Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman Gregory Jaczko landed on a provocative title for his memoir tracing the trajectory of his political career and opinion of nuclear energy.
In Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator, Jaczko styles himself as a wonkish version of Jefferson Smith, the iconic hero of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. While Jimmy Stewart's character gave up his post as head of the Boy Rangers to trek to D.C., Jaczko, we are told, abandoned a future in academia, seeking “to use science to improve the world.”
Yet why Mr. Jaczko goes to Washington and stays there remains vague. There, Jaczko worked for then-Representative Ed Markey (D., Mass.) and, later, former senator Harry Reid (D., Nev.), two members with distinct and divisive positions on nuclear issues. We learn little of his views regarding nuclear power during his purportedly formative years as a congressional staffer.
