On September 21, 2012, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint eight individuals to the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (“NWTRB”).  The NWTRB was created through the 1987 amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (“NWPA”) and is an independent agency of the federal government.  The NWTRB examines the “technical validity” of Department of Energy (“DOE”) activities in connection with implementing the NWPA, and it provides “objective expert advice” concerning nuclear waste management to the Secretary of Energy and Congress.  As part of its statutory duties, the NWTRB reports at least 2 times per year to Congress and the Secretary of Energy on its findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

President Obama’s eight appointees to the NWTRB all currently work as university professors, and they will join the current members of the NWTRB appointed by President Obama in 2011 (Dr. Sue B. Clark, Dr. Rodney C. Ewing, and Dr. Linda K. Nozick).  The eight appointees are:

• Dr. Jean Bahr – Professor, Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin- Madison
• Dr. Steven M. Becker – Professor, Community and Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University
• Dr. Susan L. Brantley – Distinguished Professor, Geosciences, Director of Earth & Environmental Systems Institute, Pennsylvania State University
• Dr. Efi Foufoula-Georgiou – Professor, Civil Engineering, Director of National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics, University of Minnesota
• Dr. Gerald S. Frankel – Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Director of Fontana Corrosion Center, Ohio State University
• Dr. Kenneth Lee Peddicord – Professor, Nuclear Engineering, Director of Nuclear Power Institute, Texas A&M University
• Dr. Paul J. Turinsky – Professor, Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, Chief Scientist for DOE’s Innovation Hub for Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors,
• Dr. Mary Lou Zoback – Consulting Professor, Environmental Earth System Science Department, Stanford University  

The 11 NWTRB members were selected by the President from a list of candidates provided by the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and serve four year terms.  The nominees do not require Senate confirmation.

President Obama’s announcement is available here.