Nuclear engineer to lead agency that oversees Hanford cleanup

President Donald Trump has nominated a new head for the Department of Energy’s environmental management program, which is responsible for the Hanford nuclear reservation.

Anne M. White, of Michigan, has been nominated as the DOE assistant secretary for environmental management.

“She has industry-recognized credentials in technical skills that lead to sound, technically underpinned, cost effective solutions,” according to an announcement from the White House.

James Owendoff has been the acting assistant secretary for environmental management since June and has been focused on more timely decisions on cleanup projects.

The position was previously held by Monica Regalbuto at the end of the Barack Obama administration.

White’s LinkedIn profile says she has been the decommission lead for Atkins since June. She leads a staff doing planning and preparation of a cost estimate for the decontamination and decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California, it says.

She is a nuclear engineer and the founder of Bastet Technical Services, which has provided consulting services from 2005 to the present, according to her profile.

Services include international nuclear regulatory development and compliance; radioactive waste management and policy; environmental restoration and documentation of environmental compliance.

The White House announcement said she has more than 25 years of experience within the nuclear field, “mainly focused on project and program management projects with complex technical, regulatory and stakeholder challenges.”

She has extensive field experience at many DOE sites, which she would be responsible for as leader of DOE’s environmental management work, according to the White House.

She also has supported a number of emerging nuclear power nations to develop laws, regulations and policies, it said.