ARLINGTON, VA — Candice Robertson, the new senior adviser in charge of the Department of Energy’s $8-billion Office of Environmental Management, said here Tuesday she first became acquainted with nuclear cleanup issues by growing up around Nye County, Nev., the home of DOE’s Nevada National Security Site.
Robertson would subsequently win a “landslide” election by seven votes to the Nye County Commission, she told the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) meeting here. Nye County was to be home of the canceled Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repository.
As a Nye County commissioner, Robertson learned she did not need to be an expert on everything in order to make the right decisions. Instead, she only “needed to be able to ask the right questions of the right people,” Robertson said.
The newly-appointed Environmental Management executive pledged to work with communities, tribes, contractors and the workforce to advance nuclear cleanup.
“It is quite fortuitous that my first speaking engagement [as Environmental Management executive] is to this distinguished group,” Robertson said of EFCOG. “[Y]ou all lead the cleanup activities on the ground at all of our sites.” In addition, the contractors provide economic and “thought leaders” throughout the weapons complex, Robertson said.
Also, while a county commissioner, Robertson said she was introduced to the work of the Washington, D.C.-based Energy Communities Alliance, which works with municipalities located alongside DOE sites. Robertson would eventually join DOE and the Office of Environmental Management, filling a variety of federal roles over the years.
Over the years, Robertson has worked as an Environmental Management chief of staff, communications officers and manager for corporate services, among other tasks.
Robertson, a longtime federal manager, was appointed senior adviser in charge of Environmental Management last month by DOE following the White House announcement that President Joe Biden was nominating William (Ike) White to serve on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
“My experience has forced me to view EM [Environmental Management] through a variety of lenses,” Robertson said.
“I just want to acknowledge how blessed we all are that we have had Ike White…at the helm of EM for the past five years,” Robertson said. White’s tenure is “by far the longest ever to serve in that role,” Robertson told the EFCOG crowd.
“I would like to thank Ike White for his leadership, mentorship, and unwavering commitment to our mission and to making EM a great place to work,” Robertson said in her day-one email message to staff on Monday. The email was viewed Monday by Exchange Monitor.
White’s five-year tenure provided stability to an organization which has had a high rate of turnover over the past few years, Robertson said.
