NS&D Monitor
10/24/2014
IN THE INDUSTRY
Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Parney Albright has been named the President and CEO of Malibu, Calif.-based HRL Laboratories, a research and development laboratory owned by Boeing and General Motors. Albright stepped down as Livermore’s director a year ago, and had served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence supporting the Intelligence Advance Research Projects Activity. HRL Laboratories performs research specializing in sensors and materials, information and systems sciences, applied electromagnetics, and microelectronics. Albright will start his new position Nov. 3.
AREVA CEO Luc Oursel announced this week he will step down from his position because of health reasons. Oursel will pursue treatment for an undisclosed illness, but he told the French government he would remain available to help the transition to a new CEO. “Under these very difficult personal circumstances, and despite my very strong commitment to AREVA, I have had no choice but to hand over my responsibilities at the head of the company and have chosen to take a leave of absence in order to pursue treatment,” Oursel said in a statement. “I must now fight a personal battle against the illness, but all of my thoughts remain with the teams at AREVA. I have been happy and proud to mobilize them in the difficult context for the turnaround of the company, for the benefit of the country, and I am convinced that they will succeed.” AREVA has suffered a down year, with the company announcing a €694 million euro loss at the beginning of August, while stock prices have dropped to half their worth from the beginning of the year.
B&W Technical Services last week hired David Swale as director of business development. Most recently Swale was vice president of business development for EnergySolutions, and he has also worked at Idaho’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, waste management at Savannah River and at the U.K.’s Sellafield and Drigg sites. “I am pleased to welcome Dave to our Business Development team,” B&W Government & Nuclear Operations Vice President & Chief Business Development Officer Ken Camplin said in a statement. “He brings considerable experience, with more than 35 years in the nuclear industry, which will be invaluable in leading our current and future energy and environmental management procurement activities.”
IN THE DNFSB
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is scheduled to hold on Oct. 30 a public meeting on the Board’s work plans for Fiscal Year 2015. The meeting will involve presentations on draft work plans in several areas, including nuclear weapons programs, nuclear materials processing and stabilization, nuclear facility design and infrastructure and nuclear programs and analysis, among others. The meeting will be held at the Board’s headquarters in Washington. An agenda for the meeting can be found here.
IN DoD
U.S. Strategic Command this week began its annual field training and battle staff exercise, which primarily emphasizes nuclear command and control and coordinates all of the command’s mission areas in space, cyberspace, missile defense, combating weapons of mass destruction and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to a STRATCOM statement. Started on Oct. 20, STRATCOM is conducting the operation, dubbed Exercise Global Thunder 15, in tandem with the North American Aerospace Defence Command and U.S. Northern Command’s Exercise Vigilant Shield 15, which aims to train participants in homeland defense. The release states that the exercise will allow participants to practice and evaluate joint operational readiness to deter and, if necessary, defeat an attack against the United States. Officials have planned the exercise for more than a year, and the operation’s timing is “unrelated to any real-world events,” the release states. “The United States’ ability to maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent is foundational to our national security and contributes to the security of our allies and partners,” Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of STRATCOM, said in the release. “This exercise, and our continued focus on maintaining key capabilities and skills, ensures USSTRATCOM’s strategic forces remain relevant and ready, 24/7, providing flexible and credible options for the President and the Department of Defense.”
