President Bush first appointed Cerling, a distinguished professor of geology and geophysics, as well as a distinguished professor of biology, to the 11-member U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board in 2002. His new appointment runs until 2010.
The proposed underground nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, north of Las Vegas, originally was to open in 1998 as a final resting place for waste from the nation's nuclear power plants and military facilities.
The opening was delayed to 2010 and then to 2018 due to government foot dragging, ballooning costs and legal challenges.
The president also has announced his intention to re-appoint Mark D. Abkowitz, of Vanderbilt University; David J. Duquette, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.; and Ronald Latanision, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Brian Maffly
