Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko withheld information from other commissioners in an effort to influence their decision on closing the Yucca Mountain, Nev., nuclear waste dump, the agency's internal watchdog said in a report released today.

Jaczko strategically provided information about his intention to halt a scientific review of the repository, NRC Inspector General Hubert Bell's said.

But Bell said Jaczko did not break commission rules, and Jaczko has already claimed vindication (E&E Daily, June 10).

Bell's findings are likely to add fuel to an ongoing debate in Congress over the fate of more than 60,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel piling up around the country.

House Republicans accuse Jaczko of stalling a vote on whether the Obama administration can abandon the project, which is fiercely opposed by Jaczko's former boss, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

The Department of Energy submitted an application to develop the Yucca Mountain dump in 2008, but DOE pulled the application last year after the administration declared the site unsuitable. NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board later blocked DOE's attempt to pull the application, a decision the department appealed to NRC.

With one member of the five-member NRC recusing himself, the commission seems to be deadlocked on the matter, although the commissioners have not revealed their votes. Commissioner George Apostolakis recused himself from the case because he participated in the project's scientific review while at the Sandia National Laboratories.

Last October, Jaczko instructed NRC staff members to stop the review under guidance of a continuing resolution that Congress passed after failing to reach an agreement on the budget. DOE had already moved to stop work on the repository.

The chairman told NRC senior officials at the time that his instructions had the full backing of his colleagues, even though Republican Commissioner Kristine Svinicki was not informed of his intention to stop the review, and three other commissioners said they did not fully understand the implications of the chairman's directive, according to the IG report.

A majority of the commissioners also thought conditions had not yet been met to halt the review process, the report says.

Bell said there are now three reasons NRC cannot meet its obligation under the Nuclear Waste Act to review Yucca Mountain: The Obama administration has vowed to kill the project, the commission is receiving fewer appropriated funds, and Jaczko decided to stop working on the safety review.

Bell's report calls into question the manner by which Jaczko filters information meant to reach the commissioners.

"Because he acts as the gatekeeper to determine what is a policy matter versus an administrative matter, and manages and controls information available to the other commissioners, they are uncertain as to whether they are adequately informed of policy matters that should be brought to their attention," Bell wrote.

But commissioners can bring policy matters before the panel by circulating a document about the issue and gaining majority support from their colleagues to address the topic, the report says.

Republicans are also highlighting unflattering details the report reveals about the chairman, including statements from the chairman himself that he loses his temper with commissioners, which sometimes makes it difficult for people to work with him.

"The NRC inspector general's report paints an embarrassing picture of a bully whose use of deceit and manipulation is ruining the integrity of a respected independent regulatory agency," Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said in a statement. "It's quite clear that closer Congressional scrutiny of the NRC and the role the Obama Administration's agenda has played in Chairman Jaczko's unilateral actions is warranted and necessary."

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Environment and Economy Subcommittee, said in a statement today that the report shows a "calculating and political NRC chairman who has abused his authority, who sought to suppress scientific reports and withhold information from fellow commissioners -- strategically working to rig the system in a no holds barred effort to derail the Yucca Mountain repository."

But Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said the report confirms Jaczko's decision to halt the review of the repository was consistent with the law and his authority, despite a Republican "witch hunt" and accusations that he broke the law.

Click here to read the IG report.