California-based Deep Isolation has appointed Rod Baltzer as its new chief executive officer effective June 1, the company said Friday.
Baltzer has been chief operating officer of Deep Isolation since 2018, the company said in a press release. Baltzer was previously president and CEO of Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas. Baltzer helped steer the 2018 sale of Waste Control Specialists to J.F. Lehman & Company, according to the release.
Baltzer will take over as Deep Isolation CEO from Elizabeth Muller, who co-founded the private waste disposal company in 2016 with her father Richard Muller. The former CEO will become executive board chair, Deep Isolation said in the press release.
Since its founding, Deep Isolation has received 70 patents to drill and to isolate radioactive waste deep underground in horizontal, vertical, or slanted borehole repositories, according to the release.
“While I believe I was the right person to bring Deep Isolation to where it is today, we now need someone who is fluent in the nuclear industry, with long-standing relationships with the partners and teams who can help us make disposal a reality,” Muller said in the release. “I will continue to be closely involved, maintaining those roles that I do best.”
Other personnel appointments announced in the release are Chris Parker becoming chief commercialization officer, Jesse Sloane appointed executive vice president of engineering, Ethan Bates as vice president of product, Matt Waples as director of engineering, and Vaibhav Sharma as senior engineer.
Deep Isolation recently formed a strategic partnership with Navarro Research to demonstrate nuclear waste disposal in deep boreholes.
