Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator

by Gregory B. Jaczko

Overview

A shocking exposé from the most powerful insider in nuclear regulation about how the nuclear energy industry endangers our lives—and why Congress does nothing to stop it.

Gregory Jaczko had never heard of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission when he arrived in Washington like a modern-day Mr. Smith. But, thanks to the determination of a powerful senator, he would soon find himself at the agency’s helm. A Birkenstocks-wearing physics PhD, Jaczko was unlike any chairman the agency had ever seen: he was driven by a passion for technology and a concern for public safety, with no ties to the industry and no agenda other than to ensure that his agency made the world a safer place.

And so Jaczko witnessed what outsiders like him were never meant to see—an agency overpowered by the industry it was meant to regulate and a political system determined to keep it that way. After an emergency trip to Japan to help oversee the frantic response to the horrifying nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011, and witnessing the American nuclear industry’s refusal to make the changes he considered necessary to prevent an equally catastrophic event from occurring here, Jaczko started saying aloud what no one else had dared.

Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator is a wake-up call to the dangers of lobbying, the importance of governmental regulation, and the failures of congressional oversight. But it is also a classic tale of an idealist on a mission whose misadventures in Washington are astounding, absurd, and sometimes even funny—and Jaczko tells the story with humor, self-deprecation, and, yes, occasional bursts of outrage. Above all, Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator is a tale of confronting the truth about one of the most pressing public safety and environmental issues of our time: nuclear power will never be safe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476755786
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	01/15/2019
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	794,487
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dr. Gregory Jaczko served as Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 2009–2012, and as a commissioner from 2005–2009. As Chairman, he played a lead role in the American government’s response to the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. Jaczko is now an adjunct professor at Princeton University and Georgetown University, and an entrepreneur with a clean energy development company. He is the author of Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator.

Read an Excerpt

Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator
I never planned to be in a position to tell this story. A trained physicist, a Birkenstock-wearing PhD still amazed that a few simple equations could explain something as extraordinary as the northern lights, I never intended to become a nuclear regulator.

Before I came to Washington, I had never heard of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. There are no television shows or movies with dashing federal agents rushing into a nuclear power plant with blue blazers flashing NRC logos. But because of a powerful politician and a right-place-at-the-right-time kind of timing, I became not only a nuclear regulator but the head of the agency.

This is how my first conversation with Harry Reid, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate, who eventually got me on the commission, went back in 2001 when I was interviewing for a job in his office.

As we sat down in his office, he said, in a soft, raspy voice, “I would like you to come work for me.”

“Great,” I replied.

“You are a physicist, right?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me the name of your PhD dissertation.”

“?‘An Effective Theory of Baryons and Mesons.’”

He stood up abruptly and asked, pointing at the window, “What do you think of my view?”

And so I started down the path that would eventually get me the job of commissioner, landing me inside the secret corridors of the agency charged with regulating the nuclear industry. I felt like Dorothy invited behind the curtain at Oz. Then, in another unlikely development for a guy with untested political skills and his basic idealism still intact, I became the agency’s chairman.

The problem was that I wasn’t the kind of leader the NRC was used to: I had no ties to the industry, no broad connections across Washington, and no political motivation other than to respect the power of nuclear technology while also being sure it is deployed safely. I knew my scientific brain could stay on top of the facts. I knew to do my homework and to work hard. But I could also be aggressive when pursuing the facts, sometimes pressing a point without being sensitive to the pride of those around me. This may have had something to do with why I eventually got run out of town. But I also think that happened because I saw things up close that I was not meant to see: an agency overwhelmed by the industry it is supposed to regulate and a political system determined to keep it that way. I saw how powerful these forces were under the generally progressive policies of the Obama administration. These concerns are even more pressing under the Trump administration, in which companies have even more power. I was willing to describe this out loud and to do something about it. And I was especially determined to speak up after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan, which happened while I was chairman of the NRC. This cataclysm was the culmination of a series of events that changed my view about nuclear power. When I started at the NRC, I gave no thought to the question of whether nuclear power could be contained. By the end, I no longer had that luxury. I know nuclear power is a failed technology. This is the story of how I came to this belief.

Table of Contents

Prologue vii

Chapter 1 Dr. Jaczko Goes to Washington 3

Chapter 2 Forget and Repeat: A Brief but Necessary History of Accidents 23

Chapter 3 The Burning Issue: The Battle to Prevent Nuclear Fires 41

Chapter 4 Nevada Roulette: Ending the Yucca Mountain Charade 54

Chapter 5 Accidents Do Happen: The Tragedy of Fukushima 70

Chapter 6 Visiting Tokyo: Crises Reveal Human Beings at Their Best 96

Chapter 7 Tsunamis in the Heartland: A Scenario for an American Fukushima 104

Chapter 8 Fukushima Effects: The Fight over Essential Industry Reforms 116

Chapter 9 Express Lane: The Nuclear Industry Licensing juggernaut 132

Chapter 10 Cleanup Is Forever: Visiting Fukushima 144

Chapter 11 Going Nuclear: Confrontation over the Building of New Atomic Plants 152

Chapter 12 Out of Time: My Departure from the Agency and the Future of Nuclear Power 159

Appendix: A Peek at the Science of Nuclear Reactors 169

Notes 179

Index 183

Editorial Reviews

10/15/2018
A shrill, defensive tone mars this career memoir from Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Obama years, in which he argues that “nuclear power is a failed technology” “more hazardous than it is worth.” Presenting himself as an optimistic, science-centered political outsider, Jaczko tells a story of crusading for strengthened safety standards in the face of nuclear industry opposition. He details his battle against long-standing “enforcement discretion” for fire safety, his contribution to defeating a controversial proposed waste disposal site in Nevada, and his part in the American response to the Fukushima disaster. Jaczko’s tone turns personal in his outraged depiction of being ousted from the commission in 2012, framing his colleagues and staff as conspiring against him, their description of him as an “out-of-control bully” as a misunderstanding of his passionate intensity, and his hotheadedness as a loss of patience for “coddling the nuclear power industry.” Jaczko’s descriptions of plant processes are clear, but don’t convey any great interest in the underlying scientific principles, and the internal government politics he discusses come across as, sadly, business-as-usual, making it difficult to read the book as anything but a disgruntled, self-justifying polemic. Agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Literary Management. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A very important read for all interested in nuclear safety.

CleanEnergy.org

The infuriating inside story of how a corrupt, outmoded, and inefficient nuclear industry maintains its market position against safer, more efficient forms of renewable energy by hoodwinking and corrupting Congress and co-opting the regulators. Jaczko’s book shows us for the first time how the industry is transforming the officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Agency into sock puppets and shills for the hideously dangerous boondoggle they are paid to regulate. This is an urgent wake-up call and a must-read.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is going on the offensive to explain why nuclear energy is nowhere near a perfect solution to the climate crisis.... [Jaczko makes] a compelling argument, and anyone who may be warming to nuclear energy in the fight to reverse climate change should examine it.

Las Vegas Sun

I love Jaczko’s book... It’s a passionate and personal account of what happens to honest bureaucrats trying to use science and the government in the public interest. It’s also a riveting true story, well-written, insightful, very timely, and extremely important.

CounterPunch

Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator is one part engrossing memoir and another part seething diatribe, depicting a government agency that routinely caves to industry pressure.... Jaczko’s account will become standard reading as an antinuclear book.

Science Magazine

[A] highly intriguing, intellectually stimulating and political powder keg of a book.

Society of Environmental Journalists

Jaczko argues persuasively that he was fighting a losing battle with industry lobbyists, pro-nuclear congressional members, and even his commission colleagues. This is a well-written memoir from an insider with a powerful message: nuclear power can never be made completely safe, and defining safety is as political as it is scientific. Jaczko's forthright 'confessions' will help raise awareness on this crucial issue.

Booklist

Jaczko’s book provides insights into the politics behind... skewed analyses and suggests that a reform-minded Congress might usefully look into the NRC’s regulatory process.

Physics Today

Gregory Jaczko provides an inside account of the inescapable tension at the heart of nuclear power, its mixing of vast potential and vast peril. Through his front-row seat to the Fukushima disaster, Jackzo demonstrates how the dangers of nuclear power has outstripped our imagination. This is Unsafe at Any Speed for the world of nuclear power.

Garrett M. Graff

Jaczko argues persuasively that he was fighting a losing battle with industry lobbyists, pro-nuclear congressional members, and even his commission colleagues. This is a well-written memoir from an insider with a powerful message: nuclear power can never be made completely safe, and defining safety is as political as it is scientific. Jaczko's forthright 'confessions' will help raise awareness on this crucial issue.

Booklist

Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is going on the offensive to explain why nuclear energy is nowhere near a perfect solution to the climate crisis.... [Jaczko makes] a compelling argument, and anyone who may be warming to nuclear energy in the fight to reverse climate change should examine it.

Las Vegas Sun

A tell-all memoir about [Jaczko’s] time atop the commission. Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator dishes up details about his days as a Hill staffer, his turbulent beginning as NRC chief and, ultimately, his resignation.

E&E News

The infuriating inside story of how a corrupt, outmoded, and inefficient nuclear industry maintains its market position against safer, more efficient forms of renewable energy by hoodwinking and corrupting Congress and co-opting the regulators. Jaczko’s book shows us for the first time how the industry is transforming the officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Agency into sock puppets and shills for the hideously dangerous boondoggle they are paid to regulate. This is an urgent wake-up call and a must-read.”
—Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president, Waterkeeper Alliance

“A cautionary tale with a matter-of-fact tone.”
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

08/01/2018
As former chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), physicist Jaczko found the NRC dominated by the industry it was supposed to regulate and spoke out—particularly with the refusal to make the changes that would prevent another catastrophe like Fukushima.

Library Journal

2018-10-02

The political education of a scientist-turned-nuclear energy regulator.

As chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission under President Barack Obama, Jaczko was not a political insider; nor was he beholden to the industry that had invested and reaped billions of dollars from the proliferation of nuclear energy. He maintains that he was "a nuclear power moderate" when appointed to the commission, though one who "had become skeptical of the ability of the nuclear power industry to properly balance its fiscal responsibility to shareholders with the demands of public safety." As with many regulatory agencies, nuclear power regulation seems to suffer from a fox-guarding-the-henhouse mentality. The financial stakes are huge, not only for the industry, but for those who benefit from the jobs the industry creates and the taxes it pays, which often support the communities where the reactors are located. Accidents are rare, but when they occur, as the lingering memory of Three Mile Island reminds us, the results can be devastating. Better safe than sorry, but how safe is safe? "What constitutes ‘safety' is often determined by political, not just scientific, judgments," writes the author, who experienced political resistance funded by anti-regulation lobbying throughout his tenure. "I was hardly anyone's first choice for the job," he admits, as even the Obama administration that appointed him expressed skepticism over his lack of administrative experience and the staffers he would oversee weren't accustomed to working with someone so young (early 40s). Jaczko found himself consistently at odds not only with the industry he was charged with regulating and with their congressional supporters, but with the rest of his commission. The more he pushed for safeguards following the Japanese Fukushima accident in 2011, the stronger such resistance became, and he admits that "sometimes I behaved in a way that could be described as hotheaded." Since resigning in 2012, he now advocates from the outside and maintains that "nuclear power is a failed technology."

A cautionary tale with a matter-of-fact tone.

Kirkus Reviews