The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board could be left without a quorum within 10 months if President Joe Biden fails to nominate and win Senate approval of at least one individual before the term ends for a long-serving member.
It increasingly appears 2022 will draw to a close without the White House nominating anyone to serve on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). Only three seats on the five-person panel are filled —and the term will expire for Department of Energy weapons complex veteran Jessie Hill Roberson Oct. 18, 2023.
Roberson is a familiar face for the nuclear industry, having served in public and private sector management jobs for more than 30 years, according to her board biography. Roberson was confirmed by the Senate on July 2, 2020, for a partial term expiring on Oct1. 18, 2023. Full board terms are five years.
Roberson’s full tenure at DNFSB is much longer, dating back to April 2010, according to her LinkedIn page. Likewise, Roberson served as assistant secretary of energy for environmental management from 2001 through 2004, during the first term of President George W. Bush. Her experience also includes stints at nuclear utility holding companies such as Exelon and the Southern Co.
Language passed in the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act stipulates outgoing defense board members must leave once their term expires, rather than stick around until a successor is sworn in. However, there is an exception in instances where the board would be left without a quorum, a DNFSB spokesperson said in a Wednesday email.
The lack of a quorum was addressed in the recently-passed 2023 defense policy bill, which says the chair of the safety board can basically act as the board itself for up to a year when there is no quorum. During this period, the chair is required to consult with any other sitting board members in exercising the board’s authority, the DNFSB spokesperson said.
While it has no outright regulatory powers, the DNFSB was created by congress in 1989 to provide independent nuclear site safety advice and recommendations to the DOE.
The other two current members of the board are chair Joyce Connery, whose term ends in 2024, and vice-chair Thomas Summers whose term ends in 2025.
