The Energy Department has named Raymond Furstenau, a nearly 30-year DOE veteran, as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy, following the departure of John Kotek.
The office leads DOE efforts in establishing a strategy for managing the nation’s high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Kotek, who accepted a position with the Nuclear Energy Institute earlier this month, led outreach for DOE’s consent-based siting effort, which was the Obama administration’s alternative to the canceled nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Office of Nuclear Energy also researches current and future nuclear energy systems, and maintains the government’s nuclear energy research infrastructure.
From June 2012 to June 2013, Furstenau served as chief of nuclear safety for the undersecretary of energy. He also served as the principal deputy manager for DOE’s Idaho Operations Office from 2006 to 2015, delivering oversight for DOE’s nuclear energy research and development programs and operations at the Idaho National Laboratory.
