Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
5/22/2015
John Eschenberg, who has served as the federal project director for the Oak Ridge Uranium Processing Facility for the past three years, informed friends and colleagues this week that he is leaving his leadership post at the end of the month and will “focus on new career opportunities in the private sector.” Eschenberg is retiring from federal service after working in multiple programs at the Department of Energy, including the National Nuclear Security Administration and offices of Environmental Management and Science, and he said he intends to spend more of his time in the future on non-profit activities. In his message to friends and work colleagues, Eschenberg said Dale Christenson, the deputy federal project director for UPF, will assume the top federal role on an interim basis, and Eschenberg noted that Christenson also should be a strong candidate for the project directorship on a permanent basis.
The UPF has been up and down during Eschenberg’s tenure, including a design misstep that cost the government about half a billion dollars and forced a redesign and ultimately an scaled-down version of the multibillion-dollar project at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. Eschenberg emphasized that much progress had been made at UPF to stabilize the project. “We are steadfast in our direction to initiate early site preparatory activities to enable out-year construction of a three building complex with a strategy to tailor safety and security requirements,” he said in the message. “Although many challenges remain, our approach, our team, and our leadership are completely aligned for success.”
Eschenberg added the timing was right for him to move on. “While there is never a perfect time for transition of key leadership roles, given the Project’s stability, now feels like the optimum time to me,” he said. Eschenberg was named project director in March 2012, jumping to UPF from another Oak Ridge position – serving as interim manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office. He previously was the agency’s environmental manager in Oak Ridge.
Eschenberg ‘Essential’ to Project, Sen. Alexander Says
The UPF is expected to begin construction in 2017. Based on the markup of appropriations bills in the House and the Senate, it appears that the project is likely to receive $430 million in FY 2016 to continue preparations for building the three-building complex that is following the recommendations of a Red Team that reviewed Y-12’s uranium operations with an eye on keeping the price tag at $6.5 billion or less.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee and a supporter of UPF, praised Eschenberg as an “essential” part of the team that turned the project around. When asked for comment, Alexander thanked Eschenberg for tackling a difficult project with “ballooning” costs and putting it into a position for being completed on time and within its big budget. The senator said he expects Eschenberg’s successor at UPF to be “just as good,” noting that the expectations for a well-controlled project will remain in place.
Eschenberg did not say what his next job would be, but that’s expected to be announced by his new employer soon after he leaves his federal position. “My decision to leave federal service is driven by a desire to focus on new career opportunities in the private sector and to further my focus on serving non-profit organizations,” he said. Eschenberg said he and his family plan to continue maintaining their “primary residence” in Oak Ridge.
