..."It is sad to see those who would place the interests of a single industry over the safety of the American people wage a politically-motivated witch hunt against a man with a proven track record of ensuring that nuclear power is produced as safely and responsibly as possible," Reid's office said in a statement Saturday.
The four NRC commissioners said in a letter to the White House that they have "grave concerns" about Jaczko. They said his bullying style is "causing serious damage" to the commission and creating a "chilled work environment at the NRC."
"Jaczko was an aide to Markey before joining Reid's staff"
....Markey, made public a 23-page report accusing the four NRC commissioners of trying to impede U.S. nuclear safety reviews after the Japan crisis.
"Instead of doing what they have been sworn to do, these four commissioners have attempted a coup on the chairman and have abdicated their responsibility to the American public to assure the safety of America's nuclear industry," said Markey, a longtime nuclear critic.
The dispute comes after an inspector general's report released in June exposed long-simmering internal strife under Jaczko. In August, Republican senators asked the inspector general to investigate whether Jaczko had authority to declare the Japan nuclear crisis an emergency -- which grants him additional powers -- since the crisis occurred on foreign soil.
