PositiveScienceConfessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator is one part engrossing memoir and another part seething diatribe, depicting a government agency that routinely caves to industry pressure. The book cannot help but also feel like a rationalization of Jaczko’s own actions during his conflict-ridden tenure as chairman, a position offered to him in 2009 by President Barack Obama ... Confessions comes across as a story of one man and his loyal staff against a whole industry and its political toadies. Jaczko portrays himself as a naïve scientist, pushing hard for progressive reforms amid a corrupt bureaucracy ... The problem that plagued the old Atomic Energy Commission—that the promoters and regulators were too cozy with each other—is clearly alive and well. Jaczko describes the relationship as a corrupt, toxic environment.\' It may be a hard warning to hear, but it comes from one who had a fuller view of the nuclear regulatory landscape than most.
