Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko answers a battery of questions pertaining to Yucca Mountain from members of the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment May 4, 2011.
By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Monday, Dec. 12, 2011 | 2 a.m.
J. Patrick Coolican
Sun archives
Let’s apply the usual Washington rules — nothing is what it seems and the motives of the accusers are often questionable — to a dust-up at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Nuclear regulatory issues are of the utmost importance to Nevada because even though President Barack Obama killed the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, many in Washington, including in the industry, fantasize that Yucca is the government equivalent of Rasputin and can’t be so easily killed.
Here’s what’s happened, though as often is the case, the surface facts don’t tell us what’s really going on.
In October, four members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the commercial nuclear industry and its public health and safety, sent a letter to the White House expressing “grave concerns” about the “leadership and management practices” of the chairman of the commission, Gregory Jaczko.
The four commissioners who wrote the letter, two Democrats and two Republicans, said Jaczko, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has “intimidated and bullied” senior staff, leading to a “chilled” work environment. They also charge that he has acted with “intemperance” and “disrespect” toward other commissioners.
The allegations have triggered a hearing on Wednesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in which Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wants the White House to weigh in on Jaczko’s leadership skills.
To begin with, if these incivility issues were cause for termination in Washington, half the government would be left unstaffed. More to the point, the lack of specificity of the charges is revealing.
Indeed, according to the government’s Office of Personnel Management, which surveys federal employees, the NRC is one of the best places to work in the federal government, which would seem to contradict the commissioners’ case.
Moreover, far from being paralyzed, the commission has held 38 public meetings, 10 closed meetings, 14 planning sessions and issued dozens of decisions just this year.
Meanwhile, lessons learned from an NRC task force is helping us prepare for nuclear disasters like the one that befell Fukushima, Japan, earlier this year.
So despite the alleged dysfunction, the commission and the staff seem to be quite busy.
According to Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who released a report Friday saying as much, it’s the other four commissioners who are impeding progress on safety reviews in the wake of Fukushima.
People I talked to say this row is really about the strong record of Jaczko on nuclear safety and public health issues, including on Yucca Mountain.
The nuclear industry knows he won’t carry its water, so industry allies are trying to force him out.
According to one NRC observer, Jaczko is pushing hard for policies that will prevent blackouts at nuclear plants; much of the catastrophe at Fukushima can be pegged to power failures after the earthquake and tsunami there.
This could be expensive and complicated — and thus unloved by some in the industry — but given what we’ve seen at Fukushima, it’s worth doing.
Sen. Harry Reid swears in Gregory B. Jaczko as a commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thankfully, Jaczko has some powerful allies, including Reid and Markey, for whom he also worked.
Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman issued a statement of support for Jaczko, saying he has “focused the NRC on its core mission: nuclear safety.”
The statement continued: “It is sad to see those who would place the interests of a single industry over the safety of the American people wage a politically-motivated witch hunt against a man with a proven track record of making sure nuclear power is produced as responsibly as possible."
Rep. Shelly Berkley says the four NRC members targeting Jaczko are simply trying to "turn our state into a radioactive wasteland," while Sen. Dean Heller complained that the commissioners "should be focusing on the safety of the American public, not internal politics."
Although there are many important safety issues at play in this fight, an important subtext -- as Berkley and Heller recognize -- are attempts by the industry and its allies to stall for time with the hope that a new president revives the Yucca Mountain project.
Our state's congressional delegation needs to recognize the maneuverings of the four NRC commissioners for what they are, an effort to get Jaczko out of the industry's way.
The Nevada delegation should oppose efforts to get rid of Jaczko, and they should call the White House and tell Obama to do the same.
Well, maybe Cooligan. But it is remarkably unusual for an independent agency to be so publicly split 4 to 1 against its Chair. It is somewhat like Fukishima: there is a big cloud and you can't tell from a distance whether than is just dust and steam or the result of a core meltdown -- without actually going in and inspecting, you can't really tell what is really going on and just how serious it is.
"turn our state into a radioactive wasteland,"
Drama queen much?
I can see two scenarios, that of four people on a committee (bipartisan) being against one indicating that the one person is probably in the wrong, and that of the power of industry corrupting 80% of those people. I almost have to go with the latter scene because it seems that at least 80% of our politicians are feeding at the trough of the military/industrial complex as we were warned against by D.D. Eisenhower.
SAFETY must come first!!!
It seems that there are those who are beholdened to the various nuclear power industry lobbyists that would be willing to risk the public's safety so that they can maintain their lofty lifestyles. WE should be complaining about THEM, not Jaczko. Being proactive and requiring re-equipping our aging nuclear facilities and grid with safety stop-gaps will be expensive, but if we don't learn from the tragedy in Japan, we are doomed to repeat their mistake and up the road have such a disaster ourselves.
We can only guess WHO those that are making these accusations and complaints are really representing.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
Nuclear plants: still safer than having been a passenger in Ted "Lady Killer" Kennedy's car. Any one remember Las Vegas celebrating open air nuclear explosions with gusto because it was good for tourism? Burying nuclear waste at Yucca will do less harm so what's the big deal? It's merely another "straw man" for the Luddites to cry crocodile tears over.
More proof the US is an ogopolistic plutocracy.
It is a "no brainer" to realize that some additional safety back-ups are necessary based on what happened in Japan. Especially in places like California with a high risk for earthquakes and Tsunamis.
However, if we had a similar situation in CA, just think what would happen to the value of the remaining unaffected CA real estate. It would sky rocket. And the rich people would get even richer.
And of course, the US government and us 99% of the tax payers would foot the bill. Remember the US government insurance Nuclear Reactor liability excess coverage.
Just follow the money - it is a "no brainer."
I am glad that Patrick wrote this article.
This puts to bed any notion that the Sun is for good government that makes transparent decisions based on scientific studies.
There has been zero scientific studies cited or commissioned by the NRC that says Yucca should be closed or is unsafe.
Yet the Sun is endorsing government by corruption.
Thank you, Patrick for letting all the world see that Sun has forever lost its way and now part of the corrupt world of DC.
Good job for your honesty. It is nice to see the crooks come out and say, "We are crooks and we don't give a damn want you think."
Remember the Washington motto: Republicans take care of themselves and the Democrats take care of everyone else. Money drives DC not people. We the people are as insignificant to Washington as cows on a farm, and as a matter of fact exactly how we are perceived. Public safety? Fair and equitable treatment of all citizens? Commissions in our best interest. This is not a fairy tale, this is reality.
Since the mega-disaster in Japan nuclear power plants are going the way of buggy whips and roto-dial telephones.
Dinosaurs were huge creatures that were not easily killed but they haven't roamed the earth for millions of years. Similarly, the outdated, unsafe nuke industry's death is a matter of when, not if.
This is only the initial phase. The Stinking Lily of the Desert has yet to bloom in all it's splendor.
Enjoyed the article. Although, I just want to point out the obvious.
Mr. Jaczko is not being attacked for being incompetent, nor for doing his job, but he's being attacked because he is making logical decisions and IS INDEED doing his job. He is doing it too well in their estimation. Because they have their pockets lined with money.
The special interests and lobbyists, along with their politicians, most of these people from Washington and South Carolina, are bound and determined to solve their nuclear waste problems by throwing it at Southern Nevada. They are so fanatical about getting their way they now have resorted to using that idiot Darryl Issa and his witch hunting team of confirmed useless House of Representative Tea/Republican goons, who do nothing but try to find an islamo/communist/socialist President Obama plot under every rock (with no success). It's now hardball politics thrown at Nevada.
I am so tired of the mythology that is continually pounded out there regarding Yucca Mountain Project (YMP).
There is a simple fact that most, if not all, of America's nuclear power plants were built in the 1960s/1970s, certified to operate for just about 40 years or so. Most, if not all, of these power plants are either past obsolete, or are quickly approaching it. The nuclear safety experts have decided to maneuver the regulations around to extend their safety certifications, even without any upgrades. The simple fact is they don't want to build new power plants because it is too expensive. They want to make money. So, in a nutshell, our nuclear power plant industry in America is stagnant and is basically a thousand Fukushimas waiting to happen.
YMP is not the cure all for the woes of the nuclear industry. It's just a stopgap measure that will make the matter worse.
One thing that gets me is we are always told this is a great thing, jobs and money will be prosperous, it's safe, you can re-process it (a pipedream that's not a perfected science), you should take it. I ask this question: If it's so great, how come other States aren't lining up to take nuclear waste? The answer is simple. THEY DON'T WANT IT!
I've even heard the excuse that Southern Nevada was used for atomic testing before, so why not continue and turn it into a craphole of nuclear waste? NO. That legacy stops here.
We fight them bastards tooth and nail. YMP is dead. No means no means no and it STILL means no. We would get nothing but misery out of this. And we take the chance of turning our home and all of Southern Nevada into a desolate uninhabitable wasteland.
The fight continues. We don't want it. Take it somewhere else.
Colin -- excellent post!
Nevadans who want less taxes and less govt want the govt to build and run a nuclear waste dump for all nuclear waste in the nation to be shipped by the govt to Nevada.
You TeaHeads are complete nutters, all you are good for is political comic relief, seriously.
:-)
It is astonishing how ignorant the anti-Yucca crowd is. They continue to compare Yucca to an active reactor.
Brain dead is brain dead, is brain dead and brain dead still equates to brain dead.
When is the anti-Yucca crowd going to admit they are brain dead??
Hey Coolican and your "Here's what's happened, though as often is the case, the surface facts don't tell us what's really going on." what a farse... Here's the real story:
Jaczko Need To Go!!!! What the administration is doing to the Yucca Mountain Project is completely corrupt!!!
Dirty Harry "The War is Lost" Reid planted his former Science Advisor, Gregory Jaczko (and he also worked for anti-nuke Ed Markey) on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. His placement was forced after Reid held up ~100 Bush appointees until he had to cave. Reid then pushed for him to be the Chairman of the NRC under Obama SPECIFICALLY so he could derail the NRC Review of the YMP License Application from the inside.
In addition, he got Steven Chu to flip-flop his position on the YMP (after signing with the other National Lab Leads that the YMR was the path to pursue) in order to gain appointment to the Secretary of Energy job -- So much for "Sound Science"" Chu may be the one person that Congress could prove violated the law...
Further, the sitting NRC Commissioners all had to agree that they would not challenge if DOE were to pull its License Application during their confirmation hearings in order to be confirmed.
All of these players and obstructionists are in violation of the LAW!!! Reid, Waxman, Jaczko, Chu, Berkley, Heller ALL need to be thrown out of their jobs" I'd even go further and have them arrested for violating Federal Law.
The ongoing BRC effort is just one big stall tactic!!! Otherwise, the BRC members would have been permitted to include the Yucca Mountain Repository in their evaluation. I also do not buy into the allegation that the people of Nevada do not want the repository. I know Nye County wants it!!! My home is in Las Vegas, and except for the vocal minority that appeared at NRC-DOE public meetings on the YMR, the people I talked to while out and about were generally indifferent to the YMR and usually only knew the misinformation that the Reid media machine pumped out to the masses.
People need to read the findings presented in the recent Space, Science, and Technology subcommittee report. It reveals the NRC's safety determination in SER Volume 3, finding that the Yucca Mountain Project License Application meets the regulatory requirements for going forward with a Construction Permit. The committee's findings also reveal not just a pattern, but a systematic and active effort on the part of the Administration to obfuscate, delay, and muzzle scientific and technical information and related processes in order to shut down Yucca Mountain.
I should add that as a former NRC Licensing Project Manager, I believe Jaczko's actions are completely destroying the NRC's credibility and their reputation as a non-partisan regulator"
The Fukushima incident shows the benefits of on-site storage, yuk-yuk.
Rusty, good point!!
Meanwhile, now that the lid on the Fukushima disaster has blown off of the containment pools, Japan is just starting to embark on the journey to long-term storage. The estimates are that the search will take five years and the repository will be operational twenty years later.
One more reason Yucca is a great project. We would finally be out front again, instead of sucking hind teet IF an accident happens at any one of the 104 reactors currently operating in the U.S. (this does not count plutonium reactors or anything that the military uses)
Sure, no Yucca. Evidently the NIMBY crowd prefers to keep its head in the sand instead of a viable solution.
Ah yes, the continuing politics of the Yucca Mountain ordeal. Of course, nowadays what isn't political? Sadly, for Nevada, the final results of Yucca Mountain will not be for what is in the best interests safety-wise for this state. It hasn't been up to this point, anyway. For, concerning Yucca Mountain and the storage of the country's nuclear waste here in Nevada, it will be which presidential administration and political party gain, at some point, the ultimate power. In the end, Harry Reid, will retire. President Obama, whether re-elected or not to a second term, will reach the duration of his presidency. And then what, Nevada? Each voter in this state who is an opponent to Yucca Mountain had better be concerned with this coming election, and all future elections. Simply because, if the Republicans gain the ultimate political power in Nevada, and nationwide, the citizens of Nevada will have little recourse. And then, here comes Yucca Mountain our way. By force if necessary. Don't think for a moment that the Republicans would not deploy federal troops to clear the way for the opening of Yucca Mountain. Clearly, I see it coming in our future. Watch out!!! You think this is far-fetched? In a heartbeat you will see even the Republican base in Nevada who pose, at best currently, only light opposition to Yucca Mountain, will turncoat against the Nevada opponents to Yucca Mountain in a flash.
Massing huge amounts of Nevada demonstrators at the gates to Yucca Mountain will not deter the forced entry and operation of Yucca Mountain. Lets face it, the U.S. military has the ultimate power over us. Our vote is our only voice. It is our only hope to keep Yucca Mountain from ever becoming operational. If you oppose Yucca Mountain, forego all the other political positions of Democratic candidates and cast your votes for them. This should be quite interesting. However, I see a war coming over Yucca Mountain at some point. I'm not talking about a political war. I'm speaking of human tragedy, with a lot of bloodshed.
I'm so glad to learn that two yellow dog Democrat Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners are carrying heavy water for the Nuclear Industry. Isn't bipartisanship grand?
Meanwhile, 25 years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, it's still unsafe to eat mushrooms grown in Bavaria or parts of Sweden and the wild boar in the Alps are inedible too, in each case because they are still radioactive. Active farm fields in Belarus are consistently producing radioactive crops, which are eaten by the Belorussian people who are profoundly sick with a variety of deadly maladies commonly called "Chernobyl Disease". (Published, peer reviewed public health study, NY Academy of Sciences 2011.)
Not yet a year after the 4 reactor melt downs at Fukushima, the Democrat controlled EPA is not monitoring air, water or milk in the US. When the EPA shut down the monitoring, there were consistently high radiation readings in Hilo, Hawaii, but since nothing could be done by the USA to stop the continuing distribution of radionuclides in the air and oceans, the White House thought it best that Americans not know what radionuclides are found in fish caught in the Pacific or blowing towards America in the western winds. However a group from California, enviroreporter dotcom is doing monitoring, and unusually high radiation measurements in the ambient air have been found in Los Angeles.
From this average American's point of view, it sounds like Mr. Jaczko is doing a good job of leading the NRC staff in formulating stronger public health and safety regulations in the event of power failures at nuclear reactors, a risk is now proven to be real.
If there is any doubt about the need for strong protections of the public from the risks presented by currently existing nuclear reactors, one need only re-watch the final season episode of West Wing, where a disaster occurs at the nuclear reactor in San Clemente, CA. As the wind blows, a nuclear reactor disaster in California or Arizona is a risk which we Nevadans should be concerned about, and we should be happy that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairmanship is not currently in the strangle-hold of the nuclear industry. Of course the 4 nuclear industry shill Commissioners on the NRC could vote down the new, protective regulations.
While one always knows where Republican regulators are coming from, I hope Harry Reid jots down the names of the two Democrat traitors to public health and safety who sit on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Their future careers as big-time Democrat politicians/bureaucrats should be nuked.
Excuse me but I need to say something in response to the person who hinted that Secretary Chu wrote a letter endorsing Yucca Mountain that he went back on. That is not the case. He signed a letter, as did other national laboratory directors, that said the license application was of good quality and he stood behind the work contributed by his laboratory. In every statement about Yucca Mountain he never says it was unsafe, he says the nation can do better. With that I agree.
I spent 25 years trying to convince people that Yucca would be a safe repository, and the NRC staff comments on the license application, to me, validate that claim. But I also got in very hot water in 2002 allowig myself to be cited in the press as saying Yucca was never my favorite, I would rather have gone to a shale in North or South Dakota.
A repository in clay, or salt, would have been no safer, safe is safe. But it would have been simpler, and simpler means cheaper. Significantly cheaper. And in today's ecomonic gloom, cheaper, and yet still safe, is a very good thing.
It is not about safety any longer, it is about economy. I am tempted to say "stupid" after that word, but that would not be appropriate.
Sometimes it is hard to tell who is the bigger moron, our politicians or our newspaper editorialists. Go read the investigation by the NRC non-partisan Inspector General. He was very clear that Jaczko bullied staff, gave out different information to different Commissioners and simply withheld some information from others. The IG concluded that although Jaczko was unethical, he didn't break any laws. So it is legal to be unethical in such an important position.
Jaczko is a political hack and technically weak while the other Commissioners are technically strong. Therefore, Jaczko has to resort to bullying tactics and unethical behavior to get his pre-determined, non-science based conclusions. When Jaczko is called-out for his unethical behavior by the other Commissioners; he runs to his former bosses, Reid and Markey to help him. If Reid takes a position, you can believe that it will also be the Suns position. Hence this poorly reasoned editorial. Maybe, just maybe, there is something to the accusations of four seasoned Commissioners. This article has the stench of Reid puppets.
Patrick....Very good, right on the mark.
YES, this is ALL ABOUT PUBLIC SAFETY, PERIOD.
And Jaczko is working for public safety, FIRST.
NOTHING is more dangerous than nuclear power and
nuclear waste.
President Obama and Harry Reid are 100% correct
in stopping Yucca Mountain.
YUCCA WILL NEVER BE SAFE, PERIOD.
Yucca is full of earthquake fault lines and is
on porus, volcanic ground.
No man can EVER GUARANTEE YUCCA SAFETY, PERIOD.
Mr. Jaczko is trying to move ahead with upgrading
our old nuclear plants for public safety.
PUBLIC SAFETY COMES FIRST, PERIOD.
@Teamster: You're clueless, the NRC staff -- NOT the Politicians -- put public safety first!!! What Obama, Reid, Jaczko, Chu, and Markey are doing is STRICTLY political and corrupt.
@Abe: Abe, I've worked with you and I respect you, but I think you better re-read that report signed by Chu and 9 other Lab Leads.
In August 2008, all ten National Lab directors, including Secretary Chu, signed a letter on the essential role of nuclear energy, which advocated continuing the licensing of a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain.
The August 2008 report stated, in part: [nuclear waste] "confidence can be achieved by continuing the licensing of a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain..."
I read that to say Chu, and the 9 others, supported going forward with the YMR.
Like it or not, the federal government decided long ago (prior to 1951) that the Nevada region near Yucca Mountain was ideal for radioactive contamination -- with nearly a thousand reported nuclear device detonations at the Nevada National Security Site, formerly the Nevada Test Site known as the Nevada Proving Grounds with the vast majority of detonations conducted subterranean. While above ground detonations created wide-spread radioactive surface contamination the below ground detonations left large chambers of vaporized cavities filled with radioactive rubble, with approximately 1/3 of the tests conducted directly in aquifers and the others below established water tables. In 1992 the Department of Energy (DOT) estimated that more than 300 million curies of radiation remained, making the site one of the most radioactively contaminated places in the United States.
In the worst affected zones, radioactivity in the tainted water reaches millions of picocuries per liter (the federal standard for drinking water is 20 picocuries per liter). Although radiation levels in the water have declined over time, the longer-lived isotopes will continue to pose risks for tens of thousands of years. Although the DOE monitors water wells, the contaminated water poses no immediate health threat thus is a low priority for clean-up operations at the test site. Note: Over the years the federal government has paid out millions in restitution to Americas residing down wind of the contaminating above ground tests who suffered the ill effects of radiation exposure (isotope ingestion).
The Yucca Mountain project which is incorporated within the federal government nuclear testing grounds region is an ideal area to store radioactive elements because the federal government has already poisoned the region above as well as below ground with radioactive isotopes -- a nuclear contaminated wasteland which just happens to be located near Las Vegas.
: {
Dear Impeach: you are no doubt right, making me partly wrong. When I read that report in 2008 I was disappointed that it was not more enthusiastic about long-term safety, and I haven't looked at it since.
I wish licensing would have gone to completion too, which is what the Secretary announced when the first death-of-YM announcement came: licensing will continue because of the lessons that will be learned about licensing a deep geologic repository in the process.
I think it would have sailed through all the almost 300 contentions with just a few resulting licensing "conditions" imposed to work off open questions that NRC may have had.
So I am still in the same boat as Sec. Chu: I wanted to see licensing completed, I always felt YM, as proposed, would have been safe for a million years. But it still was never my favorite, I never liked the idea that we were adding all these expensive metals into the engineered system, when if you choose a place that is away from oxygen, deep in a clay/shale or salt formation, those types of barriers would not be needed.
Now that it looks like it is not going to happen, let's move on to something better in a place where they like repositories better, like the place that has had one operating 12 years already and wants to have its mission expanded and its life extended.
The legalities of what was done to stop YM, your favorite topic, will be argued in court. Even though I am really curious about the outcome, and have little patience, it will improve my character to have to sit and wait for that verdict. Like everyone else.
I appreciate the correction.
James Raleigh.....
Sir, you are incorrect.
The Democratic Party is always concerned about
public safety.
And the Yucca dump is a public safety issue.
YUCCA WILL NEVER BE SAFE, due to it's location
on active earthquake fault lines.
All of Nevada is an active earthquake zone.
So is Japan.
President Obama, Harry Reid and Gregory Jaczko
are 100% correct about Yucca.
Based on recent earthquakes in Virginia, isn't the entire earth in an active earthquake zone?
Scott......
Then nuclear waste shouldn't be buried in
Virginia, either.