Bechtel has hired a veteran Energy Department and nuclear energy industry manager as chief for nuclear safety and operations within its Engineering division.
Chip Lagdon will oversee nuclear safety analyses for Bechtel’s DOE cleanup and nuclear security missions, the company said in a press release last week. Lagdon will also work on safety and licensing for Bechtel’s nuclear power projects, including advanced reactors. He started in the newly-created position on Nov. 19.
Lagdon has 34 years of experience in engineering, licensing, technical analysis, project management, and other elements of nuclear cleanup and operations. From January 2016 to October of this year he was a senior project director for AECOM in Aiken, S.C., home to DOE’s Savannah River Site. AECOM is one of the partners in Savannah River Remediation, the facility’s liquid waste management contractor.
Lagdon became AECOM chief nuclear safety officer in October, his profile says.
Lagdon spent more than 23 years with the Department of Energy, including 10 years as chief of nuclear safety, before retiring in December 2015. He previously worked for electric utility subsidiaries of NextEra Energy and Southern Co.
“Chip will be a great addition to our team, providing a wealth of industry knowledge and technical expertise as we expand our in-house capabilities, drive new technical specialties, and reduce overall risk to our project execution as we continue to establish Bechtel as a nuclear safety center of excellence,” Bechtel said in the news release.
Bechtel is a major player in the DOE weapons complex, with its biggest contract being the $14.7 billion, two-decade award to build and operate the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
