The White House on Tuesday nominated a former staff member at the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB) to become a member of the panel.
Matthew Moury has since June 2017 served as Energy Department associate undersecretary for environment, health, safety, and security. His nomination to the DNFSB will be considered first by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Moury has 30 years of experience in the nuclear field, including almost two decades at the DNFSB, where from 1992 to 2011 he held several senior management jobs including leading the Nuclear Programs and Analysis, Nuclear Facility Design and Infrastructure, and Engineering groups.
Moury was previously a submarine officer and retired with the rank of captain in the Navy Reserves. He holds master’s degrees in both engineering and business administration.
If confirmed, Moury would fill the final open slot on the five-person safety watchdog panel for Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities.
On July 2, the Senate confirmed four nominations to the DNFSB: serving board members Joyce Connery, Jessie Hill Roberson, and Chairman Bruce Hamilton, and new member Thomas Summers, a former Air Force officer. As of Tuesday, no date was set for Summers to join the board, according to a DNFSB spokesperson.
Provided he wins confirmation, Moury would serve out an unexpired term ending Oct. 18, 2021.
Lisa Vickers, a National Nuclear Security Administration facility representative at the Pantex Plant in Texas, was nominated to the DNFSB in January 2019. But she never made it out of the committee, and the nomination was not refiled after being returned to the White House in January.
While the DNFSB has no actual regulatory power, it can issue safety recommendations to the secretary of energy, who must then publicly respond to them.
