4/29/2012 Why is safety a divisive issue for Nuclear Regulatory Commission?

Source: Los Angeles Times
Date: April 29, 2012
by: Michael Hiltzik

 

NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko has found himself on the losing side of 4-1 votes that usually end up favoring less stringent regulations for the industry. He's also been the target of a congressman's attacks.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), left, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko and NRC senior resident inspector Greg Warnock listen to a safety briefing this month before entering the containment area of one of the reactors at the San Onofre nuclear plant. (Lynn Sakamoto, Associated Press / April 6, 2012)

Reading between the lines, it's probably fair to say that Greg Jaczko may not be someone you'd want to work for.

As chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, he's been accused of yelling at people, browbeating subordinates and picking fights with his fellow NRC commissioners when he doesn't get his way. That's pretty much the totality of the bill of particulars Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) put out in December in support of a concerted, albeit unsuccessful, campaign to drive Jaczko from his job.
(Jaczko has acknowledged that there are strong disagreements within the agency, but vehemently denies being especially tough on women, another charge made by Issa.)

What the report on Jaczko issued by Issa's committee on oversight and government reform didn't delve into too deeply, however, were the policy issues underlying the personal friction. That's too bad, because the disagreements concerned Jaczko's efforts to tighten safety and security regulations for the nation's 104 nuclear power reactors, in the face of the other commissioners' efforts to slow him down.
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Editor's Note: Map of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station

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