Jaczko Resigns!

[PamW]

7. The NRC deserves better than Jaczko!!

The NRC deserves better than Jaczko.

From:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/05/21/why-jaczko-leaving-the-nrc-is-good-for-america/

Much of the U.S. government’s strength has rested with the fact that we tend to want technically competent people in charge of technically challenging agencies. So it is with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Thus, the leaders of these organizations usually were chosen from among their ranks, people who moved up through the organization and knew the important issues of those fields. Since the 1980’s, however, many of these leaders have been political appointments that have undermined their group’s effectiveness. Most recently such an appointment was Chairman Jaczko of the NRC.

The NRC shouldn't be a political football

In the wake of the Three Mile Island accident, the NRC was strengthened to withstand much of the political and industry pressure that existed prior to 1979, and has mandated reforms and requirements that have cost the industry plenty, more than any other energy sector. The attempt by the Lt Governor of Pennsylvania to interfere in the control room of Three Mile Island, and which made the accident worse, was one of the drivers for a strong NRC. Now, even the President has no jurisdiction in the control room during an emergency. Too bad the Soviet Union didn’t have an NRC when a political heavyweight in Chernobyl’s control room caused that disaster against the protests of the nuclear engineers.

The politicians have their place; and the scientists / engineers have theirs.

PamW