Ex-Reid aide is mum on Yucca in NRC post

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, March 10, 2005 | 11 a.m.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- New Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Greg Jaczko has a perfectly crafted, quick response when people ask him about his views on the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

Ask him about it again in a year.

Jaczko, a former staff member of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., made his first public address at a commissioner at the annual Regulatory Information Conference on Wednesday.

After outlining his vision for his new position on the five-member commission, the first questions from the audience revolved around how he would remain objective on the proposed nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Jaczko, a particle physicist by training, was Reid's science adviser during the height of the congressional debate on the repository in 2002, raising questions about his ability to appropriately serve as a commissioner. The commission will ultimately decide whether to give a license to the Energy Department to build the repository.

Reid, one of the Senate's most vocal opponents of the repository along with Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., pushed hard for about two years for Jaczko's confirmation, placing holds on other nominees and bills until Congress would approve him. Jaczko, who was sworn in on Jan. 21, said that before his official nomination, he thought a lot about what happens to congressional staff members and other federal employees when they switch to another job. They are usually barred from interaction with topics or issues they formerly dealt with for at least a year.

"This was a principle that I thought would be appropriate for me given my past work for Sen. Reid when I came to the commission," Jaczko said.

Part of the deal reached in Congress that eventually led to a recess appointment by President Bush, included a one-year recusal on anything related to Yucca Mountain or geological disposal. Jaczko volunteered for it, although it is unlikely the commission would vote on its license application in the next year.

"I have agreed not to discuss the issue publicly," Jaczko said. "This makes it easy to answer questions because I can truthfully say I cannot answer them at this time."

He said one of the ways he can be "fair and objective" on the matter is to wait to discuss it after a year, or when he has "appropriately distanced myself from the previous work I have done on the issue."

His recusal does not limit him from working on the proposed Private Fuel Storage facility in Utah. The commission could consider a license application for the site this year. The site would temporarily hold high-level nuclear waste.

The Nuclear Energy Institute and other Yucca Mountain supporters objected to Jaczko's nomination throughout the confirmation period, but Marvin Fertel, NEI's senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, said he has met with Jaczko and will work with him as he would work with any of the commissioners. Fertel said the industry's main concern is that things are done safely.

"I think Greg wants to do that too," Fertel said.

Because his confirmation was done through a recess appointment, Jaczko will only serve a two-year term, unless he is re-nominated for the position.

Jaczko poked a little fun at the controversy surrounding his nomination, starting his speech saying he "would like to publicy express my deep disappointment with many of the newspaper articles written about me" during his confirmation process.

"I was deeply disturbed by them and I will tell you why: not a single article gave you an accurate description of how to say my name. So for the record, it's pronounced 'yatz ko.' "