Energy nerd Wright hits nuclear themes with DOE staff

The day after being sworn in as secretary of energy, self-described nerd Chris Wright said updating the U.S. nuclear arsenal, increasing civilian nuclear power and cleaning up Manhattan Project sites are among his priorities at the Department of Energy.

It is vital to “modernize America’s nuclear stockpile,” Wright told DOE staffers during a Wednesday introductory speech. The former Liberty Energy CEO said the nuclear weapons stockpile, overseen by DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, is “the ultimate guarantor of the sovereignty of our nation.”

“They are terrifying frightening weapons,” but they deter potential attacks upon the United States, Wright said.

In addition, Wright said construction of the Manhattan Project and Cold War sites in the mid-20th century were “rushed” out of necessity. As a result, much radioactive contamination was left behind. “We need to finish cleaning up all of these sites.”

Wright, who has served on the board of an advanced reactor company, Oklo, said he wants to  expedite new nuclear power generation. He also planned to visit all of DOE’s national labs within the next 12 months.

During his speech, webcast over a DOE livestream, Wright cited weapons complex facilities such as the Hanford Site in Washington state, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California as well as the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.

Wright can trace his interest in reactors back to when he bought a nuclear engineering textbook as a teenager. “That really made me popular with the gals,” Wright said, drawing laughter.

The speech came less than 48 hours after Wright was confirmed by the Senate. Wright called DOE “the most fabulous agency, the most fabulous institution within our federal government …. and it’s got to put up with me for four years.”

Wright succeeds Jennifer Granholm, the former Michigan governor (D) who served as Joe Biden’s secretary of energy.  Longtime DOE executive Ingrid Kolb has been acting secretary during the first couple of weeks of the Donald Trump administration.