The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday advanced three of the four Trump administration nominations for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB).
The nominees approved on voice vote were: Bruce Hamilton, current DNFSB chairman; current board member Jesse Hill Roberson; and nominee Thomas Summers, former vice commander of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. They now wait for a vote by the full Senate.
Still awaiting committee action, however, is Lisa Vickers, a facility representative for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. The White House nominated Vickers in January with the intent of making her the new vice chair, a position that is currently unfilled.
The Vickers’ nomination remains under consideration, a spokesperson for the Senate Armed Services Committee said by email Wednesday. The spokesperson declined to elaborate on the Vickers’ status.
Hamilton initially joined the DNFSB as a member in 2015 during the Obama administration. He was subsequently named chairman by Trump in October 2018. A Navy veteran, Hamilton also has four decades of experience in nuclear energy. His term would expire Oct. 18, 2022
Roberson is a onetime DOE assistant secretary of environmental management with more than 30 years in the nuclear sector. She was first confirmed to the DNFSB in early 2000 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. After a time away from the board, she rejoined the DNFSB as a member during the Obama administration. If confirmed again, her term would expire Oct. 18, 2023.
Summers is a retired Air Force officer and forme assistant National Nuclear Security Administration deputy for research development testing and evaluation for military applications. He would fill the unexpired term of former DNFSB Chairman Sean Sullivan, serving until Oct. 18, 2020.
The other member of DNFSB is Joyce Connery, an Obama administration appointee whose term actually expired last month, but who continues to serve under board rules until someone is nominated to take her place. Daniel Santos resigned his seat on the board March 29, leaving the panel with its current three members.
The mission of the five-member board and its staff of less than 100 is to provide independent analysis, advice, and recommendations on safety at Department of Energy nuclear sites.
