Owen Barwell will take over as chief financial officer of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 14, the agency announced last week.

NRC’s chief financial officer (CFO) is responsible for the management and auditing of the agency’s finances and is the five-member commission’s top financial policy adviser.

Barwell was most recently CFO of Independence Hydrogen, Ashburn, Va., a company that offers what it calls “farm-to-table” hydrogen that is recycled from industrial processes and then purified for use in hydrogen fuel cells.

Barwell has also worked at the Idaho National Laboratory and the Department of Energy, among other places, according to an NRC press release announcing his appointment.

Barwell’s appointment would end a six-month vacancy at the top NRC financial post. Howard Osborne, the agency’s previous full-time CFO, lasted only about nine months in the job. Osborne started as CFO in April 2023 and left in Dec. 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Jennifer Golder has been acting chief financial officer at the NRC since December, according to the commission’s website.