SUMMERLIN, Nev. — The Department of Energy’s $7.6 billion Office of Environmental Management is cleaning up nuclear hazards from Washington state to New York state while dealing with a “silver tsunami,” Jay Mullis, a top executive at the remediation branch, said here Wednesday at the Radwaste Summit.
Mullis, currently the acting associate principal deputy assistant secretary for regulatory and policy affairs, was the opening keynote speaker at the annual gathering, sponsored by Exchange Monitor Publications.
Replacing the large chunk of DOE Environmental Management (EM) staff approaching gold-watch retirement age is an increasing concern for the organization and there is no magic solution, Mullis said.
The DOE is wrestling with the issue of “how to attract somebody to the EM program versus going to work for Google Drive, or one of those types of companies,” Mullis said.
In response to questions, Mullis said EM, like the rest of the federal government, is searching for a way to bridge the organizational knowledge gap left by the exit of many senior employees. “There’s so much of what we do that you cannot write down, right, we’ve tried that,” Mullis said. Written materials are fine but no substitute for personal interactions between the seasoned staff and newer hires, he said.
“I think the key to it ultimately, is getting some kind of pipeline, to where we’ve got some folks that are coming out of college or shortly after college again and working,” alongside more veteran people, Mullis said. This is tricky in the more hybrid work environment of the COVID era, he said.
Meanwhile, Mullins said, the Office of Environmental Management is excited that its Los Alamos National Laboratory office in New Mexico is helping to pilot the Joe Biden administration’s “Justice40” program. The administration says the effort is designed to ensure disadvantaged communities have access to 40% “of the overall benefits” of federal investments in environmental improvements.
“I think the department is still figuring out exactly how you count things,” Mullis said. That is one of the key reasons for having a pilot project, Mullis said.
