Gregory Jaczko resigned as head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week, ending months of open warfare with the staff and the other four commissioners over safety issues and a personal style often perceived as imperious.
Jaczko's departure stills the agency's lone major voice pushing for increased safety measures at the nation's 104 nuclear power plants despite its longstanding aversion to imposing costly fixes on the politically powerful industry.
And it ends a bitter public feud that led to extraordinary dueling hearings led by Democrats in the Senate, who supported his safety-first approach, and Republicans in the House who backed the four dissenting commissioners and called for his resignation.
New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, went so far as to declare at the Dec. 15, 2011 hearing that “he is the first chairman not to be in the pocket of the industry.” But as the controversy continued to swirl around the chairman, Lautenberg has backed away from the increasingly isolated Jaczko.
Entergy Corporation's low-key announcement might well have been posted on Craigslist: For Sale: Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. Used, unpredictable radioactive leaks, occasional fires, poorly run, financially indebted, locally unpopular, politically shunned and currently not working. $180 million - or best offer. “Selling an old nuclear plant is like...