president in this case supporting republicans and reed nominating a republican member of the nuclear regulatory commission. what's this story about? >> this is a very interesting story. you may recall back in december that some disagreements between the five members of the nuclear regulatory commission boiled to the surface when they had gone to the white house chief of staff to complain about the democratic chairman, gresry jazzco-and said he miss treated female employees and kept them out of the loop on policy decisions and including decisions related to yucca mountain. he so happens to be a former aid to harry reid, another democratic lawmaker and has the majority leader's full support. there was a dramatic house oversight and government reform hearing in mid-december where the five commissioners were called before the committee and said what the heck is going on? the four commissioners, two republicans and two democrats basically proceeded to lamb bass him for his behavior. he was sitting in the middle of the witness table and said yo know what they're talking about, this is the first i heard about it

nuclear regulatory commission has deferred action on a petition from the american physical society urging that an assessment to proliferation risk should precede the licensing of each processing facility in the united states. informed opinions are converging on the important topics, but they're framed by the different expert communities. it is our objective here in the nuclear policy talk series to bring these together. we've brought over 200 nuclear policy experts to campus in the last three years. as part of a nuclear policy talk series ranging from gw elliott school alumnus and acting undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, to senator richard lugar, united nations security council's ban ki moon and murray snyder. we're engaged in research on the topic as "going nuclear and international security in the 21st century" coed itted by michael brown reflects. we're developing new course offerings in this area including a new graduate course this fall offered by professor of chemistry and international affairs christopher cahill on nuclear materials science funded

commission meets today to discuss the tragic events in japan, and to begin to consider possible actions we may take. >> o'brien: nuclear safety in the u.s. is the responsibility of the nuclear regulatory commission , an agency with a staff of 4,000 and five politically appointed commissioners, led by chairman gregory jaczko. to what extent is what happened at fukushima kind of a complete surprise to the whole nuclear industry worldwide? >> i think there wasn't really the full appreciation for what the impacts could be from a tsunami and how that flooding could disable almost all the electrical distribution systems. so, what was really new, in a way, was the fact that here was something we hadn't really envisioned that could take out all of these basic safety systems. >> o'brien: america's 104 nuclear reactors may not face high risks from a tsunami, but they have to be prepared for earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, fires, potential terrorist attacks, or, as happened last summer in nebraska, a historic flood. in june, the swollen missouri river flooded the ft. calhoun nuclear plant. nrc chairman jaczko went to see for himself. >> the level at which there's an impact on the safe operati

. >>> the nuclear regulatory commission has charged the plants with the safety violations. according to reports the agency charged the plant after an employee was caught napping in a room that houses generators. this appeared to be an isolated problem. that employee has since been dismissed. >>> we have seen president destruction cause biped tornado -- by tornadoes. >>> 248.8. >> meet two brothers who have turned their come petition into getting healthy. >>> 54 at bwi. we guaranteed you 55 so we do have a two dprg -- two-degree weather winter. rosie gets an umbrella. cool trend. we'll talk about how that will change coming up on abc2 news at 6. >>> now to a breaking news update from florida. george zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed trayvon martin in february has been charged with second-degree-murder. zimmerman has admitted to shooting unarmed martin but as self-defense as part of florida's stand your ground. world news with diane sawyer will have more on the case in about 15 minutes or so. >>> the fifth annual brick challenge is in place. many are tryi

nuclear regulatory commission will tour the nuclear plant today.hat plant located in southern california's been closed for two months now because of a small amount of radioactive steam released from a leaking tube. it will remain closed while investigators look into exactly why those tubes are failing. authorities scrambling to find additional power sources just in case that plant ends up being closed through the summer when energy is in high demand. >>> a republican presidential hopeful draws big crowd at u.c. berkeley. it isn't a protest, it's a crowd of ron paul supporters. to accommodate the huge number of people, organizers had to move the event outside. paul talked about changing foreign policy, reining in the deficit and restoring civil liberties. supporters say his policies make sense. >> bringing all of our troops home. you know, just staying out of people's business. >> balance the budget, cut $1 trillion. obviously we can't afford anything. people always say, oh, he wants to cut education. no, he wants to cut the money out from the burea

nuclear regulatory commission's deferred action on a petition from the american physical society and urging that they should receive licensing. informed opinions are converging on these topics, but disagreements remain, framed by differences in the perspective of different expert communities. it is our objective in the series to bring peace together. we abroad over 200 nuclear policy experts to campus in the last three years as part of a nuclear policy talks series ranging from gw elliott school alumnus and acting undersecretary of arms control and international security, senator richard lugar, you and secretary general ban ki-moon, and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, mary snyder. we are engaged in research on the topic. the book was co-edited by the dean of the school, michael brown. and we are developing new course offerings in this area including a new graduate course in the fall offered by christopher cahill on nuclear materials, funded by a grant from the nuclear regulatory commission. it is a great pleasure to convene this discussion today, to have all of y

the nuclear regulatory commission trying to determine why tubing is eroding in an unusual rate. >> coming up next an amazing story out of argentina some are calling a miracle. >> what happened just before family was about to bury their newborn daughter. >> and taking a look at traffic now this is walnut creek, you can see signs of rain on the lens here. traffic is moving reasonable well. stay with us. the news at 4:00 continues right after this. >>> a family went from mourning their newborn's daughter's death to celebrating her second chance at life within 12 hours, it appeared the little girl was still born. she arrived three months early. the hospital issued a death certificate. but she wanted to see her little girl, so the father opened the tiny casket with a crowbar. that is when she heard a whimper, pemplts say the time in a refrigerated morgue might have saved her. >> the temperatures lowering so quickly. and actually acted to protect the baby because the brain doesn't need as much oxygen. >> the baby remain ndz intensive care nursery weighing only two and a half pounds. her parents

nuclear regulatory commission is set to visit the aling power plant on friday.plant has been offline tore two months after a break in a piece of tubing. investigators say the tube is wearing out sooner than expected, but they aren't sure exactly why. they warn if there is a heat wave, there could be black outs in the area. >>> in brazil, a prosecutor filed a second $11 billion lawsuit against chevron corporation after word of another leak in an offshore oil field. it is said to be near the sight where more than 110,000 gallons of oil leaked last year. a chevron spokesperson says the lawsuits are outrageous and without merit. a brazilian judge has to decide if the cases will move forward. >>> burger king has pulled a new ad, featuring mary j blige amid concern it contains black stereotypes. an african american company accused them of using blige to perpetuate a stereotype. the company says it was pulled over a music licenses issue and will be back on the air soon. >>> a cool blustery day today across the bay area. you may have seen the cloud build-ups. a sign of

a curious lack of action by the administration on the reappointment of a member of the nuclear regulatory commissione swinicki and three other commissioners complained publicly last year the action of the chairman could compromise nuclear safety. >>> our next story deals with voter fraud. how much of a problem is it? and whether voter i.d. laws are solution or something more sinister. here is correspondent shannon bream. >> i don't want dead people voting in the state of carolina. >> nikki haley says it's common sense for people to show i.d. arriving at the polling place on election day. south carolina is among 16 states that passed laws requiring photo i.d. 16 others require some form of i.d., though not necessarily a photo. several of the state laws have been blocked by the justice department and some are caught up in ongoing litigation. hillary shelton, senior vice president of advocacy for the naacp say supporters of voter i.d. laws have one goal in line. >> if only they suppress those altogether. that's un-american. that is undemocrattic. >> color of change, group founded by former white house

nuclear regulatory commission is set to visit the aling power plant on friday.plant has been offline tore two months after a break in a piece of tubing. investigators say the tube is wearing out sooner than expected, but they aren't sure exactly why. they warn if there is a heat wave, there could be black outs in the area. >>> in brazil, a prosecutor filed a second $11 billion lawsuit against chevron corporation after word of another leak in an offshore oil field. it is said to be near the sight where more than 110,000 gallons of oil leaked last year. a chevron spokesperson says the lawsuits are outrageous and without merit. a brazilian judge has to decide if the cases will move forward. >>> burger king has pulled a new ad, featuring mary j blige amid concern it contains black stereotypes. an african american company accused them of using blige to perpetuate a stereotype. the company says it was pulled over a music licenses issue and will be back on the air soon. >>> a cool blustery day today across the bay area. you may have seen the cloud build-ups. a sign of

nuclear regulatory commission will tour a plant in california today.he plant there will remain closed while investigators look into why the steam generator tubes are eroding. the plant has been closed for two months because of a small amount of radioactive steam that was being released from a leaking generator tube. >> an abandoned japanese ship is now under the sea. the u.s. coast guard hit the ship with gunfire until it explode and had sank in the gulf of alaska. last year's devastating tsunami set the ship adrift across the pacific ocean. the coast guard decided to sink the ship to prevent it from becoming a danger to the environment or to the other vessels. >> 5:12, 40 degrees on tv hill. a major bank reveals what the meltdown would mean for the bottom line. >> paper or email? more retailers are offering to put your receipts in your inbox, not in your bag. how many americans click yes in today's consumer alert. >> a couple of disabled vehicles causing problems, one on 95, the other on the j.f.x. on 95, the other on the j.f.x. details next. allegra-

nuclear regulatory commission says the actions were deliberate. the plan has been cited for the violence. they say nothing has been planned. constellation nuclear energy group says the employee is no longer working at that plant. >> reporter: constellation says safety is their highest priority. and they will not dispute the findings. >>> we have breaking news from eastern baltimore county. let's go to captain mike perry in sky eye chopper 13. >>> we're northbound i-95. this is the fort henry tunnel throughway. a single-vehicle accident. looks like a car rolled over and struck the median. the driver was trapped for a brief time. he has since been extricated and transported to hopkins bayview. his condition is not known at this hour. but we do have a significant delay along the northbound fort mchenry tunnel throughway. or i-95 northbound. the delay extends well back beyond the tunnel. so if you're approaching the tunnel throughway from the south, you want to perhaps use 895 as your alternate. back to you on tv hill. >> captain mike perry, report bei

. >> reporter: now, of course, the nuclear regulatory commission has to sign off before the plant comesline. the plant says, no way, the security concerns that those opposing the plant have said, that never could have happened, there were, obviously, plans in place to insure safety and security. now, jenna, the big question comes when the heat this summer hits california. if there are any other issues, california could be in a situation where we don't have enough power. we saw what happened about 12 year ago with the rolling brownouts, and that's what some people are worried about may happen if plant does not come back online. jenna: that's a pretty serious situation. we'll continue to watch the story, adam, thank you. rick: quick break, and then the balance of power in washington with more than the white house at stake in november, which party has the edge in controlling the house and the senate? larry sabato has his crystal ball, and he'll join us coming up next. >>> plus, a mystery that still tugs at americans more than 30 years later. a little boy walking to his school bus stop vani

nuclear regulatory commission has deferred action on the decision from the american physical society, urging that an assessment to risk should receive licensing of each new enrichment or reprocessing facility in the united states. informed opinions are burgeoning on these topics. this agreement remain. framed by the differences of different expert communities. it is our objective here in this series to bring these together. we have brought over 200 nuclear policy experts to campus in the last three years. as part of the talks series, and acting under secretary rose got a mark -- we are engaged in research on this topic as the mit book [inaudible] coedited by the dean of the elliott school, michael blount, reflects. we are also new course offers -- offerings in this area. nuclear material science for non-material students. funded by a grant. it is a great pleasure to convene this discussion to date to have all of you here together and have the opportunity to introduce doctor olli heinonen to discuss the situation in iran, which is obviously a depressing issue that intrudes discussion o

yesterday i called attention to kristine svinicki, a widely respected engineer who sits on the nuclear regulatory commission the federal agency charged with ensuring the nation of our nation's nuclear power plants. at the moment, commissioner sven i can is in africa -- svenicy is in africa at the request of the obama administration which shouldn't surprise anybody since she is one of the world's leading experts on the topic. and since president obama's own chief of staff signed a letter a few months ago expressing the administration's confidence in her commitment to the mission of the n.r.c., and her ability to fulfill it. i have the letter, it's debated december 12, and -- dated december 1 and i ask consent it appear in the record at this point. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mr. mcconnell: : despite the administration's stated support for her work she has not been renominated. the white house alone has the power to renominate. for some reason, they haven't. look, the only possible reason for this delay is the fact that she had the courage to blow the whistle on the commission's chairman, gr

we are -- the nuclear regulatory commission has given final approval for two additional reactors close to my hometown of augusta, fwea. these reactors are westinghouse, state of the art, that depend on gravity for cooling even if some catastrophe occurred, i don't think you'll get a tsunami in that portion of georgia, we certainly don't have many earthquakes or hurricanes, but if something like that happened and all power went out including loss of backup generator, you still would not have a problem with meltdown because the cooling is a gravity system. so yes, fukushima was a time to pause and look at and study and consider and think if there's additional safety factors that need to be put in place but if the other power companies across the country that also would like to be licensed to bring reactors online and i think you pointed it out, none have been brought online since the days of jimmy carter, after three mile island, that we know that nuclear power is safe, it's reliable, it's efficient, heretofore it's been expensive, it's still expensive, but when you're paying $3.97 a gal

now, on another matter, i'd like to say a word this morning about the nuclear regulatory commission. this is the federal agency that ensures the safety of our nation's nuclear power plants. specifically, i want to bring attention to the reappointment of christine sivinicki, or, rather, the curious lack of action surrounding her reappointment. commissioner sivinicki is one of the most respected commissioners ever to serve at the n.r.c. she's an experienced and fair-minded regulator whose leadership has earned her the admiration of members of congress on both sides of the aisle. she was confirmed for her first term without a single dissenting vote. prior to her four years on the commission, commissioner sivinicki spent more than two decades in public service working on nuclear safety issues in the senate, at the department of energy, and with the wisconsin public utilities commission. a nuclear engineer, she is one of the world's foremost authorities on nuclear safety and nuclear power and a great asset to the commission. and last year, commissioner sivinicki had the courage to sit u

the plant is located in san diego county and the head of the nuclear regulatory commission toured themain offline until it's determined why tubes are wearing out in steam generators. san i know fray's reactors were shut down more than two months ago when the problem was discovered. officials warn this could lead to rolling blackouts in its service area. >>> a judge lifting stay-away orders for two more occupy cal protesters. a group of demonstrators rallied at uc berkeley last november. the daily cal reports stay-away orders were issued to 12 people. they could only step on campus to attend class and work on school jobs. the two protesters still face charges of resisting arrest and remaining at the scene of a riot. four occupiers had their orders overturned last week. >>> so protesters are demanding that uc berkeley admit more minority students. >> integration now! >> about 20 students from cal and area high schools, as well as activists from the group by any means necessary staged a sit-in yesterday at the uc berkeley registrar's office. organizers say minority students comprise abou

this area is regulatory commiss these two reactors were among 27 5 of the we're... countrire to go after the dirtiest fossil >> good morning, eveplant cool s then, laus japan's 54 nuclear reactors supplied one third of the nation's elect if you try to imagine everyby matter of fact, i'm in the largest solar farm in the world he way it should be >> o'brien: e yeh s i've miles from north anna. >> steam comes out. >> o'brien: like earthquakes. or more of the public in aarounu there? >> the flooding at ft. calhoun meltdown, but it would haverelyn then, laus wi beof the barriers, many of for the past 20 years, thisted n renewables with tax subsidies a coal, increasing greenhouse gas pole way it should be. it'shallow. shocked and the government h >> o'brien: 30-plus years--enatr engineering school, fa emissions, you feel? to fossil fuels, then we willcad commissioners, led by chan and that's what's happening. an alternative source of energy nuclear power. just keep burning them.'s jes h, industry worldwide? to fossil fuels, then we willr. and at >> o'brien: and react they did. they set up a special committee >>t environmental argume a all the fossil fuels they can committed