Federal and contractor representatives involved with the activities of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), as well as its local Program Office in Nevada, were recently recognized at the 2021 RadWaste Summit hosted by ExchangeMonitor Publications & Forums in Summerlin, Nevada.
EM’s Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations, Nicole Nelson-Jean, served as the summit’s keynote speaker and discussed several notable accomplishments from across the EM complex nationwide.
In her remarks, Nelson-Jean specifically recognized the EM Nevada Program’s ongoing work to characterize contamination and abate known hazards in preparation for the upcoming demolition and closure of two large legacy nuclear facilities on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The facilities are the Engine Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly (EMAD) and Test Cell C (TCC) complexes, which supported historical nuclear propulsion rocket development and testing programs in Nevada. The characterization and hazard reduction work being performed now will help to ensure future demolition and closure activities at EMAD and TCC are conducted safely, securely, and successfully. Outlined in EM’s Strategic Vision for 2021-2031, the progress at EMAD and TCC represents the last major demolition and closure efforts currently identified in EM Nevada’s environmental remediation mission.
Jesse Sleezer, Strategic Communications Manager for Navarro Research and Engineering, Inc., who provides public affairs support for the EM Nevada Program, participated in a panel on EM community relations at the summit. Sleezer joined panelists Kara Colton, Director, Nuclear Policy for the Energy Communities Alliance, Mike Nartker, Chief of Staff for the Office of Environmental Management, and Keith Wood, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Amentum’s Nuclear & Environment Strategic Business Unit, for a wide-ranging discussion on the history of, perspectives on, and approach to community relations across the EM complex. The panel also discussed challenges and opportunities that have emerged over decades of partnership from the federal, contractor and stakeholder points of view.
The three-day RadWaste Summit was held in a hybrid format this year after being entirely virtual last year. You can learn more about the summit here. To learn more about EM Nevada Program activities, please visit the Program’s website.