White House says supports embattled nuclear regulator

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has confidence in the embattled chairman of the nuclear safety regulator, and the top officials at the agency continue to do their jobs despite a bitter internal dispute, William Daley, chief of staff to President Barack Obama, said on Monday.

Daley expressed his support in a letter to Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the four commissioners at the agency, who had complained Jaczko had created a hostile work environment.

Daley met with Jaczko and each commissioner - two Democrats and two Republicans - as well as the agency's executive director, to discuss the concerns.

His conclusions come just before two hearings on Capitol Hill this week where Jaczko and the commissioners will face intense scrutiny from lawmakers over the dispute.

"In our meetings, each of you expressed your strong commitment to the agency and to ensuring that it fulfills its mission," Daley wrote to the five regulators.

"We have confidence in your ability to do so, and urge each of you to make every effort to improve the internal communications at the agency," he said, warning them he would monitor their progress.

Jaczko has taken responsibility for mending communications, Daley said, and has offered to bring in a mediator for the group.

The NRC's internal Inspector General is also studying the structure of the agency and may recommend improvements, Daley said.

FIGHT WORSENS AFTER FUKUSHIMA

The fight within the NRC has been brewing for months, and became more intense after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in March.

The four commissioners - William Magwood, Kristine Svinicki, William Ostendorff and George Apostolakis - complained that Jaczko was keeping information from them.

They wrote to Daley in October. That letter was released on Friday by Darrell Issa, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, who is holding a hearing with all five regulators on Wednesday.

Daley declined Issa's request to provide a White House witness for that hearing.

"With four bipartisan commissioners raising deeply troubling concerns about abuse and mismanagement at the NRC, it's hard to reach any other conclusion than the White House is in denial about the severity of the situation at the NRC," Issa said in a statement.

Jaczko has waged a public fight to push the NRC to act quickly to force power plants to make changes after Fukushima, such as ensuring more extensive back-up systems for situations where all power has been lost.

The commissioners have sought more extensive reviews and discussions before the changes are made.

Edward Markey, a nuclear industry critic and a Democrat in the House of Representatives, praised Jaczko on Monday for his work on post-Fukushima reforms.

"There are four commissioners who do not want to do this, and they are consistent with the tradition of this agency being a lapdog and not a watchdog for nuclear safety for the American public," said Markey, who once employed Jaczko, in an interview on MSNBC.

Jaczko has support from top Democrats in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- his former boss -- as well as Barbara Boxer, the Democratic head of the Senate Environment committee.

Boxer's committee will hold a hearing with all five commissioners on Thursday.

The main lobby group for the nuclear power industry asked the White House and Congress to address the infighting on Monday, saying the spat risks hurting the regulator's credibility at stake.

"Safe performance of nuclear energy facilities and the NRC's credibility are the two most important factors for policymaker and public confidence in nuclear energy," said Marvin Fertel, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York and Emily Stephenson in Washington; Editing by Dale Hudson, Alden Bentley and David Gregorio)