Daniel Ogg will lead the federal government’s independent board of technical experts on nuclear waste, the board announced on Monday.
Ogg had been the acting executive director of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) since the organization’s former head, Nigel Mote, retired in September 2021. Ogg assumed the role full time on Sunday, the board said in a press release dated Monday.
Board chair Jean Bahr said in a statement that “the Board is fortunate to have a person of Mr. Ogg’s ability and experience leading its staff.”
During his time as NWTRB’s acting head of the nuclear waste technical organization, his most recent work experience, Ogg led the Board’s efforts to evaluate the Department of Energy activities related to spent nuclear fuel packaging, storage, and transportation, the press release said. Ogg’s work also included studying the “behavior of high burnup commercial spent nuclear fuel under conditions of extended dry storage and transportation.”
Before joining NWTRB, Ogg spent 22 years working in various positions at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board in both technical staff and senior executive service roles. He also spent five years in the U.S. Navy aboard a nuclear submarine.
Ogg has a Master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary engineering from the University of Washington.
NWTRB, formed in 1987, is tasked with ensuring the scientific and technical integrity of nuclear waste disposal, storage and transportation projects undertaken by DOE. The Board has been active in DOE’s ongoing efforts to site a federal spent fuel repository, telling the agency in January that a “long-term political commitment” was necessary to achieve such a goal.
