WASHINGTON--The chairwoman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission said Tuesday that she plans to step down in January,
after a two-year run in which she sought to calm the agency amid
clashes between her predecessor and the other commissioners.
Allison Macfarlane, appointed by President Barack Obama as NRC
chairman in 2012 after a period of tumult on the commission, said
in an email to staff Tuesday that she plans to leave the agency
effective on Jan. 1 and join George Washington University as
director of the school's Center for International Science and
Technology Policy. Ms. Macfarlane, a Democrat, became chairman in
July 2012 after the previous chairman, Gregory Jaczko, resigned
after clashes with the agency's four other commissioners over a
variety of issues, including Mr. Jaczko's leadership style and how
he managed NRC's response to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
disaster in Japan.
"I came to the Commission with the mission of righting the ship
after a tumultuous period for the Commission, and ensuring that the
agency implemented lessons learned from the tragic accident at
Fukushima Daiichi, so that the American people can be confident
that such an accident will never take place here," Ms. Macfarlane
said in her email to NRC staff. "With these key objectives
accomplished, I am now returning to academia."
Before her NRC post, Ms. Macfarlane was a professor at
Virginia's George Mason University specializing in nuclear
waste.
The NRC is an independent federal agency that regulates the
nation's nuclear-power industry, which generates about 20% of the
nation's electricity. The commission typically operates with five
commissioners, including the chairman.
It wasn't immediately clear who would succeed Ms. Macfarlane as
chairman or be tapped as the fifth commissioner. The White House
may appoint one of the current four commissioners--two of whom just
assumed their posts in September--as chairman, or it may appoint a
new nominee as chairman. The nominee, which requires Senate
confirmation, is expected to be a Democrat.
The White House didn't immediately respond to request for
comment.
Whomever Mr. Obama appoints as chairman will likely receive
scrutiny from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), who
opposes Yucca Mountain, a long-proposed nuclear-waste repository
site in Nevada that Mr. Obama put on ice when he became president
in 2009. The NRC has authority over its licensing process, which
has been largely stalled the last five years. As majority leader of
the Senate, Mr. Reid has ensured any chairman of the NRC doesn't
support the project.
His influence could be weakened next year if the Senate flips to
Republican control after November's elections, indicating Democrats
could try to push through a new nomination in the lame-duck session
of Congress between Election Day and next year.
Ms. Macfarlane, a geologist by training, wrote a 2006 book in
which she raised technical concerns about the Yucca, while avoiding
a clear pro-or-con position on the project.
Two other Democratic commissioners the Senate confirmed in
September, Jeffrey Baran and Stephen Burns, have avoided public
comments on Yucca Mountain in their confirmation hearings over the
summer.
Write to Amy Harder at amy.harder@wsj.com
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