Over the past three years the agency has received 13 license applications<strong>for</strong> 22 new reactors, with another five applications on hold or under review.Focus on SafetyIn February, Gregory Jaczko’s job looked different. A362,000-square-foot building rising rapidly outsidehis office window mirrored the recent surge in theNRC’s staff and workload. Over the past three yearsthe agency has received 13 license applications <strong>for</strong> 22new reactors, with another five applications on holdor under review. The work<strong>for</strong>ce, now 4,000-strong,has grown by a third since 2005. At present, the3,000-person headquarters staff is scattered acrossthe Maryland suburbs near Washington, D.C., a symptomof growing pains. The new building will enable theagency to assemble them in one place.The growth has been explosive <strong>for</strong> an agency that,prior to 2007, hadn’t seen a license application <strong>for</strong> anew reactor since 1979, the year Unit 2 at the ThreeMile Island Nuclear Generating Station, near Harrisburg,Pa., suffered a partial meltdown. After 25 yearsfrozen in time, the nuclear power industry had finallybegun to thaw as Americans’ antipathy toward reactorsmelted under the heat of rising energy costsand dependence on <strong>for</strong>eign suppliers. The NRC hadstaffed up and was buzzing. In his first State of theUnion address, President Barack Obama called <strong>for</strong> “anew generation of safe, clean, nuclear power plants.”Speaking in his Rockville, Md., office in February,Jaczko said his main focus was creating a stable environmentin which NRC’s workers can remain intenton the agency’s key mission without being shaken byoutside <strong>for</strong>ces. “One of the bigger challenges we haveis to continue to ensure that we keep our focus onsafety despite some of the external challenges,” hesaid, referring at the time to pressures to speed upsafety reviews and licensing of new reactors. “Makingsure that we continue to allow the staff to do their joband to do it in a way as free from those external pressuresas possible is one of the bigger challenges,” hesaid. “That, if anything, is the thing that keeps me upat night.”NRC regulates every aspect of nuclear energy production,from the mining of nuclear materials and approvalof new reactor designs to the review and approvalof licenses to build and operate nuclear powerplants and the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Its rulesare designed to protect the public and nuclear energyworkers against radiation hazards from industries thatuse those materials.The agency is responsible <strong>for</strong> ensuring the continuedsafety of 104 aging U.S. nuclear power reactors,the most in any country, 101 of which have been inservice <strong>for</strong> more than 20 years. 1 Nuclear plants produce20 percent of U.S. electricity. The oldest, OysterCreek in New Jersey, powered up in 1969, and has thesame design as those at the imperiled plant in Japan.Most recently, the nearly 40-year-old Vermont Yankeenuclear plant, with another reactor of the same design,was granted an operating extension. The NRCannounced a 20-year renewal on March 10; it was finalizedon March 21.Jaczko must balance shifting and competing expectations.Notwithstanding the sharp influx of newlicense applications and a streamlined applicationreviewprocess, some lawmakers have pressed theNRC to approve licenses even more quickly, whileopponents of nuclear energy are pushing to slow therollout of new reactors. Approvals can take up to fouryears.Science and PoliticsJaczko was sworn in as a commissioner in January2005. At the time, he predicted that the NRC mightget one or two license applications <strong>for</strong> new reactorsduring his tenure, he recalls. A number of factorscombined to generate far more, chief among them the1 http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/map-power-reactors.html24 Leadership | <strong>CGI</strong> INITIATIVE FOR COLLABORATIVE GOVERNMENT | S P R I N G 2 0 11
2005 Energy Policy Act enacted in response to energyprice hikes and growing dependence on <strong>for</strong>eignoil. The law included tax credits, loan guarantees,and regulatory delay compensation to encourage thebuilding of commercial nuclear power plants.After serving on the commission <strong>for</strong> three years, Jaczkowas designated chairman in May 2009 by PresidentObama. His term runs through June 30, 2013. Aschairman, Jaczko touches almost everything that theNRC does. He leads the five presidentially appointedcommissioners in setting agency policy, and he overseesthe work<strong>for</strong>ce. He is the official spokesman andthe “authority <strong>for</strong> all NRC functions pertaining to a potentialemergency involving an NRC licensee,” rolesassigned to the chairman in the aftermath of the ThreeMile Island accident in 1979.In its October 1979 report, 2 the presidential investi-2 http://www.threemileisland.org/downloads/188.pdfgatory commission on TMI, as the country’s worst nuclearincident is known by NRC’s staff, recommended“organizational and procedural changes designed tomake the new agency truly effective in assuring thesafety of nuclear power plants.”The result was the retooled management structurein place today. Under it, the chairman sets the agenda<strong>for</strong> the commission, which decides issues by a simplemajority vote. By law, the commission cannot seatmore than three members of a political party at onetime, a dynamic that results in “very passionate disagreements,”says Jaczko. “I think that’s a good andhealthy thing. If Congress wanted us all to agree onthe commission, they would have just put one of usover here, not five.”Moreover, each commissioner, including the chairman,gets a single vote, making it impossible <strong>for</strong>any one commissioner to dictate outcomes. “I don’tworry too much about whether I win or lose votes,”U.S. COMMERCIAl NUClEAR POWER REACTORSYears of OPERATION by END of 2010Years ofCOMMERCIAlOPERATIONNUMBER ofREACTORS0 - 9 010 - 19 320 - 29 4830 - 39 4640+ 7SOURCE: U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMiSSiONS P R I N G 2 0 11 | COLL ABOR ATIVEGOV.ORG/LE AD | Leadership 25
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