NRC Chairman Jaczko to resign
Published: Mon, 05/21/12
N.R.C. Chairman to Resign After Stormy Tenure
John M. Broder and Matthew L. Wald, The New York Times May 21, 2012 WASHINGTON -- Gregory B. Jaczko, whose three-year tenure as chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been marked by bitter battles with colleagues and with Congress, announced Monday that he would step down as soon as a successor was confirmed.
Dr. Jaczko, chairman since May 2009 and the longest-serving member of the five-member commission, was an outsider and a maverick. He had drawn sharp criticism for helping to end government consideration of a proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, a volcanic ridge about 100 miles from Las Vegas, and for assuming some emergency powers at the commission after the triple meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi reactors in March 2011.
He sought to address some longstanding safety problems at America's nuclear power reactors, but with a background in nuclear physics and nuclear policy but not the nuclear industry, Dr. Jaczko was long viewed with skepticism and mistrust by some industry insiders.
In a telephone interview Sunday, Dr. Jaczko refused to talk about his clashes with other commissioners, which resulted in an internal commission investigation and Congressional hearings.
After nearly eight years on the Commission, I am announcing my resignation as Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, effective upon the confirmation of my successor. My responsibility and commitment to safety will continue to be my paramount priority after I leave the Commission and until my successor is confirmed.
After an incredibly productive three years as Chairman, I have decided this is the appropriate time to continue my efforts to ensure public safety in a different forum. This is the right time to pass along the public safety torch to a new chairman who will keep a strong focus on carrying out the vital mission of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
During this last year alone, the agency has responded with an impressive focus on safety under my leadership to a number of diverse challenges including the accident at the Fukushima Da-ichi reactors in Japan, and a number of severe incidents at reactors in the United States ranging from flooding, an earthquake and tornados to damaged plant structures and steam generator problems. In addition to this vigilant oversight, together we identified and began to implement lessons learned from Fukushima and completed our rigorous safety reviews for the first new reactor licenses in 30 years.
Yankees Score Multi-Million-Dollar Home Run in Federal Circuit Marcia Coyle, The Blog of Legal Times May 18, 2012 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today affirmed a $159.6 million damages award to three nuclear utilities in the long-running spent nuclear fuel battle with the federal government.
Yankee Atomic Electric Co., Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co., and Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co., (the Yankees) were the first of approximately 50 lawsuits charging the federal government with breach of contract for its failure to accept and dispose of radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear utilities.
The federal government has paid an estimated $2 billion in settlements and damages, according to Jerry Stouck of Greenberg Traurig who filed the first Yankee case in February 1998. Stouck and his team handled the trials and first of three appeals in the three Yankee lawsuits. Catherine Stetson of Hogans Lovells handled the most recent appeals with Stouck on the briefs.
The three Yankees originally sought damages to compensate for the cost of storing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste beyond the time that the government promised by contract to begin storing that waste in a permanent and secure repository.
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