ML102100133
| ML102100133 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 07/15/2010 |
| From: | Lochbaum D Union of Concerned Scientists |
| To: | Jaczko G NRC/Chairman |
| References | |
| LTR-10-0338 | |
| Download: ML102100133 (3) | |
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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY CORRESPONDENCE CONTROL TICKET Date Printed:- Jul 22, 2010 08:12 PAPER NUMBER:
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LTR-10-0338 CHRM LOGGING DATE:
07/22/2010 AUTHOR:
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ACKNOWLEDGED SPECIAL HANDLING:
David Lochbaum UCS Gregory Jaczko Concerns the inconsistency between NRC managers and staffers when discussing nuclear safety matters in public Appropriate RF 07/15/2010 No NOTES:
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Union of Concerned Scientists Citizens and Scientists for Environmental Solutions July 15, 2010 Dr. Gregory B. Jaczko, Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001
Dear Chairman Jaczko:
I commend you for arranging to meet with representatives of local public interest groups yesterday as part of your visit to the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. I greatly appreciate that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission provided a phone bridge that allowed me and others to participate remotely in the meeting. Much useful information was discussed during the meeting.
You stated a wish that the representatives could follow you around for a day at headquarters because they would hear many of the sentiments they expressed coming from the mouths of NRC managers and staffers. The example you gave was Mr. Borchardt's foremost concern being the importance of regulating safety at Vermont Yankee between now and the end of its operating license in 2012. My own experience talking with NRC staffers before and after meetings is consistent with that which you described.
The question is why NRC managers and staffers cannot be equally candid and forthcoming when discussing nuclear safety matters in public? Earlier this year, the NRC staff conducted the annual assessment meeting for the public near Vermont Yankee. No NRC
.staffer publicly expressed sentiments such as those you ascribed to Mr. Borchardt. Instead, the NRC staffers only discussed the rose with no mention of concerns about its thorns. It's not that the NRC staffers provided false information during the annual meeting; they just did not provide the full true picture. They withheld the information you wished people could hear by following you around White Flint. Their biased, one-sided, incomplete communications is a prime reason the public lacks trust in the NRC. We feel we are not gettingthe full story from the NRC. By your admitted wish, you implicitly concede our feelings are valid.
www.ucsusa.om ! Two Brunde Square Cambridge, MA 02238-9105, TEL: 617.547.5552" FAX: 617.864.9405
July 15, 2010 Page 2 I also have wishes. I wish that people across America would not have to follow the Chairman around in order to hear the true full picture about safety at their nearby nuclear plants. I wish that NRC managers and staffers would say in public what they readily tell you in private. I wish that Open Government and transparency were realities and not just empty slogans.
I understand that the annual assessment meeting for Vermont Yankee was videotaped. If so, I recommend that you obtain a copy and view it. The record will show a significant gap between the stories you hear from NRC managers and staffers and the stories they relate to the public. I strongly suspect you will be amazed, and quite possibly outraged, by the size of that gap. That gap must be narrowed if not closed if the NRC is to regain public trust.
Sincerely, David Lochbaum Director, Nuclear Safety Project PO Box 15316 Chattanooga, TN 37415 (423) 468-9272, office