1.0 Introduction to the DCISC 17th Annual Report - July 1, 2006 thru June 30, 2007
1.2 Appointment of Committee Members
A request for applications is publicly noticed by the CPUC. After receipt of the applications, and an opportunity for public comment on qualified applicants, a list of candidates is selected by the CPUC and provided to the appointing agencies. In accordance with the Restated Charter:
“The President of the CPUC shall review each application to assess the applicant’s qualifications, experience and background, including any conflict of interest and comment received from the public, and shall propose as candidates only persons with knowledge, background and experience in the field of nuclear power facilities and nuclear safety issues who demonstrate they have no conflict of interest . . .”
In July 1989, when CPUC President G. Mitchell Wilk announced the initial list of nine candidates nominated for appointment to the DCISC, he noted that
“. . . an independent safety committee clearly requires members who could demonstrate objectivity and independence. For this reason, none of the nominees has testified for PG&E or any other party before the CPUC or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in any proceeding regarding Diablo Canyon.”
- The Restated Charter provides:
- “No person shall serve as a member of the Committee if he or she has a prior history of supporting or opposing PG&E as a witness or intervener in nuclear licensing or CPUC proceedings associated with Diablo Canyon.”
1.2.1 William F. Conway
On February 3, 2005, William F. Conway was appointed by Chair William Keese of the California Energy Commission (CEC) to a term on the Committee ending on June 30, 2006. On July 19, 2006, Mr. Conway was reappointed by CEC Chair Jackalyne Pfannenstiel for another term on the DCISC expiring June 30, 2009.
Mr. Conway joined the Arizona Public Service Company in May 1989 as executive vice president-nuclear, having overall responsibility for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest commercial nuclear generating facility in the United States. He retired from that position in July 1994.
From 1988 to 1989 Mr. Conway was senior vice president of nuclear operations at Florida Power & Light Company where he was responsible for their four nuclear units. Prior to this, he served as the group vice president for industry and government relations at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) in Atlanta where he was responsible for the Institute’s interaction with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy and had responsibility for personnel performing periodic evaluations of U.S. nuclear power plants. During the previous 18 years Mr. Conway was employed by the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation where he held several positions including plant manager, vice president and president and chief executive officer. Mr. Conway was a member of the original plant staff at Vermont Yankee and took early retirement in 1986.
Mr. Conway is a member of the American Nuclear Society and served on the board of directors of the Nuclear Utilities Management and Resources Council and its Issues Management Committee and chaired the Nuclear Energy Institute Severe Accident Management Committee. Mr. Conway formerly served on the Research Advisory Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and was chairman of the Institute’s Nuclear Power Division Advisory Committee. He was the organizer and former chairman of the ABB Combustion Engineering Owners Group Executive Committee and served on its Advanced Light Water Reactor Executive Advisory Committee. He was also a member of the INPO board of directors and served on its Advisory Council. Additionally, Mr. Conway served as a member of the Accrediting Board of the National Academy for Nuclear Training.
Mr. Conway was a member of the board of directors of First Energy Corporation and chairman of its nuclear committee as well as a member of its audit committee. He is a retired trustee of Northeast Utilities Company where he served as a member of its nuclear committee. He continues to serve as a nuclear safety committee member at several nuclear power plants. He has testified on nuclear issues on both national and state levels and delivered presentations at American Nuclear Society meetings and INPO Chief Executive Officer conferences. Mr. Conway was also a participant in discussions leading to the formation of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).
1.2.2 Per F. Peterson
On September 2, 2004, Per F. Peterson, Ph D, was appointed by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to a term on the Committee expiring June 30, 2007.
Dr. Peterson is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1982. After working at Bechtel on high-level radioactive waste processing from 1982 to 1985, he received a MS degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley in 1986 and a Ph.D. in 1988. He was a JSPS Fellow at the Tokyo Institute of Technology from 1989 to 1990 and a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator from 1990 to 1995. He is past chairman of the Thermal Hydraulics Division (1996-1997) and a Fellow (2002) of the American Nuclear Society, a recipient of the Fusion Power Associates Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award (1999), and has served as editor for three technical journals.
Professor Peterson’s work focuses on problems in energy and environmental systems, including passive reactor safety systems, inertial fusion energy, and nuclear materials management. His research interests focus on thermal hydraulics, scaling, heat and mass transfer, fluid dynamics, and phase change. He is author of over 100 archival journal articles and over 110 conference publications on these topics.
Dr. Peterson served as DCISC Vice-Chair for the period February 16, 2005 through June 30, 2006 and for this report period, July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007.
1.2.3 A. David Rossin
In July 2000, Dr. A. David Rossin was appointed by Governor Gray Davis to a term on the Committee expiring June 30, 2002. On January 10, 2003, Dr. Rossin was reappointed by Governor Davis for another term as a member of the DCISC expiring June 30, 2005. On August 16, 2005 Governor Schwarzenegger announced Dr. Rossin’s reappointment to the DCISC for a term expiring June 30, 2008.
Dr. Rossin was Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy 1986-7. He was elected President of the American Nuclear Society for the 1992-1993 term. He was Visiting Scientist in Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley from 1988-1991 and taught graduate courses on the nuclear fuel cycle. Dr. Rossin has served as Director of the Nuclear Safety Analysis Center at the Electric Power Research Institute and Director of Research and Chair of the Nuclear Waste Task Force for the Commonwealth Edison Company (1972 – 81). In 1982 he was voted Electric Industry Man of the Year “. . . for his efforts to improve public understanding of nuclear, energy and environmental issues.” Dr. Rossin’s research at Argonne National Laboratory (1955 – 72) involved predictions of embrittlement of nuclear reactor pressure vessel steel. He also specialized in nuclear reactor shielding and safety. He served on Argonne’s Reactor Safety Review Committee for ten years and was its Chair for two years.
Dr. Rossin is President of Rossin and Associates, a consulting company which advises utility companies, trade associations, national laboratories and universities on nuclear and advanced energy technology, non-proliferation, waste management and other electricity related issues. He was a consultant to Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
Dr. Rossin is currently an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. His current research is on the people and events which led up to the U.S. policy decisions of 1976-1977 to abandon reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, its impacts, and the implications for the future. Dr. Rossin is writing a book based on this research. With Professor T. Kenneth Fowler, Dr. Rossin published a book titled “Conversations on Electricity and the Future - Findings of an International Seminar and Lessons from a Year of Surprises” (U.C. Printing Service, June 1991).
Dr. Rossin received his B.S. degree in engineering physics from Cornell University, his M.S. degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.B.A. from Northwestern University and his Ph.D. in metallurgy from Case Institute of Technology. Dr. Rossin served as Vice-Chair for the period July 1, 2002 –June 30, 2003 and as Chair from February 3, 2005 through June 30, 2006 and for this report period July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007.