Ken Rueter, top executive for the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, will retire in March 2026, the Amentum-led joint venture said Tuesday.
Rueter, the president and CEO of United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), will retire effective March 30, UCOR said in a press release. He will remain on part-time as a UCOR executive board director.
The company is not announcing at this time who will succeed Rueter as CEO, a UCOR spokesperson told Exchange Monitor via email. A link to UCOR’s current management team is available here.
Rueter has spent over four decades in the environmental cleanup industry, UCOR said in the release. He has led UCOR, which currently consists of Amentum, Honeywell and several small business teaming partners, for more than 10 years.
With Rueter in charge, UCOR finished one of the largest Superfund cleanups ever and also decommissioned and demolished all the old buildings at the former K-25 uranium enrichment complex setting the stage for new nuclear development in the region, UCOR said.
“Ken Rueter’s leadership has set the standard for excellence in DOE cleanup,” said Mark Whitney, Amentum Energy and Environment Business Group President. “His ability to deliver results safely, efficiently, and with deep community engagement has been exceptional.”