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U.S. Department of Energy
Yucca Mountain is located about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
By Karoun Demirjian (contact) 
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 | 2 a.m.
Sun archives
- White House backs NRC Chairman Jaczko against calls for his ouster (Dec. 12, 2011)
- Scuffle at NRC has stench of industry influence behind it (Dec. 12, 2011)
Sun coverage
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.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers will weigh in this week on the mutiny at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as representatives from the House and Senate get the opportunity to question Chairman Gregory Jaczko about allegations leveled by the other four commissioners, who are pressing the White House for Jaczko’s ouster.
It’s a he-said, they-said situation, focusing on Jaczko’s conduct after March’s meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor.
His fellow commissioners charge that Jaczko’s conduct was that of, at best, a bully and, at worst, a tyrant.
Jaczko and his allies say he has simply tried to focus on improving public safety against the resistance of commissioners who are in the pocket of the nuclear industry.
The White House sent a letter Monday to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee expressing its continued support of Jaczko.
While Nevada has no nuclear reactors that would be affected by the post-Fukushima debate, it does have a big stake in how it’s settled because of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.
Officially, Yucca Mountain is dead. Last year, commissioners resolved that they would not be able to break a 2-2 deadlock (one commissioner, George Apostolakis, abstained). And there’s no funding for the site’s development in the federal budget — something Sen. Harry Reid makes sure of when it’s time to dole out federal funds.
But there’s always the fear of what will happen in a post-Reid era.
For Nevada, Jaczko — a former Reid employee who shares his adamant opposition to the project — is synonymous with Yucca Mountain. Jaczko’s term expires in June 2013.
Likewise, Nevada lawmakers who support Reid’s strategy of blocking federal funds for the project’s development are supporting Jaczko. But those with a more lax view are being cagey in their reactions to the chairman’s fight with his colleagues.
“Sen. Reid continues to support Chairman Jazcko,” Reid spokeswoman Kristen Orthman said. “His leadership during the Fukushima nuclear crisis was instrumental in ensuring the safety of Americans in the wake of that disaster, and his safety-oriented approach is what we need to protect the American people from a similar crisis in our own backyards.
“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,” Orthman added.
Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and Republican Sen. Dean Heller — rivals in 2012 for the Senate seat that John Ensign vacated this year — see eye to eye on Yucca Mountain and the need to support Jaczko through this crisis.
“This is nothing more than an attempt by those who want to dump deadly nuclear waste in Nevada to turn our state into a radioactive wasteland that will endanger hundreds of thousands of Nevada families and destroy our tourism industry,” Berkley said in a statement. “I continue to fight against dumping nuclear waste in Nevada as I always have.”
“This is an unfortunate distraction from the real issue, which is finding an alternative to Yucca Mountain and developing a solution for the long-term storage of the nation’s nuclear waste,” Heller said in a statement. “The commissioners should be focusing on the safety of the American public, not internal politics.”
The rest of the Nevada delegation, however, hasn’t rushed to Jazcko’s defense.
Reps. Joe Heck and Mark Amodei, both freshmen Republicans, have deviated from Nevada’s long-held opposition to the project since arriving in Congress — they are not advocates for turning Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste dump, but have also not supported zeroing out funding for it.
Heck, who opposes carting any nuclear waste into Nevada for dumping or any other purpose, would like to see the site developed as a research park to study best nuclear reprocessing practices.
Heck wants the charges against Jaczko to be vetted in a full investigation.
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s top priority should be our citizens’ safety, not internal personality conflicts,” Heck said in a statement. “I support Chairman Issa’s decision to investigate this matter: If there is evidence, as the complaints allege, that public safety is being jeopardized by the NRC’s actions, Congress has a responsibility to act to protect our citizens.”
Amodei has said he is open to discussing the carting of waste to the state for research, though he remains opposed to Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository.
Asked about Amodei’s position on Jaczko, spokesman Brian Baluta said: “In the interests of being constructive and factual on Yucca Mountain, I don’t think that the president is waiting by the phone for our recommendations on personnel issues. However, if he is, I’m sure that we could come up with a list, starting with the cabinet.”
Amodei's arrogance as a half-term backbencher in Congress is breathtaking. It is perfectly clear that "carting of waste to the state" for research is the same as "carting of waste to the state" for PERMANENT STORAGE. This guy makes Dean Heller look like a moderate. Unfortunately, Amodei will probably be reelected based on his cow county constituency. His spokesperson Brian Baluta is correct on one thing: Obama could care less about Amodei's "recommendations" about anything, much less cabinet level position changes. At least Joe Heck stands a great chance of losing his seat in November because the cow county constituency will not be in play for him.
heck and amodei...
clowns...
fools...
willing to take campaign contributions...
at the expense of our childrens future...
let's get one thing straight...
if you vote for heck or amodei...
YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!!
Let's get one thing straight.
If you vote for any Republican you are an Idiot!
I'm not convinced by position on Mr. Jaczcko and the whole Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) coming out of the lips of both Heck and Amodei.
The way I see it is that they have both committed political suicide.
Especially Heck with this stupid "research park" angle. Because everyone knows that once nuclear waste goes to YMP, it will end up staying there forever due to the fact that the "research" angle ain't there. The science isn't perfected. And may never be perfected. I don't buy his hogwash.
And both Heck and Amodei are idiots for backing Darryl Issa and his witch hunting team investigating the issue. Issa is first and foremost a political hack that is not concerned about any issue except political. Look at the past history of his dumb clown show and it fails at pretty much everything except provide snippets of sound bytes for Fox PORNO (Political Organization-Republican News Only) News lies and propaganda all the time. All he has been and always will be is an attack dog to try to find something, anything that can be used to discredit President Obama and his entire administration. Issa is only a goon for the Tea/Republican Party. That's the plain and simple of it. He's not interested in the truth. He's only in it for political purposes. PERIOD. The Tea/Republican Party propels him into action. Not anything else.
I hope people wake up to what Heck and Amodei are doing. They are both going to end up unelectable due to their stance on this issue. By not being emphatic about not wanting YMP to happen, they need to be schooled to the fact they are committing political suicide. Don't send them money. Don't elect them. Because all they want to do is make money off of YMP by pursuing a political objective set by Speaker Boehner in the House...NOT Southern Nevadans. WE simply don't matter to them.
The fact of the matter is that both Heck and Amodei are not standing up for constituents in Southern Nevada at all.
They choose YMP and let this end around attack on it continue, the decision for the voters in the next election is simple: THEY'RE GONE LIKE A GREYHOUND BUS DOWN THE ROAD! Slam dunk time.
We need politicians to represent us, not victimize us.
Colin, clearly your opinion is different than mine concerning Yucca. Try reading a little more and spewing a little less.
The Sun, Democrats, Obama all now have this big egg on their face.
They preach transparency.
What a freaking joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reid and 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 coerced after Reid held up ~100 Bush appointees until he was forced 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, just months 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 by trying to withdraw the YMP License Application...
Further, during their confirmation hearing questioning lead by Democrats, the sitting NRC Commissioners all had to agree that they would not raise a challenge if the DOE were to pull its YMP License Application 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.
President Obama, Harry Reid and Gregory Jaczko
are 100% correct, YUCCA IS DEAD AND NEEDS TO
STAY DEAD, PERIOD.
YUCCA WILL NEVER BE SAFE.
THIS IS A PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE, PERIOD.
PUBLIC SAFETY COMES FIRST, PERIOD.
Yucca Mountain needs to be imploded, period.
James Raleigh......
The people who want Yucca NO NOTHING about
earthquake tectonics.
Yucca Mountain and the entire state of Nevada is
in an active earthquake zone.
No man on earth can ever certify Yucca as safe.
NEVER.
Colin and teamster, you're absolutely right. And, my opinion, if Gregory Jaczko has "peeved" them off, he's doing a good job for the American people.