Department of Engineering Physics 1500 Engineering Drive Madison WI 53706
Phone: (608) 263-1646 Fax: (608) 263-7451 www.engr.wisc.edu/ep/
Nuclear Engineering Engineering Physics Engineering Mechanics Astronautics
December 30, 2003
President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington D.C.
Dear Mr. President:
With this letter, I am informing you of my decision to resign from the U.S. Nuclear
Waste Technical Review Board, effective January 12, 2004.
I take this action reluctantly, since it has been my honor to serve as a member of the
Board. However, I no longer find it possible to continue and be of service to you, to the
Congress and to the Board’s mission of scientific and technical review and oversight of
the Yucca Mountain project, given the continued distractions that are not germane to my
role. Ever since I took on this position in June of 2002, the Board staff and members have
been required to respond to inquiries about perceived conflicts of interest and these
distractions have created a huge burden on the Board members and staff and diverted us
from our proper oversight role. Personally, an enormous amount of my time and effort
has been devoted to answering questions and claims and this has minimized my ability to
be focused on our mission. Finally, I have become concerned about the potential effect
that those perceptions may have on the public’s trust in the Board’s oversight and review
process.
It is my view that I do not have a conflict of interest nor are my professional activities as
a university professor and researcher in nuclear reactor safety a source of potential
conflicts of interest. First, since my academic research is in nuclear power safety, I felt it
was important to openly acknowledge my professional activities in nuclear power safety,
and explain how I intended to manage them to avoid conflicts and perceptions of conflict
of interest. I felt this was important even though non