Lawmakers largely responded along party lines yesterday after a long-awaited Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General report on the tenure of Chairman Gregory Jaczko was released. The IG found that, though Jaczko did not exceed his authorities in calling for emergency actions following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011, at other times he did "interpret his authority broadly," and did "attempt to control the flow of information to the commission." Overall, the IG report found more than a dozen instances wherein Jaczko’s behavior "was not supportive of an open and collaborative work environment," and the specific examples of "intimidating and bullying tactics" Jaczko used to influence the direction of information and policy at the agency. Additionally, the report cited five areas in which witness testimony contradicts statements Jaczko made before Congress. Jaczko abruptly resigned from his post May 21, effective upon confirmation of his successor, Allison Macfarlane, which is expected to occur this week.
The report was triggered by an Oct. 13 letter to the White House by four Commissioners expressing "grave concerns" about the chairman. Given Jaczko’s prior employment as senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and close ally of Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), few Democrats have joined in criticizing his leadership. Markey, in a statement yesterday, called the report a “vindication” of Jaczko, placing blame on the other four commissioners. "This report is a welcome vindication of Chairman Jaczko and his leadership of the Commission during the worst nuclear disaster in history," Markey said. "What this report shows is that Greg Jackzo has been the victim of a sustained and mean-spirited whispering campaign by hostile NRC Commissioners who resented a strong Chairman with a real commitment to nuclear safety who wanted to turn the NRC into a real watchdog."
Notably, though, a former vocal defendant of Jaczko’s, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) downplayed any vindication yesterday, focusing instead on moving ahead under Macfarlane. "A very important part of the Inspector General’s report found that Chairman Jaczko did not exceed his authority as the head of the NRC, and I will always be grateful for his focus on safety for the American people," Boxer said. "There was a lot of he said/she said in the IG report, but the truth is that we are moving forward with a new Chairman who shares Chairman Jaczko’s dedication to safety."
Republican lawmakers, for their part, attributed Jaczko’s turbulent tenure as NRC Chairman as a failure of the Obama White House. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), and Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.), said in a statement yesterday that the report "provides independent confirmation that the grave concerns about the NRC Chairman’s behavior raised by the four commissioners were indeed legitimate. Sadly, by ignoring the situation at the time, the White House was essentially an accomplice to the Chairman’s creation of a chilled work environment as the agency sought to address nuclear safety issues in the wake of the Fukushima accident." The NRC as a whole has taken a credibility hit, the lawmakers suggested, and time will tell whether the next chair will work collegially to restore the NRC"s credibility."