McConnell, in a speech Tuesday before a nuclear industry conference, said there's "no reason whatsoever" that the reconfirmation of William Ostendorff should be "delayed another day."
"At a time when the President has asked the NRC to conduct a review of safety at existing US nuclear power plants, it is critical that the only commissioner who actually has any hands-on experience dealing with a nuclear reactor be allowed to continue his service," McConnell said at the Nuclear Energy Institute conference, according to his prepared remarks.
"So this morning I call on those who continue to hold up this nomination to stop playing politics with this nomination and re-confirm this man to his post," he said.
Ostendorff's first NRC term began in April of 2010 but is slated to expire June 30 of this year. President Obama re-nominated him in April of this year, and the nomination is now before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
A staff member for Environment and Public Works Committee Democrats said they are not bottling up his nomination. The aide said the paperwork on the nomination was recently completed and that they are working to schedule a hearing.
"It is just a question of setting the date right now," the aide said. A vote would follow.
Ostendorff is a former Naval officer who commanded nuclear submarines. More recently he was the principal deputy administrator at the National Nuclear Security Administration from April 2007 until April 2009, and for several years before that was a staff member for the House Armed Services Committee, according to the NRC.
