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Republicans have begun calling for Jaczko’s ouster.

“The situation at the NRC sounds dire,” wrote Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) in a letter to President Barack Obama, “leaving me very concerned that the Chairman is unable to lead the Commission in the fulfillment of its responsibilities.”

On K Street, energy lobbyists have rallied to support the four other commissioners.

So far, the White House is standing by Jaczko, one of the least industry-friendly leaders to serve at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a generation.

For Washington’s tight nuclear policy circle, where scientifically trained political operatives move back and forth between the industry, the NRC, the Department of Energy and key congressional committees, it’s déjà vu. Interviews with several senior officials who worked on nuclear energy policy in the 1990s reveal that at least two of those operatives — both with strong ties to the nuclear industry — were closely involved in the ouster of an earlier reformist regulator and are now involved in the current drama.

What’s unfolding at the NRC is a textbook example of a little-discussed corporate tactic that is employed against public officials in extreme situations. Observers of the way Washington works tend to describe the corruption of the political system and the people within it in terms of action and reward: Do what industry wants, and benefit both professionally and personally. But when carrots aren’t enough, corporations have sticks to swing, too.

Susan McCue, who served as chief of staff for Jaczko’s former employer and chief Democratic supporter, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), wasn’t surprised to see the industry strategy at work.

“They have a lot of power, and they wield it,” said McCue. “They can’t tell Chairman Jaczko what to do, and I think that frustrates them.”…..

Dick Cheney, made nuclear power a top priority, and subsidies for the industry exploded — eventually growing by 59 percent during the Bush administration, while giveaways for fossil fuels stayed roughly flat, the Government Accountability Office reported.

Two decades removed from the Three Mile Island accident, a “nuclear renaissance” was under way……Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It included tremendous subsidies for the nuclear industry…..

THE SAME PLAY

The current fight against NRC Chairman Jaczko began with anonymous accusations that he was improperly asserting his authority to follow an administrative dictate, namely to shut down the planning for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, and that he’d been heavy handed with fellow commissioners, while failing to fully communicate in the wake of Fukushima — precisely the sort of charges leveled at Lash. An inspector general investigation was launched — step two — and, again, it found that the head of the federal office in question had acted within his legal authority and that he was carrying out administration policy.

Step three in the playbook went public on Friday night, Dec. 9. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), an industry ally whose fourth-largest campaign contributor is a company that owns a nuclear plant in his district, released a letter signed by Magwood, another Democratic NRC commissioner, and the two Republican commissioners attacking Jaczko. Internal emails released by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) show that staff for Magwood and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) closely coordinated the gathering of information damaging to Jaczko, information that the Markey emails later showed to be false……

THE UGLY UNDERBELLY

Jaczko, through a spokesman, declined to comment for this article, but one former top Democratic Senate staffer suggested the attacks against the chairman are the flip side of the spreading of corporate largesse. “This is the ugly underbelly of large corporate lobbying,” said the former staffer, …..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/29/nuclear-power-gregory-jaczko-nuclear-regulatory-commission_n_1160711.html