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JACZKO BEGINS SHUTDOWN OF YUCCA REVIEW ON DUBIOUS AUTHORITY

Using an interpretation of a section of the 2011 budget not yet adopted by Congress, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko has ordered his staff to begin a “close-down” of the review of the Department of Energy’s license application –- even though the Agency’s final decision on a license withdrawal request and Congressional appropriations are still up in the air.

The NRC staff is using pages 94 and 95 of Nuclear Regulations 1100, Volume 26, as a guideline:  “Resources will support work to the orderly closure of the NRC’s licensing activities.”  The paragraph goes on to refer to “archiving material, completion of some technological work, knowledge capture and management, and maintenance of certain electronic systems to support these efforts.”

In plain language, this means NRC is closing the books on DOE’s application to develop Yucca, originally filed in 2008.  The Obama Administration asked for withdrawal of the application this March, saying Yucca was no longer needed.  Several states are appealing the DOE’s action in court.  In June, the Atomic Safety Licensing Board (ASLB), a division of the NRC, also rejected the application withdrawal request, saying that DOE did not have authority to do so under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and had not given sufficient scientific justification for abandoning the project.  The five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission has power of review over the ASLB recommendation but has not yet voted on the matter, which has been pending for 99 days.  Reports from within the NRC suggest that Chairman Jaczko may not have the votes to reject the ASLB finding.

Jaczko has a particular motive for pushing on with the Yucca close down.  A former staff member for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, he was appointed NRC chairman – according to some reports – specifically for the purpose of closing down the Nevada facility in Reid’s home states.  Reid is currently locked in a hard-fought effort to retain his Senate seat and proof that Yucca is actually shutting down would give a big boost to his campaign.

Jaczko’s authority in operating on a budget resolution that has not yet passed Congress is obviously a judgment call.  “This may be not as dramatic as its sounds,” said David McIntyre, a spokesman for the NRC’s office of public affairs. “The agency staff has already been at work on the transition to a post-Yucca scenario for some months.” The public affairs office speaks only for the chairman and does not represent the other four commissioners.

“We just entered the new fiscal year on October 1,” said McIntyre.  “The guidance given to the staff has been that with respect to high-level waste, it should follow the FY 2011 budget plan, even if the rest of the agency is operating on 2010 levels.”  Congress has not yet adopted a 2011 budget but is operating on a continuing resolution for the 2010 version.

Are the steps now being taken to close the Yucca application reversible?  “That’s not immediately clear,” said McIntyre.

The other four commissioners were not immediately available for comment.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 at 1:28 pm and is filed under NRC, Yucca Mountain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

  • White Flinter

    It looks like the Chairman has really stepped into the quagmire this time. Unfortunately, he has put the very future of the institution, we all hold dearly, at risk. Shame on him.

  • White Flinter

    It looks like the Chairman has really stepped into the quagmire this time. Unfortunately, he has put the very future of the institution, we all hold dearly, at risk. Shame on him.

  • White Flinter

    It looks like the Chairman has really stepped into the quagmire this time. Unfortunately, he has put the very future of the institution, we all hold dearly, at risk. Shame on him.

  • Adam Hoffman

    I have to agree with McIntyre; this probably isn’t all that dramatic. It’s not unusual for the NRC to get to the beginning of a new fiscal year without having a new budget approved. It happened several years while I worked there. The Agency is permitted to essentially continue under the assumption of funding levels from the previous year so that an appropriations delay in Congress doesn’t prevent them from doing there jobs.

    Yes, there is question about whether the DOE withdrawal will be accepted, and thus there is a judgement call to be made on whether to continue working on it. If the NRC did continue working on it only to find that it was successfully withdrawn and the work was unfunded, this money would have to come from elsewhere in the budget. Someone has to make a judgement call about this, and it’s not clear to me that this was the wrong decision. I suspect Klein would have made the same decision.

  • Adam Hoffman

    I have to agree with McIntyre; this probably isn’t all that dramatic. It’s not unusual for the NRC to get to the beginning of a new fiscal year without having a new budget approved. It happened several years while I worked there. The Agency is permitted to essentially continue under the assumption of funding levels from the previous year so that an appropriations delay in Congress doesn’t prevent them from doing there jobs.

    Yes, there is question about whether the DOE withdrawal will be accepted, and thus there is a judgement call to be made on whether to continue working on it. If the NRC did continue working on it only to find that it was successfully withdrawn and the work was unfunded, this money would have to come from elsewhere in the budget. Someone has to make a judgement call about this, and it’s not clear to me that this was the wrong decision. I suspect Klein would have made the same decision.

  • Adam Hoffman

    I have to agree with McIntyre; this probably isn’t all that dramatic. It’s not unusual for the NRC to get to the beginning of a new fiscal year without having a new budget approved. It happened several years while I worked there. The Agency is permitted to essentially continue under the assumption of funding levels from the previous year so that an appropriations delay in Congress doesn’t prevent them from doing there jobs.

    Yes, there is question about whether the DOE withdrawal will be accepted, and thus there is a judgement call to be made on whether to continue working on it. If the NRC did continue working on it only to find that it was successfully withdrawn and the work was unfunded, this money would have to come from elsewhere in the budget. Someone has to make a judgement call about this, and it’s not clear to me that this was the wrong decision. I suspect Klein would have made the same decision.

  • OTB

    Adam Hoffman says “I suspect Klein would have made the same decision.”

    Well, I suspect we’ll see what Dale Klein has to say about this soon enough since none of the current Commissioners have the balls to say anything. And I very much doubt that Klein will come to this conclusion. See his departure speech from the NRC to this end.

    However, it is very clear that Jaczko is treading on thin ice here.

    For one, the FY2011 budget hasn’t been approved by the Congress. Foks are supposed to tread water when this happens, not break new ground.

    Two, the Commission has yet to rule on the ASLB decision rejecting the DOE license withdrawal request. Isn’t pulling the plug on the license review, pre-judging this and akin to putting the cart before the horse? And by the way, why has Jaczko bottled up a verdict on the ASLB? i will answer this for you. He doesn’t have the votes.

    Finally, as a Reid appointee to the Commission, Jaczko should be bending over backwards to be even handed on Yucca Mountain. He has stepped into it here as noted in the first post above in a reckless action that threatens to undermine the trust and confidence accorded the Commission.

  • OTB

    Adam Hoffman says “I suspect Klein would have made the same decision.”

    Well, I suspect we’ll see what Dale Klein has to say about this soon enough since none of the current Commissioners have the balls to say anything. And I very much doubt that Klein will come to this conclusion. See his departure speech from the NRC to this end.

    However, it is very clear that Jaczko is treading on thin ice here.

    For one, the FY2011 budget hasn’t been approved by the Congress. Foks are supposed to tread water when this happens, not break new ground.

    Two, the Commission has yet to rule on the ASLB decision rejecting the DOE license withdrawal request. Isn’t pulling the plug on the license review, pre-judging this and akin to putting the cart before the horse? And by the way, why has Jaczko bottled up a verdict on the ASLB? i will answer this for you. He doesn’t have the votes.

    Finally, as a Reid appointee to the Commission, Jaczko should be bending over backwards to be even handed on Yucca Mountain. He has stepped into it here as noted in the first post above in a reckless action that threatens to undermine the trust and confidence accorded the Commission.

  • OTB

    Adam Hoffman says “I suspect Klein would have made the same decision.”

    Well, I suspect we’ll see what Dale Klein has to say about this soon enough since none of the current Commissioners have the balls to say anything. And I very much doubt that Klein will come to this conclusion. See his departure speech from the NRC to this end.

    However, it is very clear that Jaczko is treading on thin ice here.

    For one, the FY2011 budget hasn’t been approved by the Congress. Foks are supposed to tread water when this happens, not break new ground.

    Two, the Commission has yet to rule on the ASLB decision rejecting the DOE license withdrawal request. Isn’t pulling the plug on the license review, pre-judging this and akin to putting the cart before the horse? And by the way, why has Jaczko bottled up a verdict on the ASLB? i will answer this for you. He doesn’t have the votes.

    Finally, as a Reid appointee to the Commission, Jaczko should be bending over backwards to be even handed on Yucca Mountain. He has stepped into it here as noted in the first post above in a reckless action that threatens to undermine the trust and confidence accorded the Commission.

  • Horatio Hornblower

    Less than 30 days until the beginning of the end of the tyranny of complete stupidity.

  • Horatio Hornblower

    Less than 30 days until the beginning of the end of the tyranny of complete stupidity.

  • Horatio Hornblower

    Less than 30 days until the beginning of the end of the tyranny of complete stupidity.

  • http://www.nrc.gov NRC Spokesperson

    On behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, we would like to make the following clarification with regard to NRC staff review of the Yucca Mountain application.

    Clarification:
    With respect to Yucca Mountain, the NRC staff is acting consistent with the budget and commission policy in transitioning to closeout activities. It is the chairman’s responsibility to ensure the staff follows commission policy. It is important to note that the Commission has not acted to change that policy.

    This is a routine administrative activity undertaken by the staff – following established Commission guidance.

    This budgetary action has absolutely no connection with any decision the Commission might make on the pending question of the ability of DOE to withdraw its application.

    Office of Public Affairs

  • http://www.nrc.gov NRC Spokesperson

    On behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, we would like to make the following clarification with regard to NRC staff review of the Yucca Mountain application.

    Clarification:
    With respect to Yucca Mountain, the NRC staff is acting consistent with the budget and commission policy in transitioning to closeout activities. It is the chairman’s responsibility to ensure the staff follows commission policy. It is important to note that the Commission has not acted to change that policy.

    This is a routine administrative activity undertaken by the staff – following established Commission guidance.

    This budgetary action has absolutely no connection with any decision the Commission might make on the pending question of the ability of DOE to withdraw its application.

    Office of Public Affairs

  • http://www.nrc.gov NRC Spokesperson

    On behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, we would like to make the following clarification with regard to NRC staff review of the Yucca Mountain application.

    Clarification:
    With respect to Yucca Mountain, the NRC staff is acting consistent with the budget and commission policy in transitioning to closeout activities. It is the chairman’s responsibility to ensure the staff follows commission policy. It is important to note that the Commission has not acted to change that policy.

    This is a routine administrative activity undertaken by the staff – following established Commission guidance.

    This budgetary action has absolutely no connection with any decision the Commission might make on the pending question of the ability of DOE to withdraw its application.

    Office of Public Affairs

  • Darrin Sideman

    I was surprised by the following statement in the article, which no one seems to have mentioned:

    “Reports from within the NRC suggest that Chairman Jaczko may not have the votes to reject the ASLB finding.”

    I haven’t heard any reports of this nature (but I’m also not inside NRC).

    I’m also assuming that the article itself is subject to the unavoidable difference in perspective that comes from being on the outside of these deliberations. I think it’s fair to say that the actions of an agency, seen from the outside, look much different than the view from the inside.

    Nevertheless, the Chairman does run the risk of creating the appearance of impropriety (which is part and parcel of any neutral agency’s commerce with politics).

    Already in the Yucca Mountain saga (which could actually be characterized as the epic poem of our nation’s failure to tackle the back-end of the fuel cycle), we have seen DOE take many dubious steps to terminate the Project before they seemed to have legal grounds to do so.

    These steps may all be legal, and even legitimate, with an accompanying reasonable explanation (i.e., standard practice during times of analyzing effects of the upcoming budget).

    But they also lend themselves to theories of political cynicism, such as the contention that DOE is trying diligently to sabotage the Project and make it impossible (or wholly impracticable) to resurrect should the NRC or legal decisions ultimately prevent withdrawal of its license application.

  • Darrin Sideman

    I was surprised by the following statement in the article, which no one seems to have mentioned:

    “Reports from within the NRC suggest that Chairman Jaczko may not have the votes to reject the ASLB finding.”

    I haven’t heard any reports of this nature (but I’m also not inside NRC).

    I’m also assuming that the article itself is subject to the unavoidable difference in perspective that comes from being on the outside of these deliberations. I think it’s fair to say that the actions of an agency, seen from the outside, look much different than the view from the inside.

    Nevertheless, the Chairman does run the risk of creating the appearance of impropriety (which is part and parcel of any neutral agency’s commerce with politics).

    Already in the Yucca Mountain saga (which could actually be characterized as the epic poem of our nation’s failure to tackle the back-end of the fuel cycle), we have seen DOE take many dubious steps to terminate the Project before they seemed to have legal grounds to do so.

    These steps may all be legal, and even legitimate, with an accompanying reasonable explanation (i.e., standard practice during times of analyzing effects of the upcoming budget).

    But they also lend themselves to theories of political cynicism, such as the contention that DOE is trying diligently to sabotage the Project and make it impossible (or wholly impracticable) to resurrect should the NRC or legal decisions ultimately prevent withdrawal of its license application.

  • Darrin Sideman

    I was surprised by the following statement in the article, which no one seems to have mentioned:

    “Reports from within the NRC suggest that Chairman Jaczko may not have the votes to reject the ASLB finding.”

    I haven’t heard any reports of this nature (but I’m also not inside NRC).

    I’m also assuming that the article itself is subject to the unavoidable difference in perspective that comes from being on the outside of these deliberations. I think it’s fair to say that the actions of an agency, seen from the outside, look much different than the view from the inside.

    Nevertheless, the Chairman does run the risk of creating the appearance of impropriety (which is part and parcel of any neutral agency’s commerce with politics).

    Already in the Yucca Mountain saga (which could actually be characterized as the epic poem of our nation’s failure to tackle the back-end of the fuel cycle), we have seen DOE take many dubious steps to terminate the Project before they seemed to have legal grounds to do so.

    These steps may all be legal, and even legitimate, with an accompanying reasonable explanation (i.e., standard practice during times of analyzing effects of the upcoming budget).

    But they also lend themselves to theories of political cynicism, such as the contention that DOE is trying diligently to sabotage the Project and make it impossible (or wholly impracticable) to resurrect should the NRC or legal decisions ultimately prevent withdrawal of its license application.

  • Alvin Heskett

    Harry Reid held up all of President Bush’s judicial appointments for over a year until President Bush agreed to appoint Gregory Jaczko to a five year term to the NRC in exchange for Reid allowing some of President Bush’s judicial appointments to go forward.

    Jaczko was Harry Reid’s assistant at the time.

    He was put in this position for exactly this reason–to stop the 30 years of progress in solving the nuclear waste problem, and to allow the expansion of low cost nuclear energy.

    May. 14, 2009
    Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Former Reid aide named chairman of NRC

    Gregory Jaczko doubted plans for Yucca repository

    By STEVE TETREAULT
    STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

    Gregory Jaczko, left, shown in 2008 with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was named chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday.

    WASHINGTON — Gregory Jaczko, a former aide to Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has expressed doubts about storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, was designated Wednesday as chairman of the federal nuclear safety agency.

    President Barack Obama approved the promotion, which was announced by the White House.
    http://www.lvrj.com/news/44970662.html

  • Alvin Heskett

    Harry Reid held up all of President Bush’s judicial appointments for over a year until President Bush agreed to appoint Gregory Jaczko to a five year term to the NRC in exchange for Reid allowing some of President Bush’s judicial appointments to go forward.

    Jaczko was Harry Reid’s assistant at the time.

    He was put in this position for exactly this reason–to stop the 30 years of progress in solving the nuclear waste problem, and to allow the expansion of low cost nuclear energy.

    May. 14, 2009
    Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Former Reid aide named chairman of NRC

    Gregory Jaczko doubted plans for Yucca repository

    By STEVE TETREAULT
    STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

    Gregory Jaczko, left, shown in 2008 with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was named chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday.

    WASHINGTON — Gregory Jaczko, a former aide to Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has expressed doubts about storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, was designated Wednesday as chairman of the federal nuclear safety agency.

    President Barack Obama approved the promotion, which was announced by the White House.
    http://www.lvrj.com/news/44970662.html

  • Alvin Heskett

    Harry Reid held up all of President Bush’s judicial appointments for over a year until President Bush agreed to appoint Gregory Jaczko to a five year term to the NRC in exchange for Reid allowing some of President Bush’s judicial appointments to go forward.

    Jaczko was Harry Reid’s assistant at the time.

    He was put in this position for exactly this reason–to stop the 30 years of progress in solving the nuclear waste problem, and to allow the expansion of low cost nuclear energy.

    May. 14, 2009
    Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Former Reid aide named chairman of NRC

    Gregory Jaczko doubted plans for Yucca repository

    By STEVE TETREAULT
    STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

    Gregory Jaczko, left, shown in 2008 with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was named chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday.

    WASHINGTON — Gregory Jaczko, a former aide to Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has expressed doubts about storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, was designated Wednesday as chairman of the federal nuclear safety agency.

    President Barack Obama approved the promotion, which was announced by the White House.
    http://www.lvrj.com/news/44970662.html

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