCurtis: Thank you. I was really proud, last Congress in the House to have my bill, the Advanced Nuclear Reactor Prize Act, become law as part of the Advance Act. And that legislation was built on the simple premise that if we want to foster innovation and clean energy, we have to reward and support first movers. And that starts with certainty and clarity. And I think you referred to some of that.\n\nAnd I think for any emerging technology, especially advanced nuclear, the clear rules of the road are not just helpful, but really mandatory. So my question is, how can the NRC ensure that applicants, whether they\u2019re startups or utilities, know what to expect as they navigate the licensing process?\n\nYou mentioned efficiency on your end, but you can well imagine that municipalities or others that might take this process, it\u2019s kind of what I would call a big gray cloud, and how they penetrate move forward. How can the NRC help with that?\n\nWright: Well, first off, we have to be transparent about everything, and we\u2019ve got to provide clarity along the way. We need to be sure that we\u2019re truly communicating what needs to be done and we\u2019re not playing hide the rock with the people who come before us.\n\nWe, although we are \u201cnot supposed to be consultants or to be promoters,\u201d you know we do promote nuclear safety. That\u2019s one thing we do. And if we know the answer to what an applicant might need to get a decision reached by us, we\u2019ve got to share that information with them. We shouldn\u2019t hide it. Right. So we\u2019ve got to be transparent.\n\nCurtis: I think if you look at the Advance Act and executive orders, you\u2019ll see a lot of this is aimed at ensuring that the applicants have the efficiency, that there\u2019s transparency, they have the best possible chance of making that through. If leaning on your past service on the commission, how do you think that\u2019s prepared you to move forward and deal with some of these? And what are kind of lessons learned for you?\n\nWright: So, Senator, every part of my life, my life experience has taught me, and I apply it today. I mean, I\u2019m a colon cancer survivor. As is my daughter. And having to fight that battle with both of us, for both of us, and as a dad and supporter of a daughter, you learn a lot about metal and about what it, you know, what you\u2019re made of.\n\nAs a mayor, you\u2019ve already spoken to this, you have to be nimble. That\u2019s the closest to the people you\u2019re going to get. I didn\u2019t even leave the town to buy gas. I bought everything inside the town. You know, you got to support your people.\n\nCurtis: You can\u2019t jaywalk in your own town either, when you\u2019re mayor.\n\nWright: Exactly. I mean, so everything I learned about leadership came from either cancer, baseball, or serving as mayor of a small town. And in the end, it\u2019s about people. It\u2019s just about people and leading people.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:34:38Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/curtis-calls-for-regulatory-certainty-to-promote-clean-nuclear-energy-in-utah"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 5.856097908690572, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}