NRC’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REACTOR SAFEGUARDS ELECTS 

CHAIRMAN, VICE CHAIRMAN AND MEMBER-AT-LARGE

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards 

(ACRS) has elected Dr. Mario V. Bonaca as Chairman, Dr. Said Abdel-Khalik as ViceChairman, and Dr. J. Sam Armijo as Member-at-Large. 

 The ACRS advises the Commission independently from the NRC staff on the safety and 

safeguards aspects of nuclear facilities and the adequacy of safety standards. 

 Bonaca is a nuclear consultant with more than 30 years of experience in analysis, design 

and operational support of nuclear power plants. He has worked at Combustion Engineering, 

Babcock and Wilcox, and was director of nuclear engineering services at Northeast Utilities prior 

to his retirement. He has been a member of the ACRS since 1999, and served as the ACRS 

Chairman in 2003 and 2004. He received his doctorate in physics from the University of 

Florence, Italy. 

 Abdel-Khalik has over 30 years experience in mechanical engineering, reactor 

engineering, and thermal hydraulics. He earned a master’s and doctorate from the University of 

Wisconsin-Madison in 1971 and 1973, respectively, and remained as a faculty member until 

1987. At that time, Abdel-Khalik joined the Georgia Institute of Technology as the Georgia 

Power Distinguished Professor. In 1993 he was named the Southern Nuclear Distinguished 

Professor at Georgia Tech. Abdel-Khalik is a Fellow of both the American Nuclear Society and 

the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In addition, he is the recipient of the Glenn 

Murphy Award from the American Society for Engineering Education. 

 Armijo is an Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of 

Nevada-Reno. He has over 30 years of nuclear power experience, and expertise in nuclear fuels, 

structural materials, water chemistry, and advanced nuclear power systems. Prior to retirement in 

1999, he worked for General Electric in various technical and general management positions. 

Armijo has received several awards for his technical excellence that include GE’s Steinmetz 

award, the W. J. Kroll Zirconium medal, and the Industrial Research 100 Award; and he was 

elected as a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society in 1990 for the invention and 

commercialization of zirconium barrier fuel for boiling-water reactors. He received his 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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No. 09-006 January 12, 2009
bachelor’s in metallurgical engineering from Texas Western College, his master’s at the 

University of Arizona; and his doctorate in materials science from Stanford University, Calif. 

The other members of the ACRS include: 

Dr. George Apostolakis, Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Professor of Engineering Systems, 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. 

Dr. Sanjoy Banerjee, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, Director of the Energy 

Institute, City College of New York, City University of New York, N.Y. 

Mr. Dennis C. Bley, President at Buttonwood Consulting, Inc., Oakton, Va. 

Mr. Charles H. Brown, Jr., Senior Advisor in Electrical Systems at BMT Syntek Technologies, 

Inc., Arlington, Va. 

Dr. Michael L. Corradini, Professor and Chair, Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics 

Program at University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. 

Mr. Otto Maynard, retired consultant in the nuclear and aviation sectors of industry, Grand Lake, 

Okla. 

Dr. Dana A. Powers, Senior Scientist in the Nuclear Facilities Safety Department, Sandia 

National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M. 

Mr. Harold Ray, retired Chief Nuclear Officer at Southern California Edison, San Marino, Calif. 

Dr. Michael Ryan, adjunct faculty member at Texas A&M University and Vanderbilt University, 

Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, Health Physics, Lexington, S.C. 

Dr. William Shack, retired Argonne National Laboratory, Downers Grove, Ill. 

Mr. John Sieber, retired Duquesne Light Company, Wexford, Pa. 

Mr. John Stetkar, Principal Stetkar & Associates, Little Rock, Ark., and Lake Forest, Calif. 

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