"Nuclear Rubberstamp Commission" by Karl Grossman

Investigative journalist, and Beyond Nuclear board of directors member, Karl Grossman (pictured, left), has published an article entitled "Nuclear Rubberstamp Commission" which has appeared at the Huffington Post and elsewhere. In it, Karl reports that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman, Dr. Gregory Jaczko, has been pressured to resign over a year early due to withering attacks by the nuclear power industry and its friends within the NRC and on Capitol Hill, due to his safety advocacy. Karl points out that NRC has never, in its nearly 40 years of existence, denied a license to construct or operate a commercial atomic reactor. It has also rubberstamped 73 license extensions for 20 additional years of operation at U.S. atomic reactors, with 13 other license extensions already applied for.

NRC's rubberstamp also extends to new reactor proposals. For the first time in several decades, NRC just this year alone has approved 4 new reactors' combined Construction and Operating Licence Applications (COLAs): 2 at Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, and 2 at Summer nuclear power plant in South Carolina. Both times, NRC Chairman Jaczko cast the sole dissenting vote in the 4 to 1 NRC Commission approvals of the proposals. Jaczko warned that the approvals took place "as if Fukushima never even happened," as NRC has not required conditions that "Fukushima lessons learned" be applied at the new reactors prior to their approval.