| Gregory Jaczko | |
|---|---|
| Chairperson of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 13, 2009 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Dale Klein |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 29, 1970 Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | Cornell University University of Wisconsin, Madison |
Gregory B. Jaczko (pronounced /ˈjɑːskoʊ/; born October 29, 1970, Norristown, Pennsylvania) is the Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
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Jaczko was raised in Albany, New York.[1] He studied physics and philosophy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and earned a bachelor in the two disciplines, there, in 1993.[1] He also earned a doctorate in theoretical particle physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 1999.[1]
He served as a Congressional Science Fellow in the office of U.S. Representative Ed Markey in Washington, D.C. on the basis of an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship. He also worked as an adjunct professor for Physics and Public Policy[2] under Dr. Francis Slakey[3] at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.[4]
He later advised the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on issues regarding nuclear power,[1] and served as appropriations director for U.S. Senator Harry Reid and as Reid's science policy advisor. [4]
Jaczko was first sworn in as a Commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on January 21, 2005. On May 13, 2009, President Obama designated him the organization's Chairman,[1] i.e. its principal executive officer and official spokesperson. [4] Jaczko is responsible for long-range planning as well as budgetary and certain personnel functions of the NRC. “He also has authority for all NRC functions pertaining to a potential emergency involving an NRC licensee”.[4]
Jaczko has asserted that the greatest possible openness furthers the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's work on the protection of the environment and of public health and safety.[4] He encourages “licensees, vendors, state and local governments, interest groups, and the general public” to participate in the Commission's policy-making efforts.[4] Efforts by Jaczko to strengthen security regulations for nuclear power plants have included requiring new such plants to be able to withstand an aircraft crash.[4]
A report by Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General Hubert T. Bell accused Jaczko of "strategically" withholding information from his colleagues in an effort to keep plans for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository from advancing.[5][6] The report also stated that he "controls information provided to other commissioners based on his interpretation of his statutory authority versus the authority given to the Commission" and that as a result, commissioners "are uncertain as to whether they are adequately informed of policy matters that should be brought to their attention."[6]
In October 2011, all the other four NRC commissioners - two Democrats and two Republicans - sent a letter to the White House expressing "grave concern" about Jaczko's actions at the NRC. On December 14, 2011, Commissioner William Ostendorff, a Republican, told a House oversight committee that Jaczko's "bullying and intimidation... should not and cannot be tolerated."[7] Commissioner William Magwood, a Democrat, testified that Jaczko has humiliated senior female staff in meetings and "reduced (them) to tears in front of colleagues and subordinates".[8] The "most troubling" issue about Jaczko, Magwood said, was his "raging verbal assault" of agency staff, particularly against women.[9]
A Congressional report detailed incidents indicating what House Republicans called Jaczko's "propensity for angry outbursts and aggressive behavior". In a June 2011 report questioning Jaczko's management style, the NRC inspector general wrote that "Jaczko acknowledged that he sometimes loses his temper."[10]
Top House Republicans have called on President Obama to dismiss Jaczko.[11] Jaczko said problems at the agency were not his fault but instead stem from "lack of understanding" on the part of others.[12] He said he does not intend to resign.[13]
Peter A. Bradford, who was a commission member from 1977 to 1982, has defended Jaczko. Bradford said it was not unusual for the commissioners to disagree strongly, and added that he did not believe that "the chairman is somehow raging around the agency and intimidating the staff".[14]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dale Klein |
Chairperson of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2009–present |
Incumbent |