The embattled head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who last month endured a bitter public airing of grievances from colleagues, has lost his top aide, who resigned last month to take a new job. The staff shake-up in the personal office of NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko was announced internally at the end of December, the agency said.
Joshua Batkin, who was Jaczko's chief of staff for seven years, has taken a job at the International Code Council, which works with the construction industry. He previously worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "It is now time for me to seek out new challenges that will allow me to re-balance my work and family responsibilities," said Batkin, who has three young children, in his resignation letter.
Jaczko named Angela Coggins as his new chief of staff. Coggins also has worked for Jaczko since 2005, first as legal counsel and more recent as policy director. Jaczko has regularly clashed with the other four commissioners at the helm of the agency on policy issues. His colleagues took the unusual step in October of complaining to the White House about behaviour they described as "increasingly problematic and erratic."
At back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill last month, Jaczko was painted as a bully who has verbally abused senior female staff, allegations he and Democratic lawmakers refuted. The infighting comes as the agency deals with a sweeping set of reforms meant to ensure that a disaster like the one that last year befell Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex does not happen in the United States, home to the world's largest nuclear power industry. Jaczko has offered to try to repair damaged relations with help from a mediator.
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