NRC chairman says investigation cleared him in Yucca Mountain case

[bananas]

Source: CNN

The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that independent investigators have cleared him of any wrongdoing in the decision to kill plans to store nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada.

In a written statement, chairman Gregory Jaczko said a seven-month investigation by the agency's Inspector General concluded that Jaczko's actions "have been and remain consistent with established law, guidance and my authorities as chairman."

Inspector General's investigative reports are not made public, and efforts by CNN to obtain a copy late Wednesday were unsuccessful.

But an NRC official, speaking on background, said the agency released Jaczko's statement "to point out the (report's) salient finding -- that the actions of the chairman were, as he has said all along, consistent with his authority as chairman."

<snip>

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/06/08/nevada.nrc.chairman/

[Angry Dragon]

1. Unless they release the full report, snippets are worthless

[bananas]

2. Anti-science Republicans hate Jaczko:"We’ve tried to screw this guy three different times and failed

That's what the nuclear industry was saying back in January 2008, long before Obama was elected:

http://www.powermag.com/nuclear/Regulatory-risks-paralyzing-power-industry-while-demand-grows_99.html

January 15, 2008
Regulatory risks paralyzing power industry while demand grows

Kennedy Maize and Dr. Robert Peltier, PE

<snip>

The U.S. nuclear industry decided—even before the 2006 elections, which produced a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress—to bet the radioactive ranch on the GOP. The nuclear industry lobby was, to use a waterskiing and snowboarding term, “goofy-footed” by the Democratic tsunami—caught with its right foot in the forward binding.

Eight years of Republican control of the White House, and 12 of Congress, haven’t delivered for nuclear power. As one nuclear lobbyist, speaking anonymously for fear of losing his job, told POWER, “We’ve had the most pro-nuclear administration in 20 years. During its reign, not a spade of dirt has turned on a new plant. The schedule for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain has slipped another 12 years. The Department of Energy has been unable to turn the promises of the 2005 Energy Policy Act into realities. It’s a failure of monumental proportions.” Put Yucca Mountain in that same category (see sidebar, “Clinton, Obama agree: Death to Yucca Mountain”).

<snip>

A PhD physicist, Jaczko came to Congress as a science fellow working for Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the most anti-nuclear members of Congress over the past 30 years. Jaczko decided he liked Washington and became Reid’s chief advisor on nuclear waste issues. Reid has vowed to kill Yucca Mountain, and he may be able to keep his promise come January 2009. Jaczko professes, no doubt honestly, that he is not anti-nuclear power.

But Jaczko has every reason to be anti–nuclear industry. The Nuclear Energy Institute tried, and failed, to block his initial appointment to the NRC when he won a recess appointment—as did Republican Peter Lyons, a former advisor to former Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). That was a deal the White House and Reid negotiated, over the objections of the nuclear lobby.

Then the nuke reps tried to derail Jaczko’s nomination to fill a full term last year. They failed. Recently, the nuclear lobby tried to abort a second term for Jaczko. They were unsuccessful. Said our lobbyist, “We’ve tried to screw this guy three different times and failed. How understanding and helpful is he going to be when he runs the NRC?” There’s little doubt that if the Democrats reclaim the White House, Jaczko, the only Democrat on the commission, will become its chairman.

<snip>