The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been in "emergency" status since the United States received tsunami warnings in the wake of a March 11 earthquake that crippled Japanese nuclear reactors last month, documents obtained by Greenwire reveal.
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko is using the rarely used status, allowing for the transfer of certain commission decisionmaking powers to himself, because of concerns that the tsunami spawned by the quake could hit the United States. Though that threat subsided within 48 hours, the emergency status continues, according to an email the NRC's Office of Congressional Affairs sent to a senior staffer for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
