March 17, 2014

NRC COMMISSIONERS RAISE ‘GRAVE CONCERNS’ ABOUT CHAIRMAN JACZKO

By ExchangeMonitor

In a strong break from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s traditionally collegial structure, the four other members of the NRC raised “grave concerns” about the management style of NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko to the White House in an October letter released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee late Friday. “In a long series of very troubling actions taken by Chairman Jaczko, he has undermined the ability of the Commission to function as prescribed by law and decades of successful practice,” Commissioners Kristine Svinicki, George Apostolakis, William Magwood and William Ostendorff wrote in an Oct. 13 letter to White House Chief of Staff William Daley. The letter detailed a range of issues, including the suppression of information, the intimidation of NRC senior staff, disrespect of fellow Commissioners and ignoring the decision of the majority of the Commission. The letter comes after a June NRC inspector general report that detailed similar criticism and concerns of Jaczko’s leadership. The five members of the Commission are scheduled to testify Wednesday on the leadership of the NRC at hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Jaczko responded to the concerns last week in a letter to Daley critical of his fellow Commissioners. “Unfortunately, all too often, when faced with tough policy calls, a majority of this current Commission has taken an approach that is not as protective of public health and safety as I believe is necessary. On multiple policy issues, a majority of the Commission has dismissed my policy views, as well as the recommendations of the technical staff, public interest groups, and Members of Congress and established policies that have loosened the agency’s safety standards,” Jaczko wrote in the Dec. 7 letter. He strongly denied all of the mismanagement claims against him, stating that “If there are challenges to the continued effective functioning of the Commission as my colleagues claim, it does not arise from our sometimes stark policy differences, but rather from the lack of understanding the current Commissioners have of their statutory roles at the agency.”

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), for whom Jaczko once worked as a staffer, released a report soon after the Commissioners’ concerns were made public Friday echoing many of Jaczko’s claims. “Instead of doing what they have been sworn to do, these four Commissioners have attempted a coup on the Chairman and have abdicated their responsibility to the American public to assure the safety of America’s nuclear industry,” Markey said in a statement accompanying the report.

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