From the article:

"At a time when the Bush Administration is pushing nuclear power as a partial solution to the nation's current energy woes, the fact that the accidents happened as far back as 1996 but were only recently disclosed highlighted what critics view as glaring weaknesses in the federal government's oversight of nuclear energy. So it was that earlier this week, just hours after the emergency at the LaSalle County nuclear plant and loud complaints from Republican Congressman Jerry Weller of Illinois, the NRC decided to launch a wide probe of all nuclear power operations in Illinois, which has the highest number of plants (6) and reactors (11) of any state in the U.S. As it happens, they are all owned by Exelon, a Chicago-based giant with some 5 million customers and $15 billion in annual revenues."