Commish Put the Kibosh on Yucca Mountain Waste Dump In the Name of NIMBY, Report Says

(Rockville, MD) — A report produced by an internal NRC investigation shows that agency's chairman, Gregory B. Jaczko, withheld information from the other four NRC commissioners regarding the proposed Yucca Mountain High-Level Waste repository. A decision to kill the project, which has been in the works since the early 1980s and has already cost billions of dollars in research and development, was made in October 2009 — by Jaczko.

The Yucca Mountain site is located about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Not surprisingly, Nevada's senators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry "NIMBY" (Not In My BackYard) Reid, are fighting the decision to open the facility. Before Jaczko became NRC Chairman in 2009, and before he was an NRC commissioner in 2005, he coincidentally worked as a science adviser to Reid.

Jaczko has denied any political influence regarding his decision to bury the Yucca Mountain project.

The 46-page report, prepared by NRC Inspector General Hubert Bell, also discusses Jaczko's management style, citing examples where he punished employees and colleagues for not supporting him. In some cases, travel opportunities were curtailed, especially to other countries. Yet some NRC staff could hardly feel sorry for a commissioner's denied trip to Paris or Vienna.

"I've worked here for 48 years," said an NRC employee, speaking on condition of anonymity. "And in those 48 years, the only time I've ever seen the outside of this building is just before I arrive in the morning or as I leave for the day. Oh, yes, and that time I spent three weeks in the hospital having my major organs harvested. Otherwise, I haven't left my office in 48 years. And I'm supposed to feel sorry that some commissioners aren't jetting around the world? Boo-[deleted]-hoo."

Other NRC staff were eager to comment on another behavioral finding in the report: Jaczko's reported yelling and screaming at other NRC employees.

"Also, he's a spitter," said a punished NRC employee, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's bad enough to have someone yell at you for five minutes at a time, and that's when you're doing the job you were hired to do. But the spittle I could totally do without. It's not just unprofessional, it's disgusting."

The report also states that Jaczko tries to paper over the yelling sessions by offering his victims refreshments at the end of their reprimand.

"On more than one occasion, we have reports of employees being forced to join the chairman in a drink of tranya before heading back to work," said the IG report, according to a spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Unfortunately, tranya has a very bitter taste, and its side effects made several employees physically ill within hours of imbibing."

"That's nonsense," countered an employee of the chairman's office, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Tranya is refreshing. And Chairman Jaczko's familiar refrain of 'I hope you relish it as much as I!' is legendary."