THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES A.J. EGGENBERGER AND JESSIE M. ROBERSON TO THE

DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD

The President today announced his intent to nominate A.J. Eggenberger and Jessie M. Roberson as Members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB).

Dr. Eggenberger, of Harlowton, Montana, presently serves as Vice Chairman of the DNFSB, a position he has held since August 1989. Prior to his appointment to the DNFSB, Dr. Eggenberger was a senior official at the National Science Foundation serving as Program Director and Leader of the Earthquake Hazard Mitigation Program, serving the Foundation from 1984 until his appointment to the Board in 1989. From 1972 to 1984, Dr. Eggenberger served as an Associate Partner with D'Appolonia Consulting Engineers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was directly in charge of the Nuclear Facilities Group, dealing with such engineering issues as Mining, Milling, Fabrication, and reprocessing to disposal facilities in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to his service with D'Appolonia, from 1967 to 1972, Dr. Eggenberger was a Professor and Researcher at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Dr. Eggenberger received his B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University, his M.S. from Ohio State University, and a Doctorate of Philosophy from Carnegie Mellon University.

Ms. Jessie M. Roberson, of Evergreen, Alabama, has been employed by the Department of Energy (DOE) in a variety of capacities since 1989. From 1996 to the present, Ms. Roberson has been Manager of DOE's Rocky Flats Field Office at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site in Colorado. Ms. Roberson has held numerous other technical and managerial positions at DOE's Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site and the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina, as a project manager for reactor, weapons, safeguards and security, environmental cleanup, and waste management operations. From 1987 to 1989, Ms. Roberson worked for Georgia Power Company as a systems engineering specialist. From 1981 to 1987, Ms. Roberson was an employee at E.I. DuPont de Nemours as nuclear reactor operations manager at several sites. Ms. Roberson trained reactor operators and supervisors in both nuclear and field operations. Between 1982 to 1988, during her tenure at E.I. DuPont, she entered the reactor nuclear operations training program, successfully completed its testing requirements. From 1977 to 1980, Ms. Roberson completed work assignments as a student engineer for Westinghouse at the Clinch River Breeder Reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Nuclear Center in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Ms. Roberson has over 17 years of experience in the nuclear field, with an emphasis in environmental restoration, low level waste management and project management. Ms. Roberson received a B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The DNFSB was established in 1988 as an amendment to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) to serve as an independent establishment within the Executive Branch. The DNFSB is responsible for independent, external oversight of all activities in Department of Energy's (DOE) nuclear weapons complex affecting nuclear health and safety. The DNFSB reviews operations, practices, and occurrences at DOE's defense nuclear facilities and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Energy that are necessary to protect public health and safety. In the event DNFSB reviews disclose an imminent or severe threat to public health and safety, the DNFSB is required to transmit its recommendations directly to the President, as well as to the Secretaries of Energy and Defense.

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