David Huizenga to Return to NNSA
Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
3/07/2014
After more than two-and-a-half years, the Obama Administration is moving to officially fill the position of Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management, late this week nominating Monica Regalbuto from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. WC Monitor first reported in November that Regalbuto was the Administration’s top candidate to head DOE’s cleanup program (WC Monitor, Vol. 24 No. 44). She currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fuel Cycle Technologies, and is on assignment at DOE from Argonne National Laboratory, where she is a senior chemical engineer. Regalbuto does have experience with DOE’s cleanup efforts, though, having previously served as a senior program manager in EM’s Office of Waste Processing. Regalbuto also was a member of an expert team assembled last year by then-Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to examine technical issues associated with the use of so-called “black cells” at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant.
The position of Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management has been officially vacant since early July 2011, when Ines Triay stepped down. Following Triay’s departure, David Huizenga was named as acting assistant secretary—a position he held until February 2012, at which point his title was changed to “Senior Advisor for Environmental Management.” Huizenga had initially been seen as a key contender to be nominated for the assistant secretary position, but now is set to return to the National Nuclear Security Administration and his position of Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, where he will “continue to provide senior leadership in the Department’s critical worldwide efforts to secure nuclear materials in support of President Obama’s key nonproliferation objectives,” according to a message Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman sent to DOE employees late this week.
Huizenga will remain in EM as acting Assistant Secretary, though, through the roll out of DOE’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget proposal and help “lay the foundation for a smooth transition for the new EM management team,” Moniz and Poneman said. “During this crucial period he continues to enjoy our complete confidence in tackling the challenges of cleaning up the legacy of the Cold War, and we expect everyone to maintain their support of his work in EM,” they said. Moniz and Poneman also praised Huizenga’s tenure leading EM, saying, “ We are deeply indebted to Dave for his willingness to take on this challenge during an uncertain time. He has done a tremendous job tackling complex problems in the field and at headquarters, including the current situation at WIPP, and, to no one’s surprise, he has also been a great leader of people.”
DOE Nominees Still in Senate Limbo
It remains to be seen how quickly the Senate will move to consider and vote on Regalbuto’s nomination. Currently, 10 other DOE nominees remained unconfirmed, including Elizabeth Robinson, the Administration’s pick to be Under Secretary of Energy for Performance and Management, which oversees EM; and Frank Klotz to serve as the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration. “It’s obviously very, very frustrating,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said this week. “We all know the confirmation process has kind of slowed to a crawl at the moment. All I can do is hope that we’ll have our full complement, our full team together, soon.”
