Reno Reporter

President Joe Biden has appointed a University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) College of Science Foundation to a nuclear waste panel. 

Scott Tyler, a professor of hydrology at the school, has been named to the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, according to a news release issued by the university. His job entails reviewing nuclear waste management initiatives through technical and scientific peer reviews

“It is a tremendous honor to be asked to serve the administration and the U.S. government to address the issues of nuclear waste, both from our civilian reactors as well as our legacies from the Cold War and the nuclear arms race,” said Tyler in the release.

Tyler is known for his work in reconstructing modern and paleo-groundwater recharge through the dense unsaturated zones at the Nevada Test Site, along with testing radioactive waste fate and passage in the subsurface environment. The latter is linked to radionuclide movement from nuclear weapons analysis and from the discarding of low-level radioactive waste.

“While the long-term disposal of the nation’s radioactive waste is still uncertain, I am hoping that I can bring my expertise in engineering and hydrology to address on-going issues, such as the management of defense waste here in Nevada as well as in surrounding states such as Idaho and Washington," Tyler said. "And also the development of interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel currently stored at power reactors around the country.”