White House urges NRC Commissioners to resolve differences

As reported by Politico, President Obama's White House Chief of Staff, William Daley (photo left), has sent a letter to the five U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners, urging them to seek a mutually trusted third party arbiter to help them ease their internal conflicts and communications break down. Daley also responded to a request by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, that a White House representative testify at a hearing tomorrow about the conflict, with all five NRC Commissioners also at the witness table. Daley rejected Issa's request.

HuffPost reveals that NRC Commissioner Magwood consulted for Tepco

NRC Commissioner William Magwood IVThe Huffington Post has revealed that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner William Magwood IV (pictured, left) consulted for Tokyo Electic Power Company, owner and operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that has suffered three reactor core meltdowns and, very likely, a high-level radioactive waste storage pool fire since March 11, 2011. Magwood is at the center of an attempted "coup" at NRC, seeking to oust NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko. Magwood would be Jaczko's most likely successor. The article reports on a statement, signed by 100 organizations, seeking to block President Obama's nomination of Magwood to the NRC in the first place, due to his close ties to the nuclear power industry. Beyond Nuclear led that coalition effort. (Note one error in the article: the 2007 natural disaster that struck Japan was an earthquake, not a tsunami; several reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the largest single atomic power facility in the world, remain idled, nearly 5 years later).

What do Frank Sinatra and NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko have in common?

The "common cold"? When a nuclear power plant "sneezes," as at Fukushima Daiichi, does the entire world catch a cold? This theme runs through a thought provoking piece by Gregg Levine about the status of nuclear safety -- or lack thereof -- in the U.S. post-Fukushima. The article quotes both Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear.

Markey accuses 4 NRC Commissioners of "regulatory meltdown" post-Fukushima

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and a senior Member of the Energy and Commerce CommitteeAs reported by Reuters in an article entitled "Private Spat within U.S. Nuclear Agency Laid Bare," U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-MA, pictured left) has published a report entitled “Regulatory Meltdown: How Four Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners Conspired to Delay and Weaken Nuclear Reactor Safety in the Wake of Fukushima.” The report documents efforts by 2 Democratic appointees, William Magwood IV and George Apostalakis, and 2 Republican appointees, Kristine Svinicki and William Ostendorff, to block the creation of NRC's Near-Term Fukushima Task Force, as well as implementation at the 104 operating U.S. atomic reactors of its "lessons learned" from the triple reactor melt down -- and likely high-level radioactive waste storage pool fire -- at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.

In a press release, Markey said “The actions of these four Commissioners since the Fukushima nuclear disaster has caused a regulatory meltdown that has left America’s nuclear fleet and the general public at risk. Instead of doing what they have been sworn to do, these four Commissioners have attempted a coup on the Chairman and have abdicated their responsibility to the American public to assure the safety of America’s nuclear industry. I call on these four Commissioners to stop the obstruction, do their jobs and quickly move to fully implement the lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster.”

Update on December 10, 2011 by admin

Politico has also reported on this story in an article entitled "Ugly Divide at NRC Pits Jaczko against Fellow Commissioners." Politico reports that Markey's report was published one business day earlier than originally planned, in response to U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa's (R-CA) Friday night release of an October letter, written by four of the NRC Commissioners to President Obama's Chief of Staff William Daley, complaining about Jaczko's leadership at the NRC. Issa, Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the letter despite it clearly being marked "NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE." (As the New Yorker has reported, Rep. Issa may have a few skeletons in his own closet.)

All five NRC Commissioners are scheduled to testify before committees on both sides of Capitol Hill next week. On Wednesday, Dec. 14th beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern, the NRC Commissioners will appear before Issa's committee; the hearing will be webcast. On Thursday, Dec. 15th, also beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern, they will testify before U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee, which should also be webcast. 

Beyond Nuclear to testify at NRC regarding reactor earthquake and fire risks

NRC HQ, Rockville, MarylandOn Monday, December 12, 2011 from 2:30 to 4:30 PM EST, a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission petition review board will hear Beyond Nuclear staff and joint petitioners -- including Saprodani Associates, Not On Our Fault Line, Alliance for Progressive Values, and the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter -- who have called for emergency enforcement action, and full public hearing rights, on license changes to Virginia’s North Anna nuclear power plant following the August 23, 2011 earthquake of 5.8 magnitude, epicentered just 11 miles away. The meeting will be webcast and a telephone bridge line is being provided for up to 100 toll free lines for the public to listen in. Details for linking to the webcast and toll free telephone bridge line can be viewed by clicking on December 12 in NRC homepage calendar for public meetings.

On Tuesday, December 13, 2011, beginning at 9 AM EST, Beyond Nuclear Director of Reactor Oversight, Paul Gunter, will be testifying before the Chairman and Commissioners of the US NRC on what we believe to significant decades old fire protection risks at US reactors. These same risks potentially threaten control room operations for safe shutdown and cooling of reactors similar to the failure that led to the explosions and meltdowns at Fukushima. Go to this NRC link to view the webcast and Beyond Nuclear at the meeting.