Paul Dabbar, a Department of Energy executive during the first Donald Trump administration, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate 56-to-40 Wednesday as Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
Dabbar was undersecretary of energy for science during the first Trump administration. As part of that position during the first term, Dabbar had authority over the Office of Environmental Management.
This time around, Trump nominated Dabbar for the commerce post on March 10.
The National Nuclear Security Administration transitioned into the final stage of construction at the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the agency announced Tuesday in a news release.
The Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) next-generation factory for nuclear-weapons secondary stages. Once construction is complete, UPF will replace facilities from World War II.
Most recently, the Salvage and Accountability Building was powered up, which was the final structure in the UPF complex to be connected to the power grid at Y-12. Now that all buildings are energized, testing and commissioning can commence. The Salvage and Accountability Building is 127,000 square feet, and will be used for waste preparation, decontamination and chemical recovery, according to a UPF factsheet.
The Department of Energy’s $8-billion nuclear cleanup office posted a new organizational chart earlier this month, reflecting that longtime fed Steve Trischman is now heading the office of corporate services.
With the May 30 retirement of 32-year federal supervisor Dae Chung, Trischman is now officially the acting associate principal deputy assistant secretary for the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM).
The Office of Environmental Management continues without a Senate-confirmed assistant secretary or EM-1 until whatever point the upper chamber acts upon the March nomination of Colorado real estate developer Tim Walsh.
