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By Karoun Demirjian (contact) 
Monday, Dec. 12, 2011 | 6:05 p.m.
The four Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners looking to the White House to intervene in their standoff with Chairman Gregory Jaczko will be disappointed. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley said tonight that the president is sticking with the guy he put in charge.
In a letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrel Issa, Daley wrote that “while there are tensions and disagreements among the Commissioners, these management differences have not impaired the Commission’s ability to fulfill its mission.”
Daley blamed the frustrations with Jaczko on peculiarities of the NRC’s structure that have been in place since 1980, and not on Jaczko himself. As for Jaczko, Daley said, he “acted within his legal authority,” acknowledging that members of the commission always have the ability “to bring a particular matter before the full Commission for a vote.”
The NRC puts a lot of power in the hands of the chairman. The chairman -- Jaczko, in this case -- is the CEO of the body, as Daley explained it, while the four other commissioners are to play a policy-development role, most notably by casting votes on issues that come before the commission.
In his letter to Issa, Daley said that he and a White House lawyer met independently with each of the commissioners after they sent him a letter, dated Oct. 13, registering complaints about Jaczko. Daley also declined Issa’s invitation to send a White House representative to testify at the oversight panel hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The White House’s support of Jaczko is a big win for those opposed to development of the Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository, as many in Congress -- mostly Republicans, but some Democrats as well -- look to re-start development at the site.
Jaczko, a former advisor to Sen. Harry Reid, is opposed to the Yucca Mountain project, as is Reid.
While White House support will not end opposition to Jaczko, and cannot protect his job absolutely, it makes it very difficult to remove or demote him.
Complaints from the other commissioners aren’t enough to give a chairman the heave-ho: To fire Jaczko over the White House’s objections would require some sort of impeachment proceeding, which would require the coordination of the House and the Senate -- not to mention proof that Jaczko’s conduct meets the “high crimes and misdemeanors” standard, which no one has accused Jaczko of even in the sharpest of criticisms that have been levied.
While there may be enough of a political groundswell against him in the House to carry an impeachment recommendation, it’s highly unlikely that Democrats would turn on an Obama appointee in the Senate, especially one so heartily supported by Reid and the president’s closest advisers.
President Obama, Harry Reid and Gregeory Jaczko
put public safety first.
Nothing is more important.
And we need to implode Yucca Mountain.
@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.
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.
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 clear intention behind this whole thing is a concentrated attack to try to get Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) back on track to unload the most dangerous substance known to man and give it to Nevada FOREVER.
Yet again another effort surfaces, this time an end around, to screw Nevada not only now, but for eternity.
One thing people need to understand is that this is also an attempt to relax existing safety standards regarding nuclear matters. Because the nations' atomic power plants have mostly, if not all, exceeded their 40 year life, they want those regulations relaxed. They simply don't want to build newer power plants to replace the old obsolete ones. It's much cheaper to spend money politically to extend the life of them, whether by upgrade or just checking a block on a piece of paper. It's simple. The nations' nuclear industry has now went purely political to save them money.
The lobbyists and special interests want this whole thing muddied up. They would rather have a board in charge rather than a single man in charge. They get their way if this happens. Because a board will always end up deadlocked and indecisive regarding ANY issue. If that happens? They continue the decrepit nuclear industry going and make moh money, moh money, moh money. And in the whole process they can shove YMP down Southern Nevada's throats...whether they like it or not.
The simple truth of the matter is that Mr. Jaczko is being crucified because he is simply doing his job.
Keep up the fight against them bastards. They only want their way. And they're not going to get it.
Mr. Transparent Gov.
What a freaking joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!