[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8736-H8737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for 5 minutes.
Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, at the end of last week, I was able to take
to the floor with some of my colleagues to talk about high-level
nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. Part of that time, I wanted to make
sure, as I have each week, to highlight certain locations around this
country where high-level nuclear waste is stored. Because of time
constraints, I wasn't able to do that, so I take to the floor this
morning to highlight a nuclear power plant in Florida called Turkey
Point.
And the way I do this, Mr. Speaker, is I have this poster in front of
me, and I compare the location of high-level nuclear waste at Turkey
Point to the defined-by-law location for a single repository in this
country, Yucca Mountain.
So look at what we have here. At Yucca Mountain, we have currently no
nuclear waste on site. At Turkey Point, there's is 1,074 metric tons of
spent fuel on site. That's quite a lot of fuel. If we had waste stored
at Yucca Mountain, the waste would be stored 1,000 feet underground--
Yucca Mountain is a mountain. At Turkey Point, waste is stored above
ground in pools. Now why is that an important point to consider? The
nuclear catastrophe in Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi plant, part of the
major disaster was because of high-level nuclear waste stored in pools.
The earthquake occurred and either the water that was there boiled out
or there were cracks in the containment valve and it spilled out, and
then the nuclear waste heated up, and hence you have a very dangerous
situation still in Japan.
At Yucca Mountain, the waste would be stored 1,000 feet above the
water table. But here, at Turkey Point, which is in Florida, the waste
is on Biscayne Bay at sea level. So it is at sea level, not in a
mountain in a desert.
What we've done also is look at if you are at Yucca Mountain how far
are you away from really the largest body of water, which would be the
Colorado River? Yucca Mountain is 100 miles from the Colorado River.
Turkey Point and the nuclear waste stored there is 10 miles from the
Everglades--10 miles from the Everglades.
So we passed--I wasn't a Member of this Chamber at this time--a
Federal law called the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982. When we passed
that law, we defined Yucca Mountain as the national repository--a
single repository for not just nuclear waste from our nuclear power
fleet, but also the nuclear waste from our Department of Energy
locations from around the country.
Obviously, we are very close, but this administration, along with the
NRC Commissioner, has delayed, postponed, and tried to stop any
movement on Yucca Mountain. And that's why I take the floor. As the
subcommittee chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, part
of my jurisdiction is high-level nuclear waste, and that's why I come
to the floor weekly to address this issue.
Now, this is very timely this week, as Chairman Jaczko and the NRC
Commissioners are up here before our Oversight and Government Reform
Committee. Chairman Jaczko, in an article dated September 7, said, ``I
welcome debate, I welcome discussion, I welcome criticism.'' But a
letter sent to the Chief of Staff of the White House, Mr. Bill Daley,
by the other four Commissioners, bipartisan--two Democrats, two
Republicans, three appointed by the President--says this about Chairman
Jaczko: He's intimidated and bullied senior career staff to the degree
that he has created a high level of fear and anxiety resulting in a
chilled work environment. They also say he ordered staff to withhold or
modify policy information and recommendations intended for transmission
to the Commission. He has also ignored the will of the majority of the
Commission, contrary to the statutory functions of the Commission. And
he has attempted to intimidate the Advisory Committee on Reactor
Safeguards.
This is part of the problem of our not having a national policy to
move high-level nuclear waste to a centralized location in a desert
underneath a mountain, Yucca Mountain. We have Senators who have voted
for that in this area. The two senators from Florida, Tennessee,
Mississippi, and Alabama all support it.
[[Page H8737]]
United States
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC, October 13, 2011.
Hon. William L. Daley,
Chief of Staff, The White House, Washington, DC.
Dear Chief of Staff Daley: As individual members of an
independent regulatory commission, we all took oaths to
execute this agency's nuclear regulatory mission and to
uphold the institution's values, including its Principles of
Good Regulation. Our obligation is not only to the agency and
its staff, but also to the American people. It is from that
foundation that we write to express our grave concerns
regarding the leadership and management practices exercised
by Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory
Jaczko. We believe that his actions and behavior are causing
serious damage to this institution and are creating a chilled
work environment at the NRC. We are concerned that this will
adversely affect the NRC's essential mission to protect the
health, safety and security of the American people.
In a long series of very troubling actions taken by
Chairman Jaczko, he has undermined the ability of the
Commission to function as prescribed by law and decades of
successful practice. Since this current Commission was formed
some 18 months ago, after the President nominated and the
Senate confirmed the three newest members, we have observed
that Chairman Jaczko has:
Intimidated and bullied senior career staff to the degree
that he has created a high level of fear and anxiety
resulting in a chilled work environment;
Ordered staff to withhold or modify policy information and
recommendations intended for transmission to the Commission;
Attempted to intimidate the Advisory Committee on Reactor
Safeguards, a legislatively-chartered independent group of
technical advisors, to prevent it from reviewing certain
aspects of NRC's analysis of the Fukushima accident;
lnored the will of the majority of the Commission; contrary
to the statutory functions of the Commission; and
Interacted with us, his fellow Commissioners, with such
intemperance and disrespect that the Commission no longer
functions as effectively as it should.
Recently, on October 5, 2011, Chairman Jaczko appeared as
an invited guest at a periodic meeting of the agency's
Executive Director for Operations and other senior career
executives. According to multiple reports, his comments
reflected contempt for the Commission itself and open disdain
for the Internal Commission Procedures, a document that
embodies governing principles from the NRC's organic
legislation--the Energy Reorganization of 1974 and the
Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980. These procedures guide the
conduct of the work of the Commission.
Over the last 18 months, we have shown Chairman Jaczko
considerable deference. Moreover, for the sake of the agency,
its staff, and public confidence, we have strived to avoid
public displays of disharmony. Unfortunately, our efforts
have been received only as encouragement for further
transgressions.
We are committed to conduct the work of this agency to the
best of our ability and despite the items highlighted above
and numerous other troubling actions taken by Chairman
Jaczko, we have carried out the work before us and will
continue to do so. However, Chairman Jaczko's behavior and
management practices have become increasingly problematic and
erratic. We believe his conduct as Chairman is inconsistent
with the NRC's organizational values and impairs the
effective execution of the agency's mission.
We provided Chairman Jaczko our concerns in the attached
memorandum.
Sincerely,
Commissioner Kristine L. Svinicki.
Commissioner William D. Magwood, IV.
Commissioner George Apostolakis.
Commissioner William C. Ostendorff.
____
United States
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC, October 13, 2011.
Memorandum to: Chairman Jaczko.
From Commissioner Svinicki, Commissioner Apostolakis,
Commissioner Magwood, Commissioner Ostendorff.
As you know, many of us have, on occasion, taken issue with
your interpretation of the relative role of the Chairman and
the Commission, the role of the Chairman and the EDO, and
your approach to working with the Commission to lead this
agency. Over the past year, these issues, linked with your
troubling personal approach to interacting with us and the
senior staff, have intensified. This is a matter of serious
concern. We have responsibilities relating to the Commission
and the NRC staff, and we are accountable to Congress and the
American people. It is from this foundation that we write to
express our grave concern that your leadership and management
practices are causing serious damage to this institution.
First, with respect to your relationship with the
Commission, it is not uncommon to have some degree of tension
between a Chairman and the members of an independent
regulatory commission. But in the present case, your
intemperate and disrespectful behavior and conduct towards
fellow Commission members is completely unacceptable. A few
recent examples include your outburst of temper demonstrated
by storming out of an agenda planning meeting while a
colleague was speaking, yelling at fellow commissioners on
the phone, and termination of an NRC staff detailee's
assignment to a Commission office without any advance
discussion with the affected Commissioner. Although your
relationship with Commissioner colleagues has been a serious
problem for some time, it has gotten worse in recent months.
Second, your intimidation and bullying of the NRC staff to
do things your way has resulted in a work environment with a
chilling effect. While you are a champion of openness in
Commission deliberations, you have taken steps to discourage
open communication between the staff and the Commission.
There are a number of recent examples where you or your
office directed the staff to withhold certain views from the
Commission or strongly criticized the staffs views. Two
recent examples include your direction to the EDO to withdraw
the SECY paper on the Fukushima Near Term Task Force Report
as well as your strong, ill-tempered criticism of the senior
staffs recommendations in the post-Fukushima ``21 day''
report. While you have communicated to us that your primary
motivation in seeking to remove the EDO is based on his lack
of communications with you, due diligence with numerous
senior staff indicates that your motivation stems from
instances where the EDO did not follow your view on what to
present to the Commission as the staff's policy position.
This impairs the ability of the Commission to function
effectively; furthermore, your view of the role of the EDO is
fundamentally contrary to that of the Commission and the way
the NRC has functioned over the years.
Third, we are shocked to have received numerous reports
from NRC senior staff about your remarks at the October 5
Senior Leadership Meeting. Your comments have been
interpreted by those present not only to reflect your disdain
for the Internal Commission Procedures, but also your
contempt for the Commission. Your remarks to the NRC senior
staff undermine the entire Commission. This conduct is of
grave concern to us and is absolutely unacceptable.
In response to this persistent situation, we have decided
to transmit the attached letter to the White House Chief of
Staff to notify him of our serious concerns. We recognize
that this is an extraordinary step, but do not believe that
you have left us with viable alternatives.
____________________