Bush nominates Navy officer for NRC seat

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Wednesday, July 23, 2003 | 11:05 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush nominated John Grossenbacher to fill one of the two vacant seats on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday. Grossenbacher, a Navy Vice Admiral, currently serves as Commander of the Naval Submarine Force, the White House said.

Bush intends to designate Grossenbacher as the Commission's chairman, a position held by Nils Diaz since April after former chairman Richard Meserve left to head the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Meserve had been chairman since 1999.

Although the Senate has to confirm the nominees, the president can designate a new chairman at anytime, an NRC spokesman said. Diaz will still be on the commission. His term ends in June 2006.

The five-member commission will ultimately be responsible for deciding the fate of the Energy Department's planned spent nuclear fuel storage site at Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.