16 Mar 2011 Former Staffer for Anti-Nuclear Congressman Speaks for U.S. in AP Report

According to this AP article, the U.S., through U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, is saying that conditions are worse at Unit 4 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex than the people on the ground, the Japanese Government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Jaczko is a former Congressional staffer who worked these issues for Rep. Ed Markey — the very Rep. Markey who has been a fervent opponent of nuclear power and who just called for a moratorium on new plants. The AP doesn’t seem to have thought that was relevant.

The AP also seems to have confused a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Chairman though he may be, with representing the opinion of the United States of America (look at the headline).

Editor’s note: When this blog post was published, the AP headline read, “U.S. says plant’s spent fuel rods dry; Japan says no.” The headline has since been changed to: “Nuclear crisis a tangle of ominous, hopeful signs.” See secreen snap, below, for original version: