Thursday, March 20, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Daschle pushes Reid aide for NRC post

Appointment might help decide Yucca fate

WASHINGTON -- A scientist on the staff of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is being promoted by Senate Democrats as a nominee to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., wrote to President Bush on Wednesday recommending Gregory B. Jaczko for the five-person panel that regulates the nuclear industry and will decide on the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Jaczko, 32, has been Reid's principal adviser on nuclear power and the Yucca Mountain Project since 2001. He also is a Georgetown University lecturer on arms control and nuclear waste issues, and has conducted research as a visiting scientist in Japan and Germany.

Bush faces two NRC vacancies in the coming months, and must appoint one Democrat to maintain a requirement for at least two members of the opposition party to serve on the board.

NRC Chairman Richard Meserve is leaving at the end of this month. Also, the term of commissioner Greta Dicus expires at the end of June.

A native of Albany, N.Y., Jaczko earned a doctorate degree in theoretical particle physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1999.

In December, the trade publication Inside NRC reported on several possible nominees, including Energy Department Undersecretary Robert Card; Jessie Roberson, DOE assistant secretary for environmental management; and Dale Klein, Defense Department assistant secretary for nuclear, biological and chemical defense.

Also mentioned has been William Magwood IV, director of DOE's office of nuclear energy, science and technology.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has put forward Kristine Svinicki, his senior policy adviser on nuclear and environmental issues.

Inside NRC reported some believe it would be difficult for Bush to nominate anyone from the Energy Department, which will apply for an NRC license application to bury nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Presumably, conflicts also might apply to Jaczko, who has helped Reid try to kill the repository. Reid believes Jaczko's efforts to watchdog public safety at the Yucca site qualify him rather than disqualify him for the job, spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said.

"Dr. Jaczko is eminently qualified as a physicist who understands and cares deeply about nuclear safety issues," Reid said in a statement.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., also supports Jaczko, Daschle said.