The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board continues without a quorum for its role as federal safety watchdog for Department of Energy nuclear weapons facilities, and the current chair’s term expires this fall.
Designed as a five-person panel, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) still has only two members. A Senate committee has approved a White House nominee that would bump the board up to three people, but no Senate vote has been scheduled as of Tuesday on Patricia Lee, a DNFSB spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
If approved, Lee’s term would run until Oct. 18, 2027.
Even if Lee, a manager at DOE’s Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, is confirmed soon, the quorum might not last long given DNFSB Chair Joyce Connery’s term will expire on Oct. 18. Connery has been on the board since 2015.
The other current member is DNFSB vice chair Thomas Summers, whose term ends in October 2025.
The board lost its quorum in October 2023 with the retirement of long-timer Jessie Hill Roberson.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Inspector General in a December report was critical of Connery and other board members saying they spent too much time occupied with day-to-day tasks that should be handled by senior staff.
