Daniel Santos last week resigned from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) after a little more than four years on the job, the independent nuclear health-and-safety watchdog confirmed Monday.
A spokesperson for the DNFSB said Santos’ last day will be March 29. The board had previously announced on its website, without naming names, that one DNFSB member had unexpectedly resigned. The board spokesperson did not immediately reply to a query about the reasons for Santos’ departure, or Santos’ post-DNFSB plans.
In part to cope with Santos’ abrupt departure, the DNFSB postponed a scheduled March 21 public meeting on its own operations. When Santos leaves, the nominally five-person board will be down to three members: the minimum for a quorum. Former DNFSB Chairman Sean Sullivan resigned in February 2018 amid media reports that he had proposed eliminating the board.
Had Santos not resigned, he could have been pushed out of the DNFSB anyway by a major reorganization the Donald Trump administration proposed in January. The plan requires Senate approval.
The new-look DNFSB would restore the board to its legal maximum of five members by nominating two new members and moving the current chairman into Santos’ seat. The Senate had not scheduled any hearings on any board nominees at deadline Monday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
If approved by the Senate, the new defense board would feature:
- Joyce Connery, an existing member. Term expiring Oct. 18, 2019.
- Bruce Hamilton, the current chair. Term expiring Oct. 18, 2022.
- Jessie Hill Roberson, an existing member. Term expiring Oct. 18, 2023.
- Thomas Summers, a new nominee and former vice commander of the Air Force 91st Missile Wing. Term expiring Oct. 18, 2020.
- Lisa Vickers, a new nominee and former Department of Energy site representative at the Pantex Plant, who would be vice chair. Term expiring Oct. 18, 2021.
Board members serve overlapping five-year terms. They can serve beyond the expiration of their terms, if the President does not nominate a successor who the Senate then confirms. Among active DNFSB members, only Connery’s term had not expired at deadline Monday.
