Joel Bradburne, the Department of Energy’s acting head of its $8-billion nuclear remediation branch, will help kick off the National Cleanup Workshop Wednesday in Arlington, Va.
Bradburne was appointed this month to oversee DOE’s Office of Environmental Management following the forced departure of Roger Jarrell. Jarrell apparently differed with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on issues surrounding the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
Bradburne, a longtime federal executive and normally manager of DOE’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office, will get things going at the annual DOE conference hosted by the Energy Communities Alliance and the Energy Facility Contractors Group.
Bradburne and other day one speakers might address the status of the long-awaited WTP.
House of Representatives Appropriations Committee member Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) will likely field questions on passing a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
Government and contractor officials will also discuss issues concerning the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico and the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York State, as well as other sites.
In addition to nuclear cleanup, there will also be discussion of potential new nuclear power development and a Thursday address by James McConnell, associate principal deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.