THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD AND SIX MEMBERS TO THE NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD

President Clinton today announced his intention to designate Jared L. Cohon as Chairman of the Board of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. In addition to announcing the Chairman, President Clinton announced his intention to appoint six new members.

Dr. Cohon of Woodbridge, Connecticut, is currently Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. Dr. Cohon is an authority in the area of environmental systems and hydrology, and currently serves as a member of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. He received his B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The President is announcing the following individuals as members:

Daniel B. Bullen of Ames, Iowa, is Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Director of UTR-10 Nuclear Reactor Laboratory at Iowa State University. Dr. Bullen has previously served as an engineer with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He received his B.S. in engineering science from Iowa State University and his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Florie A. Caporuscio of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is with Informatics, Inc., and has spent most of his career working on various aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle. Previously, Dr. Caporuscio worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory on the Yucca Mountain Project, and also served as a staff geologist in the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air at the Environmental Protection Agency. He received his B.S. in Geology from the University of Massachusetts and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of Colorado.

Norman L. Christensen of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is the Dean of the Nicholas School of Environment at Duke University. Dr. Christensen, an ecologist, researches the effects of natural and human-caused disturbance on ecosystem structure and process. He has served in a number of advisory roles to the U.S. government, including working with the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Christensen holds an A.B. and M.S. in biology from Fresno State College and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Debra S. Knopman of the District of Columbia, is the Director of the Progressive Foundation?s Center for Innovation and the Environment. Dr. Knopman currently serves as a member of the National Academy of Sciences? Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources. Dr. Knopman previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Dr. Knopman holds a B.A. in chemistry from Wellesley College, a masters in civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D in geography and environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Priscilla P. Nelson of Arlington, Virginia, is Program Director in the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation, formerly Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Nelson has served as a member of the U. S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics, the U. S. National Committee for Tunneling Technology, and the Board on Radioactive Waste Management - all activities of the National Research Council. Dr. Nelson holds a B.S. in geological sciences from the University of Rochester, masters degrees in geology from Indiana University and in structural engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and a Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering from Cornell University.

Alberto A. Sagues of Luis, Florida, is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. Dr. Sagues' career includes several years with the Argonne National Laboratory and with the Juelich Nuclear Research Center in Germany. He received his Licentiate in physics from the National University, Rosario, Argentina, and his Ph.D. in metallurgy from Case Western Reserve University.

The Board, established in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments of 1987, is charged with evaluating the scientific and technical validity of activities undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in its program to manage and dispose of the nation's spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste. The major task facing members of the Board will be to evaluate the scientific and technical validity of the DOE's site characterization work at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. In 1998 the DOE intends to assess the viability of the site as a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste.

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