View Header

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release May 16, 2000
                PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES THREE MEMBERS 
             TO THE NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD                                  BOARD

     The President today announced his intent to appoint Debra S.

Knopman, Daniel B. Bullen, and Priscilla Nelson to serve as Members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB).

Dr. Debra S. Knopman, of Washington, D.C., has served on the NWTRB since 1997. Dr. Knopman is the director of the Center for Innovation and the Environment of the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, DC. She has been a Member of the National Academy of Sciences' Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources since 1995. From 1993 to 1995, Dr. Knopman was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of Interior.

Dr. Knopman received her B.A. from Wellesley College, an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Daniel B. Bullen, of Ames, Iowa, is currently the Director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and Associate Professor of mechanical engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Iowa State University. Dr. Bullen has been teaching since 1989 and has 11 years of industry experience in nuclear engineering and materials science.

Dr. Bullen received his B.S. from Iowa State University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Priscilla Nelson, of Arlington, Virginia, has served on the NWTRB since 1997. Dr. Nelson is Director, Division of Civil and Mechanical Systems, for the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation. She was a professor of civil engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Nelson has more than 13 years of teaching experience and more than 100 technical and scientific publications to her credit. 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 has a national and international reputation in rock engineering and the particular application of underground construction.

Dr. Nelson received a B.S. from the University of Rochester, a M.A. from Indiana University, a M.S. from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D.from Cornell University.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) was established in 1987 under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act as an independent unit within the Executive Branch. In accordance with the Act, the NWTRB evaluates the technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken by the Secretary of Energy relative to the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act. This also includes site characterization and the packaging and transportation of high-level radioactive waste or spent materials.

###