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Jaczko, Svinicki Confirmed as NRC Commissioners

The Senate last week confirmed the nominations of Gregory Jaczko and Kristine Svinicki to serve as commissioners on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Jaczko was re-nominated for a second term in December. Prior to his appointment, he served as a science policy adviser for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and advised members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on nuclear policy. Click here for more on Jaczko from the NRC.

Svinicki, nominated last May, served as a staff member for the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, focusing on the national security aspects of nuclear energy, Energy Department defense programs and environmental management issues. Svinicki also served as senior policy adviser on nuclear and environmental issues for Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho). Click here for more on Svinicki from the NRC.

Comments

Steve Packard said…
Not too bad, but I'd really like to see them get some more industry people in and less of the political crowd. The agency needs a good shakeup. I doubt this will change much but they're at least pretty solid choices
Anonymous said…
I am sorry, but I don't agree with Stephen. Gregory Jaczko worked for Senator Harry Reid against Yucca Mtn before coming into the NRC. In a deal with President Bush, pro-nuclear power Senator Domenici's Peter Lyons also came into the NRC to offset Gregory Jaczko. Now Kristine Svinicki doesn't appear to be a bad choice, but Gregory Jaczko's term should not have been renewed. Read his speeches at the NRC web site, and compare the tenor and tone in those speeches with those of the Chairman and Peter Lyons. Gregory Jaczko (and any appointee like him) will be the person to whom anti-nuclear activists will go for obstructionist regulatory action. Now consider the very real possibility of an Obama or Hillary coronation: either of those two will appoint more Gregory Jackzo's, and we'll have an anti-nuclear power NRC which will act to emasculate the rennaissance of US nuclear energy. Even worse, either of those two will kill GNEP and cut off all funding for new nuclear power plants. We'll have a DOE Secretary intent on the twirling blades of windmills and the shiny surfaces of solar cells while we choke to death in coal dust fumes.
Anonymous said…
Given that Excelon Corp. is one of the biggest donors to Obama, I seriously doubt that nuclear power will be blackballed by an Obama administration.

On the other hand, Clinton would a big time problem for nuclear power. It was the previous Clinton administration that put the amazingly incompetent Hazel O'Leary in charge of the DoE. So, if that's any indication, another Clinton administration would be an unvarnished disaster.
Anonymous said…
It's very telling to see anonymous industry comments that the NRC should be stacked with industry representatives. Refreshingly honest, if still anonymous.

The NRC's statutory mission is to regulate nuclear power to ensure public health & safety and protect the environment and national security. PROMOTING nuclear energy is the job of DOE and the private sector.
Anonymous said…
Ideally the NRC commissioners would be neither pro- nor anti-nuclear but instead stoic supporters of public safety that would neither promote nor discourage developments in the nuclear sector only allow it to progress of its own accord as long as it is in a manner that doesn’t negatively affect public health and safety.

But since that’s unlikely to happen, I would much rather have industry people who are familiar with how things actually work in practice, understand what are true public safety concerns and are in favor of continued safe operation of nuclear power than someone who’s never worked at a nuclear facility, would give credence to false or overblown safety concerns that are a staple of the anti-nuclear stall tactics and actively seek to put themselves out of a job by over regulating the industry to the point that no new facilities could ever be constructed.

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