World-Herald editorial: A matter of trust on nuclear power (tensions and negative working conditions

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120701/NEWS0802/707019963

Published Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 1:00 am / Updated at 2:49 pm

Reports of late about the tensions and negative working conditions within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have been distressing. Word came this past week that the NRC’s inspector general has found that the outgoing NRC chairman, Gregory Jaczko, engaged in bullying and intimidation on at least 15 occasions.

Jaczko altered or deleted staff recommendations before they were submitted to the full commission, the inspector general reported, and sometimes tried to intimidate staff members “to side with the chairman’s opinion despite their own judgments.”

That report follows allegations by some NRC staff members who have said they fear retaliation from their bosses in their efforts to police reactors. The claims are being investigated, the NRC says.

Disagreement and tensions can be found in just about any institution, and it shouldn’t be a surprise if the same is true of the NRC. But the NRC isn’t some minor organization. It’s one of the federal government’s most important regulatory bodies.

FULL story at link.