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NRC Names New Members to NCS Committee of Principals, Council of Representatives

Arlington, VA, April 25, 2005 - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today named new members to the National Communications System’s Committee of Principals and Council of Representatives.

Melvyn N. Leach, Director of the Incident Response Directorate (IRD) within the Division of Preparedness and Response (DPR), part of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response, became the Commission’s NCS Principal. He was joined by Clarissa L. Evans (Cris) Brown, an information technology specialist from the same directorate, who becomes the NRC member to the NCS Council of Representatives.

The NCS Committee of Principals is a presidentially designated interagency group that provides advice and recommendations on national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications to the Executive Office of the President. It is composed of high-level Government officials representing 23 Federal operational, policy, regulatory, and enforcement organizations.

As an interagency group, the Committee of Principals and its subordinate Council of Representatives serves as a forum for members to review, evaluate, and present views and recommendations on current or prospective NCS programs to the Manager, NCS, the Executive Agent (the Secretary of Homeland Security), and the Executive Office of the President (EOP).

Mr. Leach is responsible for managing the NRC’s emergency response program. In this capacity Mr. Leach has oversight responsibility for maintaining incident response functions and facilities. In addition, he oversees the NRC’s planning and conduct of emergency exercises.

Mr. Leach has more than 30 years of nuclear power plant operations and regulatory oversight experience. Prior to joining the NRC, in 1990, he served in plant operations positions in the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine program and in U.S. commercial power plants.

Mr. Leach received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1973 from the Royal Naval Engineering College and a Masters of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1985 from the University of Washington. In addition to his management skills, his critical areas of expertise are nuclear power plant operations, maintenance, and inspection and nuclear fuel facility design and operations.

Ms. Brown is responsible for managing several key functions of the NRC’s incident response program. She manages the NRC’s Emergency Telecommunications System, which provides the emergency telecommunications network that the NRC depends on to communicate with NRC licensed nuclear facilities during declared nuclear emergencies. Ms. Brown co-manages the NRC’s Operations Center Information Management System, which is the primary means for handling information in the NRC Emergency Operations Center.

Mrs. Brown has eight years of overall Information Technology experience and has worked at the NRC since June of 2004. Prior to joining the NRC, she worked in private industry and at the Clinical Center of the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health.

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