WC Monitor
5/9/2014
IN CONGRESS
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is set to hold a hearing next week to consider the nomination of Monica Regalbuto to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management. The hearing is scheduled to be held May 13 beginning at 10 a.m. Regalbuto currently holds the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fuel Cycle Technologies. The Obama Administration nominated her in March to officially fill the vacancy left when Ines Triay stepped down as Assistant EM Secretary in July 2011. Since then, EM has been headed on an acting basis by David Huizenga, who is set to return to the National Nuclear Security Administration at some point in the future.
IN DOE
Dennis Deziel has been named the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Planning and Budget in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, DOE cleanup chief David Huizenga said in a message to employees this week. Deziel replaces Terry Tyborowski, who moved last month to serve as Deputy Director for Budget Analysis in the DOE Chief Financial Officer’s office. Deziel last served as Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Planning and Budget, and his previous positions include having managed chemical and nuclear infrastructure security programs at the Department of Homeland Security; a National Security Fellow in the Senate; and advisor at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, among others.
The Department of Energy Environmental Management Advisory Board is scheduled to hold a meeting May 22 at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. Tentative agenda topics include an EM program update, advanced simulation capability of environmental management demonstration and updates on EMAB work plan assignments.
IN THE DNFSB
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is scheduled to hold a public meeting May 28 on safety culture across the Department of Energy complex. It will be the first of two upcoming meetings on the subject. “In this first hearing, the Board will receive testimony from a recognized industry expert in the field of safety culture, with a focus on the tools used for assessing safety culture, the approaches for interpreting the assessment results, and how the results can be used for improving safety culture,” according to a DNFSB notice. The meeting will take place at DNFSB headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is closing a decade-old recommendation on oversight of complex, high-hazard nuclear operations, but it says it will continue to keep tabs on the Department’s progress in strengthening federal safety assurance. The recommendation, originally issued May 21, 2004, helped revitalize the implementation of Integrated Safety Management across the Department. The Board said that it hadn’t fully verified one component of DOE’s implementation plan regarding federal safety assurance capabilities. “The Board will continue to track DOE’s efforts in this area, especially in light of the reorganization of DOE’s Office of Health, Safety and Security and recent shortcomings in federal oversight at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,” DNFSB Chairman Peter Winokur said in a May 1 letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Despite closing the recommendation, Winokur called on DOE to provide within six months a briefing and report on the Department’s “federal safety oversight capability and its criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of federal safety oversight of high hazard nuclear operations at DOE’s defense nuclear facilities.”
IN THE INDUSTRY
Tracy Mustin, a former senior official in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, has been named to the Strategic Advisory Board of the consulting firm Longenecker & Associates. Mustin served as EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary from August 2011 until her retirement from federal service early this year. From 2003 to 2011, she served in various leadership positions within the National Nuclear Security Administration. In a release issued late last week, L&A CEO Bonnie Longenecker said, “We are honored to have Tracy join our board. Her past experience in solving problems in a variety of programs and agencies will help our team stay focused on how best to address the future challenges facing our clients in both government and commercial markets.”
Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. has received star status in the Department of Energy’s Voluntary Protection Program. The safety award is provided to companies that “demonstrate outstanding cooperative efforts among employees, management and DOE to continuously improve safety and health programs,” says a DOE release issued late this week. “In awarding CH2M HILL Star status, DOE recognized strong employee involvement and management leadership in health and safety programs, established programs in hazard identification and hazard reduction, and an effective training program,” the release says.
Savannah River Remediation, LLC, the liquid waste contractor for the Savannah River Site, has received the URS President’s Award for safe work performance. The contractor currently stands at about 1.5 million hours without a days-away injury or illness, according to a release issued this week. Ken Rueter, SRR President and Project Manager, said in a statement: “This achievement takes a lot of dedication towards adopting and maintaining a safe work culture, and our employees do just that. Every day I see employees looking out for their co-worker’s safety. That’s why we are able to send employees home the same way they came to work.” URS is the lead company in SRR, which also includes Bechtel, CH2M Hill and B&W.
Nuclear Safety Associates announced this week that Elizabeth Saris will become its vice president of operations and strategic development. Saris, formerly of Leidos, will be responsible for instituting NSA’s plan to double its revenues during the next three years and opening the company’s Washington, D.C. office, according to the company. “Liz is a great addition to our leadership team,” NSA President and CEO Robert Frost said in a statement. “She brings experience and a powerful set of skills that will help us expand our footprint and further build our operations. Liz’s breadth of knowledge in running organizations and her proven leadership in bringing about strategic growth will be major factors in contributing to the success of NSA’s strategic plan.”
