Washington - Richard Meserve, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission during some of its most challenging times, is resigning to lead
a research institution.
The NRC said Meserve's resignation, effective at the end of March, is
unrelated to the Davis-Besse plant near Toledo, the neglect of which led
to criticism that the agency was too lenient with the nuclear power
industry. Even Meserve's critics said they were unaware that his resigna
tion was any thing but volun tary.
In a message announcing his resignation to employees yes terday,
Meserve called the NRC "the most capable and effective agency in
government."
The statement puzzled U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Democrat of Toledo. "I
don't understand how someone could say that when the NRC fell asleep at
the switch in regulation at Davis-Besse and there have been other nuclear
difficulties around the country," Kaptur said. "I know he's only one
person, but he sets the tone for the whole agency."
Meserve will become president of the nonprofit Carnegie Institution of
Washington, where he has been a trustee for a decade.
President Bush will appoint a replacement, who could come from among
the current NRC commissioners or outside the agency. Meserve's term was to
have ended in 2004.
Meserve, who joined the NRC in October 1999, presided during several
controversies, including the debate on storing nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada, which Congress approved.
Meserve, 58, was at the helm when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
forced the NRC to concentrate on warding off assaults on nuclear plants.
He also headed the agency during the Davis-Besse debacle. While the NRC
staff wanted to shut down Davis-Besse for inspection at the end of last
year, Meserve's subordinates opted to keep the plant running until
February, which critics say compromised safety.
The NRC under Meserve narrowed its once-sweeping focus to areas it
thought carried the most risk while purposely minimizing what it called
the "undue regulatory burden" of power plants.
"If Meserve is the captain of the ship, the NRC has been going off
course during his watch," said Paul Gunter, director of the Nuclear
Information and Resource Service's Reactor Watchdog Project. He faulted
Meserve for lax oversight and for shutting out the public during
discussions on nuclear plant security after 9/11.
David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned
Scientists, said Meserve began curtailing public involvement well before
the terrorists struck. Meserve previously was a law-firm partner - he has
a law degree and a doctorate in applied physics - and "his style has been
that the lawyers can handle it, and the public can fit in the courtroom
behind the aisle and just watch," Lochbaum said.
The nuclear industry, however, praised Meserve as open to all views.
Joe Colvin, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear
industry's lobbying and trade group, said he was determined "to have his
agency remain a credible, impartial and effective protector of public
health and safety."
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