NRC Chairman "Goes Nuclear:" 4 Commissioners Have Concerns About His Behavior

Copyright © 2011 Vanguard of Freedom

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa today released a letter sent to White House Chief of Staff William Daley asking him to designate a witness for the Wednesday, December 14 Full Committee hearing "The Leadership of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)."

The request follows a letter sent to Daley by NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko's four fellow commissioners where they expressed deep concerns about Chairman Jaczko.

"We believe that [Chairman Jaczko's] actions and behavior are causing serious damage to this institution and are creating a chilled work environment at the NRC," the four NRC commissioners wrote to Daley on October 13. "We are concerned that this will adversely affect the NRC's essential mission protect the health, safety and security of the American people."

The letter sent by the four NRC Commissioners also stated specific examples of his behavior in the letter, and, according to Congressman Issa, "...for more than 18 months the Commission attempted to manage the Chairman's increasingly erratic behavior behind closed doors...The Commissioner's efforts to do so were 'received only as encouragement for further transgressions..."

The letter lists the concerns as:

"...Intimidated and bullied senior career staff to the degree that he has created a high level of fear and anxiety resulting in a chilled work environment


Ordered staff to withhold or modify policy information and recommendations intended for transmission to the Commission


Attempted to intimidate the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, a legislatively chartered independent group of technical advisors, to prevent it from reviewing certain aspectsof NRC's analysis of the Fukushima accident


Ignored the will of the majority of the Commission, contrarty to the statutory functions of the Commission


Interacted with us, his fellow Commissioners, with such intemperance and disrespect that the Commission no longer functions as effectively as it should..."

The Oversight Committee's request to the White House comes after it obtained the October 13 letter from the four NRC commissioners last week in the course of its ongoing investigation into the operations and decision making of the NRC.

"The President has the authority to take action to address these concerns," Chairman Issa wrote in his letter to Daley. "The White House has now been aware of the Commissioners concerns for nearly two months, and the public deserves to understand what actions have been taken and whether the President still believes that Chairman Jaczko is capable of leading the NRC."

The Oversight Committee has scheduled the hearing for 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 14th in the Rayburn House Office Building. Chairman Gregory Jaczko, Commissioner Kristine Svinicki, Commissioner George Apostolakis, Commissioner William Magwood, and Commissioner William Ostendorff are scheduled to testify.

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