U.S. Senate confirms Allison Macfarlane as NRC Chair
Today, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) issued the following statement:
“I am pleased that the Senate quickly confirmed Dr. Allison Macfarlane as the next chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Her experience and focus on the safety and security of all Americans will serve the Commission well.
“I also would like to thank Chairman Greg Jaczko for his steadfast commitment to the safety and security of our nation's nuclear facilities. His leadership during the Fukushima nuclear crisis was instrumental in ensuring our nation’s safety in the wake of that disaster. He has served our nation honorably.”
Dr. Jaczko worked as Sen. Reid's Yucca Mountain staffer, before being appointed to the NRC Commission in 2005. In 2009, President Obama named Jaczko NRC Chairman. NRC Chairman Macfarlane (pictured above left), a PhD. geologist, co-edited the book Uncertainty Underground, listing the many scientific unsuitabilities of Yucca Mountain as a high-level radioactive waste burial site. Sen. Reid has devoted his political career, after being steamrolled as a rookie Senator in 1987 by the "Screw Nevada" bill, to stopping the dump.
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The Las Vegas Review Journal, a paper of record on the Yucca Mountain issue, has also reported on this story.