Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Commissittee, issued the following statement today on the resignation of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko:
â Chairman Jaczko has served the interests of the public extremely well on the commission, and his No. 1 focus has always been right where it should be ‘on ensuring that our nationâ s nuclear plants are being operated as safely as possible. He has a consistent voting record supporting the swift implementation of strong safety reforms, and he led the commission in pushing for reforms following the disaster in Fukushima. While I at times disagreed with the chairman on issues, I always appreciated his recognition that the NRCâ s job is not to promote nuclear power, but to be a strong safety regulator.
â For his efforts to hold the nuclear industry accountable, Chairman Jaczko was subjected to repeated personal attacks made by some of his colleagues and pro-industry advocates in Congress. I am extremely disappointed he is leaving the Commission.
â The American people deserve an NRC that is 100 percent committed to nuclear safety. President Obama must nominate a new NRC Chairman who will stand up to industry pressure and fight just as strongly as Chairman Jaczco has for safety reforms.â
Jaczko, who had another year left in his term, resigned under duress over his management style and complaints about how he terminated the proposal to build a national, high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. All high level waste that has ever been created at all of the United States' nuclear plants is still stored on site, including at the Entergy Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon. Many national storage sites have been proposed over the last 50 years, but none have succeeded in meeting the technical and political requirements for being approved.
Nuclear Regulatory ChiefJaczko Resigns
Wall Street Journalâ
5.21.2012
Sanders' statement on resignation of NRC Chairman Jaczko
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