In his newly created role as chief operating officer, Thomas Mooney will focus on key projects at the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management.
This is “a pivotal time for the cleanup mission,” and Mooney will assist incoming Environmental Management Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations (EM-3) Nicole Nelson-Jean in keeping the focus on key priorities, a DOE spokesperson said in a Wednesday email.
Mooney will help ensure that major projects stay on track, the spokesperson said.
The Office of Environmental Management earlier this month announced the new appointment for Nelson-Jean, who currently heads the National Nuclear Security Administration field office for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Nelson-Jean starts in her new position Aug. 31. She will oversee operations and restoration efforts at 16 Cold War and Manhattan Project cleanup sites.
At the same time, the Energy Department said Mooney will become COO, a job he had already started on an acting basis.
Mooney will continue to serve as chief of staff at the nuclear remediation office until a replacement is named. Mooney became chief of staff in January after serving in that role for the Pentagon’s Office of the Chief Management Officer since October 2017.
Some of the key projects at the Environmental Management office include startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, advancing toward beginning conversion of radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state into a glass-like substance for disposal, and completion demolition of facilities at the former uranium enrichment complex at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, the spokesperson said.
Creation of a COO position appears to be the second time in recent years that the Office of Environmental Management has established an executive post devoted to advancing high-profile projects. An EM special projects office, designed among other things to focus on the Direct-Feed-Low-Activity Waste vitrification project at Hanford, was created in 2017 by then- DOE Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Jim Owendoff.
