NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko Should Be Fired

Center Joins With Other NRC Commissioners In Opposing NRC Chairman Jaczko

The Center's main reason for calling for the firing of Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko is because of his tactics to sabotage Yucca Mountain as the national repository for nuclear waste.  We support the other commissioners in their additional criticisms of the chairman.  His sociopathic behavior is clearly radioactive and is underming the NRC.

Gregory Jaczko

Four of the five members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission wrote a letter to White House Chief of Staff William Daley on October 13 denouncing the commission's chairman, Gregory Jaczko, saying his "actions and behavior are causing serious damage to this institution" and are threatening the agency's safety mission.  Althought they did not explicitly ask for President Barack Obama to remove Jaczko, the four commissioners outlined a list of grievances including an allegation that Mr. Jaczko:

"intimidated and bullied senior career staff to the degree that he has created a high level of fear and anxiety resulting in a chilled work environment."

They also said Mr. Jaczko had ordered staff to withhold information from other commissioners and had tried to intimidate scientists who advised the agency in an effort to prevent them from reviewing certain aspects of the agency's response to the Japanese nuclear crisis earlier this year.

NRC commissioners Kristine L. Svinicki, George Apostolakis, William D. Magwood IV and William C. Ostendorff say in the letter they were concerned Mr. Jaczko's conduct would:

"adversely affect the NRC's essential mission to protect the health, safety and security of the American people."

NRC Commissioners are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for five-year terms, but the president selects a chairman from among the five members and could choose another chairman before Mr. Jaczko's term expires in 2013. Mr. Obama tapped Mr. Jaczko as chief in 2009.

The NRC is the principal agency charged with overseeing the safety of commercial nuclear reactors in the U.S. The five-member commission consists of the chairman and four other commissioners. The four other commissioners are William Ostendorff and Kristine Svinicki, both Republicans, and George Apostolakis and William Magwood, both Democrats. Jaczko is a Democrat. (WSJ, 12/9/2012)