the nrc staff went over to japan and did not go over as an nrc team but part of a usaid team there for a humanitarian assistance. there are a number people who have offered their assistance. while the nuclear may have seen many of the headlines, it was not the biggest piece of the u.s. response. in general, but i have seen through my interactions as chairman is that we have worked kolar bradley and cooperatively -- with the white house. >> how do you determine balance between regulatory agency and industry? tryan ideal world, indusr would be self-policing. how do you see it working now and how would you like to? >> in general, the systems work well. the nrc establishes safety requirements. they're responsible for implementing those and ultimately has an immediate day- to-day responsibility for safety. there is also a self-regulatory organization which plays a role in providing an excellence. i think we have many different pieces working on this. of course we have the public. one of the things i continue to be amazed by is the level of engagement we get from members of the public on all

and in the seven years that i've been at the nrc, six years i've been at the nrc, what i found is that the people that work at the agency are dedicated everyday to doing that and making sure we protect public health and safety. it's what we do. and i've just been impressed to see it in so many different ways as a commissioner and then now as chairman. >> very well. i'll just ask you to stand by and we have a couple of last housekeeping matters to take care of. i'd like to remind the audience about upcoming speakers. july 28th, michele bachmann, will be out here. august 19th, governor gary johnson, former governor of new mexico and also presidential candidate. ray lahood, and in early november tom brokaw will be here. secondly, i'd like to present our guest with our traditional mug. >> thank you. >> one last question. i can remember grows up there are any number of movies that demonized, and in the modern we have simpson, homer simpson works and doesn't always have the level of education that you bring to the podium. when you see those particular portrayals, does it bother you? what's y

and to see people from the nrc and other u.s. agent is working there to help our japanese colonies, i was just a bit of reinforcement for me about the strong bond would have with their colleagues in japan. so i was very impressed with the efforts and the focus of the people there and the dedication on all sides to try and work out very difficult issues in a challenging environment. >> hedy think they're doing quiet >> well, you know, ultimately i don't think i'm in a position to judge. i don't think any of us can truly understand the magnitude of the crisis in the magnitude of the challenge in japan. but what i think you can do best to provide expertise as they requested and help them handle a very challenging situation. but as i said, what i did see was a lot of people very dedicated to resolving some very difficult challenges. be that clearly are annexation to figure out what to do about what they did not do well and apply that landscape to the united states. can you break that down a bit as to lessons learned from our? and obv

will move forward, it has taken -- while we move forward, it has taken me nrc -- the nrc 10 years to implement. this will take a whole lot of hard work, strong and decisive leadership, and an even stronger requirements make safety of priority. have no other choice in this regard. i think the task force has provided an excellent start to this effort, and you're more than up to the task of seen the suffered through. ultimately this is not a challenge for me or the members of the commission or the nuclear industry. is a challenge for all of us as we continue to make sure that nuclear power can be used safety -- safely and securely. is ultimately a nuclear safety imperative. -- the american people need everyone involved with nuclear safety to do there part. i think you for your -- i thank you for your attention. >> and we will have more live house coverage at 6:30 eastern when members return for votes. tomorrow, a republican plan that ties raising the debt ceiling to passing a balanced budget amendment. right now, the house rules committee is meeting to consider what if any will be allow

still driven to hold the tva and nrc accountable.quare in the crosshairs of the nuclear power-to-be. and tomorrow in part two of our report, we'll take a close look, a very close look at the culture war at watts bar. >> incredible to hear her story. >> she's a remarkable woman. >> let's talk about the nrc japan task force. what were their main recommendations? >> they really came up with twelve and they're talking about strengthening what they say are the in-depth measures to the plant. in essence, if there's a fukushima-style disaster, the station blackout. if there is some seismic event, if there's a problem with the fuel rods. in the past, they have been patchwork. and what they really want now, they call it a logical, systematic, coherent set of >>> coming up next the battle for libya, as u.s. airmen see it six miles high in the sky. >>> we are going to get an inside look at nato's bombing campaign targeting moammar gadhafi's forces, now for four months right here on "the early show" on cbs. every day you live with the pain of mo

i know the people who work at the nrc are dedicated to safety. at tremendously talented group of people. as i look at the power plants in this country, dedicated people in those plants as well. it doesn't mean we don't have disagreements but if everyone does their job right -- >> how about a round of applause for our guest speaker? [applause] >> thank you for coming today and i would like to thank the national press club staff including library and broadcast center for organizing today's event. uconn find more information about the national press club on our web site www. press.org. you can find a copy of today's programs streaming future events as well. thank you very much. we are adjourned. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> now live coverage from the british committee. in two hours rupert murdoch and his son james along with former news international executive rebecca bob brooks will testify at a british parliamentary committee of allegations of phone hacking li

as you probably know, the nrc oversees that. cask designs have to be approved in the nrc. the recommendations we have given the commission is endorsed by the commission would provide additional mechanisms to assure the culpability of the fuel and the pool and they believe that would be the next safety benefit. we think you can get -- for lack of a better word, more bang for your buck by doing that because it would allow the continued cool ability of the new fuel as well as the older fuel. as i mentioned in the briefing, and he heat content would be. so part of the scenarios people have envisioned with regard to that and part of the initial thinking before we have a little more information on the fukushima was that the pools that so they went dry come the fuel got very hot, started what is known as the current and fire gave releases. we find out more now that that was probably not likely the case. but we don't know completely until the japanese have an opportunity to get in and inspect it more. so really what we looked at as if he takes in hand safety precautions to keep th

nrc chairman gregory jaczko wants to move on the latest safety recommendations within 90 days. but representatives of the nuclear industry say that may be too tight a deadline for an agency that typically takes yearso change policy. we look at some of the major questions surrounding safety concerns now with the head of the nuclear regulatory commission, gregory jaczko. welcome. thank you for joining us. let's start by talking about this report that came out today. these are recommendations that your task force is making that you want to follow or that the industry needs to follow? >> well, these are recommendations to the full commission. it's going to be up to the commission to decide whether or not we implement any of them. that's something i think we can do in the next 90 days. these are really common sense recommendations. >> ifill: let's walk through some of them and especially the ones arising, the questions arising from the japanese incident which is the seismic and flooding issues. how vulnerable are u.s. plants or any u.s. plants to that sort of thing assuming there wo

. >>> happening right now the nuclear regulatory commission the nrc is meeting in maryland. here's a look at a live picture from that meeting room. they're discussing a report issued just last week after the events in japan at the fukushima nuclear power plant. the task force proposed a range of actions to strengthen the ability of nuclear plants to with stand floods, earthquakes and other events. also recommends all plants have a back up battery capacity to survive a minimum of eight hours without power. japan has now banned all beef shipments from fukushima over concerns the cattle have been contaminated by radiation from the crippled nuclear power plant. the cattle ate straw from the country's biggest supermarket chain says it sold the beef at 14 stores in tokyo. >>> time is 6:47 and let's get to sal now for a check of weather and traffic out there actually. we saw speaking of weather was foggy on the golden gate bridge which can effect drivers. how is it right now? >>> maureen, steve and i are a team, maureen and kraig. little traffic, a little weather. it all comes toge

how about just one funding a major short term six month move to get the nrc, which is already worried sick about indian point -- we know that from the inside. they are holding public hearings, and to get it done? >> we have an example of billionaires working and getting stuff done, the coke brothers, are doing a good job. >> exactly, on the side. >> but they are driven by self-interest, economic self-interest. most of the do-gooders meeting in arizona are theoretically driven by now i got it, i want to help out. >> okay. >> economic self-interest is a very important driver, and that's what is facilitating the cokes. >> isn't it self-interest to save property values in the new york city metropolitan areas from cred l claims on insurance companies? [laughter] >> listen, insurance companies cannot insure that. insurance is the business of put -- multiple risks and averages. when you have a fukushima, that's a disaster that no one can insure. that's the problem. economically it's not possible. >> that's why in the fine print they exempt it in the homeowners policies? >> i don't know. >> t

we proceeded to contact the nrc.that is just over 30 minutes from the time we pinpointed where we had an issue. that is when we called the nrc. this a data we have provided from the beginning. there has not been a change in the data. they have come and visited our control center. they have gone through the logs of when the valves were closed. that is what the actual shutdown process entails. >> we have seen reports of plenty of wildlife impacted. apart from direct wildlife impact, it clearly impacts the soil and plants on the banks of the river that will impact the wildlife, including fish. with the you doing wildlife impact? >> we're working with epa, the state, and ourselves as the responsible party. each day, we go out and survey the river with aerial flights as well as walking the river to identify where there are patches of oil that need to be responded to. that date is brought back on a daily basis. the plan is used to identify where you will send resources of the next day to do the cleanup work. we have 500 pe

how about one, just funding a major short-term, six-month move, to get the nrc, which is already worried sick about indian point i'm a we know that from the inside. they're holding public hearings. and to get it done. >> we have an example of billionaires working and getting stuff done. the koch brothers. i been doing a pretty good job. >> exactly, on the other side. >> but they are driven by self interest. the economic self interest. most of the do-gooders better meeting in arizona are theoretically driven, by now i've got a, i want to help out. economic self interest is a very important driver, and that's what is facilitate the koch brothers. wouldn't be economic self interest to say property guys in your city metropolitan area from and credible claims on insurance companies? >> insurance companies -- insurance companies are not, cannot ensure that. insurance is the business of multiple risks and averages. when you have a fukushima, that's not a multiple risk. that's not an average. that's a disaster that no one can ensure. that's the problem. economically it's not possible. >> that's

we then proceeded to contact the nrc at 1219. we actually been pointed. this is the data we provided to phmsa from the beginning. as was mentioned earlier by ms. quarterman, they have come and visit our control center gone through the log of the various steps that were taken and when the files were close. i was the actual process entailed. >> thank you. we have seen reports of planning wildlife impacts, but apart from the direct wildlife, in fact they are clearly must've been impacts to soil and plants on the banks of the river. what are you doing to address that which relates to impact that? >> we work at the epa, what do what state deq and state as responsible party. each day we go out and survey the river, using aerial flights as well as locking the river to identify where there are patches of oil to be responded to. that is then brought back on a daily basis in the plan is amended to identify where you're going to that resource without the next day to do the cleanup work. as was mentioned earlier, we have over 500 people now on the banks of the river