William Ostendorff, GOP-Appointed Regulator, Under Investigation For Thwarting Nuclear Safety Probe

Source: Huffington Post

The inspector general at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has launched an investigation into a GOP political appointee for attempting to thwart an agency probe into safety concerns at a Michigan plant, NRC insiders tell The Huffington Post.

In late May, Gregory Jaczko, then the chairman of the NRC, paid a rare visit to the controversial Palisades Power Plant on Lake Michigan. Activists are agitating for the plant's closure due to safety issues. The plant is represented in Congress by Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who has long been close to the nuclear industry.

While Jaczko was touring the plant on May 31st, according to the sources, a significant leak of potentially radioactive water was pouring into the control room. Less than two weeks later, the plant was shut down to repair the leak. Yet Jaczko was never made aware of the issue while inspecting the plant. He asked the NRC's Office of Investigations to look into why the leak was kept from him.

Commissioner William Ostendorff, however, wanted no such investigation to take place. Shortly after Jaczko ordered it, Ostendorff shouted at the top agency investigator, Cheryl McCrary, in front of several NRC employees. He told her that the inquiry should be halted and that it was a "waste of agency resources," according to the sources, who were briefed on the exchange by witnesses.

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Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/william-ostendorff-nuclear-safety_n_1778989.html