The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told House lawmakers today that individually requiring companies that want to build new reactors to abide by lessons learned from Japan's nuclear disaster could slow reactor licensing activities.

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An occasional series looking at the political and policy -- and literal -- fallout from the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan.

Gregory Jaczko said the commissioners' decision last month not to require Southern Co. to incorporate lessons from Japan's Fukushima disaster before issuing a license for two new reactors in Georgia may have set a confusing and lengthy process for the agency going forward.

NRC will now have to address each new application individually to ensure plant operators make safety upgrades as new lessons are learned from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, he said. The reactor complex was crippled by a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami a year ago, triggering core meltdowns in three reactors, hydrogen explosions and radioactive leaks.

"I would say it's going to be very difficult for us in the next year or so as the new reactor licensing work continues," Jaczko told members of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development today. "It's going to be very difficult if at each step, for each reactor, we are having to come up with some kind of special approach and special way to deal with it."

Jaczko recently cast the sole dissenting vote against NRC granting Southern Co. and other utilities a license to build reactors at the Vogtle site about 170 miles east of Atlanta. His fellow commissioners -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- approved the license and trumped his objections.

Jaczko said at the time that NRC has no way of knowing if Southern will make safety upgrades.

The chairman said there is "a potential for having a significant delay" for one reactor license because NRC staff now are interested in requiring the company to address Fukushima lessons before issuing a license.

"I don't think right now we have a consistent way to deal with it," he said. "I'm a little bit worried that as we go forward, that's going to be more complicated without that" commitment.

House members said Jaczko seemed to be taking a contrary position to his colleagues on many fronts and noted that the chairman has said the agency is not moving fast enough to approve rules stemming from the Japanese disaster. Other NRC members have said the agency is moving at a swift pace.

The chairman said the commission is not on schedule to meet a five-year timeline for completing post-Fukushima rules, even though commissioners agreed during a vote to strive to meet that goal. Jaczko also said he agrees with NRC staff that the rules should not be subject to a cost-benefit analysis.

House members also grilled Jaczko on whether infighting at NRC is hampering the commission's ability to oversee the safety of the country's 104 operating reactors. Last year, Jaczko's colleagues complained to the White House that the chairman berated female employees and blocked information meant for the entire panel.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said NRC's credibility has been damaged under Jaczko's leadership and asked how he is going to assure the public that the agency is not politicized. Arguments over which NRC member is the most dedicated to safety damage the commission's credibility, he added.

Jaczko disagreed and said different points of view are the hallmark of a healthy safety regulator. He said the Fukushima disaster showed the commission's strength.

"If there was ever a time when that credibility was tested, it was after Fukushima," Jaczko said.