Congressman calls NRC an agency in crisis

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an agency "in crisis," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said on MSNBC on Monday, three days after releasing a letter four of the five commissioners sent to the White House criticizing the management style of their chairman, Gregory Jaczko.

"If the two Democrats on the Commission appointed by President Obama plus two Republicans -- one reappointed by President Obama -- cannot find any basis to continue working with this chairman, that's a independent agency telling us it's in crisis," Issa said.

Issa's office released a letter late on Friday in which the four commissioners claimed to have "grave concerns" that Jaczko was "causing serious damage" to the agency, according to the Associated Press. Jaczko, they said, has bullied senior career staff, withheld information and ignored the will of the majority of panel members.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, of which Issa is chairman, is scheduled to hold a hearing about the NRC on Wednesday.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., also speaking on MSNBC, disagreed with Issa's reading of the letter, saying "there are four commissioners who do not want to do this and they are consistent with the tradition of this agency being a lap dog and not a watchdog for nuclear safety."