President Bush appoints Visual Risk Chairman Mark Abkowitz to U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

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President Bush appoints Visual Risk Chairman Mark Abkowitz to U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Entrepreneur and Vanderbilt Professor to Serve Four-Year Term

TENNESSEE, NASHVILLE, Jul. 10 -/E-Wire/Business Wire/-- President Bush has appointed Mark D. Abkowitz, PhD to a four-year term on the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (the Board) to advise the Board on transportation issues. The Board reviews the Department of Energy's activities related to the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, a critical issue that is growing in importance as the spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste shipping requirements intensify.

Abkowitz is the Founder and Chairman of Visual Risk Technologies (VRT), a risk management software firm headquartered in Nashville, and is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He will be the principal member of the 11-member Board with expertise in the transportation of nuclear waste. Abkowitz also brings to the Board expertise in risk management and information technology.

According to the Board Web site, members are "eminent in a field of science or engineering - including environmental and social sciences - and are selected solely on the basis of distinguished service." The National Academy of Sciences makes recommendations, and the U.S. President makes the appointments.

When asked about his appointment, Abkowitz replied, "It is an honor to have been selected for this distinguished position. I look forward to serving the nation and tackling this complex topic in a responsible manner."

Abkowitz is the Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies, has served as Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences, Transportation Research Board Committee on Hazardous Materials Transport, and has been a member of the National Research Council, Committee on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Visual Risk Technologies develops leading edge software solutions for analyzing and managing business continuity, emergencies, and the transportation of hazardous material. Using its expertise in risk assessment, VRT provides software, data, and consulting services that help its clients minimize potential liability costs and manage all types of man-made and natural disasters such as terrorist acts, chemical releases, hurricanes, forest fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods - thus protecting human life, capital assets, and minimizing liability costs. The VRT Web site is: www.vrisk.com.

Visual Risk Technologies Inc.

Cindy Ellis, 615/321-4848, Fax: 615/321-4886

http://www.vrisk.com

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