U.S. Nuclear Regulatory CommissionChairman Gregory Jaczko is causing ��serious damage�� to theagency and is ��creating a chilled work environment,�� his fourcommission colleagues said.
Jaczko has bullied career staff and attempted to intimidatean independent panel of technical advisers, the other NRCcommissioners said in an Oct. 13 letter to White House Chief ofStaff William Daley, released yesterday by Republicans on theHouse Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
��In a long series of very troubling actions taken byChairman Jaczko, he has undermined the ability of the commissionto function,�� Commissioners George Apostolakis, William Magwood IV, William Ostendorff and Kristine Svinicki said in the letterthat described their ��grave concerns.��
Jaczko responded that the commission��s majority has��loosened the agency��s safety standards�� over his opposition.The exchanges bring into the open tensions and conflict withinthe agency that is responsible for regulating the 104 commercialreactors in the U.S. and is considering applications for a newgeneration of power plants.
The NRC commissioners are scheduled to testify before thecommittee, led by California Republican Darrell Issa, about therifts on Dec. 14.
��There is no chilled work environment around me,�� Jaczkosaid in a Dec. 7 letter to Daley. ��I have never attempted tointimidate�� the technical advisory panel, and ��I do not ignorethe will of the commission on policy matters,�� he said.
Loosened Standards
��Unfortunately, all too often, when faced with toughpolicy calls,�� the commission majority ��established policiesthat have loosened the agency��s safety standards,�� he said.
Jaczko wasn��t open with colleagues about his intent to stopwork on a proposed waste site at Nevada��s Yucca Mountain,according to a June report from the NRC��s inspector general.
Republicans have accused Jaczko of stopping work on theYucca project for political reasons, which he has denied.President Bar! ack Obam a has moved to halt the project. Jaczko isa former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a NevadaDemocrat who led opposition to the Yucca site.
Jaczko��s opponents are waging a ��politically motivatedwitch hunt against a man with a proven track record of ensuringthat nuclear power is produced as safely and responsibly aspossible,�� Adam Jentleson, a Reid spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement.
Japan Response
A report released yesterday by Representative Edward Markeyof Massachusetts blamed the four commissioners for trying toimpede Jaczko��s response to Japan��s nuclear crisis in March.
They ��conspired, with each other and with senior NRCstaff, to delay the release of and alter�� an agency task-forcestudy on the crisis, according to the 22-page report. It isbased on documents submitted by the commissioners in response toan October request from Markey, the top Democrat on the HouseNatural Resources Committee.
Jaczko, a former congressional science fellow for Markey,has urged the NRC to move quickly in implementing the task-force��s recommendations to improve safety at U.S. reactors afteran earthquake and tsunami caused radiation leaks and meltdownsat Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)��s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.
Markey��s report found e-mails and other documents with��high levels of suspicion and hostility directed�� at Jaczko.At other times, e-mails showed Jaczko��s colleagues ��assumed illintent on the part of the chairman�� and tried to ��underminehis efforts or refuse his requests.��
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