I was fortunate to join six activists in a meeting Wednesday morning with Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  We  delivered a clear message:

Lack of responsible regulatory oversight is unacceptable.  The public has lost faith in the NRC.

As James Moore with VPIRG stated regarding the repeated mishaps at Vermont Yankee:  “We need a cop on that beat and we don’t have one.”

Ray Shadis with the New England Coalition said:  “What we see is a system rotten one end to the other.  The NRC doesn’t see that.”

Chairman Jaczko claimed he shares our same concerns, stating he wished we could follow him around for a day and know that he hears these same concerns from his staff.     I said I look forward to taking him up on that invitation, as well as seeing more robust oversight and action — not just expressions of concern — in responding to mishaps.

Members of the public and the media attended our meeting.  After the meeting  Chairman Jaczko visited Vermont Yankee but declined to include media or the public during that portion of his visit.

Coverage on the meeting in the Times Argus, The Associated Press, and the Brattleboro Reformer. You can also listen to the radio coverage from WFCR out of Western Massachusetts.