A war among the five commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission broke into the open Friday night when Republican Rep. Darrell Issa released a letter in which four of the commissioners said they have “grave concerns” about NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko.
A letter was sent by the four commissioners to the White House in October
I think Jaczko is terrible and I would be happy to see him ousted. I do not think that is the likely outcome which will be politically determined.
Idaho Samizdat – Next Wednesday December 14 the House Oversight Committee will hold a very unusual hearing in which four NRC Commissioners will air their complaints about NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko.
Jaczko sent a rebuttal claiming that his colleagues at the agency are soft on safety and that he is the only thing standing between a complacent nuclear industry and an accident waiting to happen.
President Obama has no apparent interest in annoying Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who wants to keep Jaczko in place to continue to bottle up the Yucca Mountain license from ever seeing the light of day.
In the world of nuclear safety regulation, having a dysfunctional relationship among the commissioners, especially with four of them lined up against the chairman, is itself a threat to safety. It means they are paying more attention to their disputes than they are to the agency’s business. That’s the real “so what” as seen from here.
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