Reid aide appointed to NRC

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Wednesday officially appointed Gregory Jaczko, the top science and Yucca Mountain adviser to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to fill one of two vacant spots on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The five-member commission is responsible for licensing and regulating the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

In another development, the White House tapped Republican Peter Lyons to fill the other spot. Lyons, a Boulder City native, is a nuclear physicist and nuclear policy adviser to Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a leading Yucca advocate in the Senate. Reid supports his appointment.

President Bush had appointed former nuclear submariner Navy Adm. Albert Konetzni Jr., to fill the second spot but Konetzni withdrew his nomination. A Domenici aide declined to say why he withdrew.

Lyons' past jobs include 28 years at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he served in several director positions, including program director for nuclear defense research.

On Wednesday Lyons told reporters he was excited about a job that is fraught with "challenges."

Domenici, Reid and the White House worked out an unusual agreement in appointing the two veteran Senate staffers. Domenici opposed Jaczko's nomination fearing that Reid's former aide might hurt the Yucca repository program. But Domenici agreed to support Jaczko with certain conditions. The two nominees would be appointed to two-year terms instead of the usual five years. And Jaczko would have to recuse himself from Yucca matters for one year.