Reid adviser nominated for nuke panel

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, Feb. 13, 2004 | 9:51 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The White House formally nominated Greg Jaczko, Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid's nuclear adviser, for a spot on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Thursday.

This reverses the White House's original rejection last year of Reid's recommendation that Jaczko's take one of the open seats.

Although the White House would not say why it originally did not want Jaczko, critics have pointed out his previous work against the Energy Department's plans to store 77,000 tons of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The NRC will decide whether the Energy Department will get a license to operate the repository.

Jaczko, 33, now works on appropriations as well as nuclear issues for the senator, but was one of Reid's key staffers working against the Yucca Mountain project when Congress had to vote on it in 2002. Congress eventually approved the projected and the president allowed it to move forward that July.

His anti-Yucca work sparked conflict-of-interest grumblings among the project's supporters, who oppose his nomination, especially since Reid came out against former Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board Chairman Michael Corradini for pro-Yucca comments he made in a newspaper editorial. Corradini maintains he had no conflict, but resigned last month anyway.

If confirmed by the Senate, Jaczko would be one of a five-member commission that ultimately will decide if the Energy Department can move forward with construction plans for the Yucca Mountain project. The department expects to submit its license application to the NRC by the end of the year.

Jaczko's term would expire in 2008, just around the time the department would hope to get the license application approved and begin construction on the facility.

Angered by the White House's lack of explanation for the rejection, Reid delayed the confirmation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt and several other executive branch nominees last fall.

But under commission rules, Bush had to nominate at least one Democrat, so the White House eventually agreed to nominate Jaczko in October and Leavitt was approved to take over this agency soon after.

"The NRC's mission is to protect public health and safety, promote defense and security and protect the environment," Reid said in a prepared statement. "Given Dr. Jaczko's eminent qualifications, I can think of no one better to uphold that standard."

Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said Jaczko can not talk to the media now since he is under review for the nomination but he did release a statement saying "I appreciate the President's intent to nominate me for the nuclear regulatory commission . It is an honor to be nominated, and I look forward to serving the nation as a member of the NRC."

Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman Mitch Singer said the industry group would support any nominee that could impartially evaluate what comes to the commission.

"We do still have question's about Jaczko's ability to evaluate issues objectively," Singer said. "We wait to see how things work out."

Singer noted that the nomination does not stem from the White House's support for Jaczko but from the deal made with Reid.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., was "extremely pleased" with the announcement saying his "experience, integrity, and knowledge will serve the commission well."

"I am proud to have played a role in his nomination through communication with the White House, and I look forward to Greg's confirmation," Ensign said.

Jaczko began in the field studying physics and philosophy as an undergraduate at Cornell University. He earned his doctorate in particle physics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and applied for an American Institute of Physics fellowship and, in 1999, ended up working in the office of Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass, for a year, before working for Reid on the Environment and Public Works Committee. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Jaczko would replace Commissioner Greta Joy Dicus. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, of which Reid is a member, will conduct the nomination hearings but nothing has been scheduled at this point. Reid said he is "confident that Dr. Jaczko's nomination will now move quickly through the Senate."