B&W Y-12 names new deputy general manager for operations

The Y-12 National Security Complex has a new deputy general manager for operations, B&W Y-12 announced Tuesday.

The new manager, David Richardson, will be one of three deputy general managers at Y-12.

Richardson has the same job title as William R. Klemm, a former deputy general manager of operations who retired in August, a few weeks after an unprecedented July 28 security breach. However, Richardson’s range of job duties will be narrower than Klemm’s, allowing him to focus on nuclear operations.

Klemm used to oversee some functions such as human resources, but managers of those areas will now report directly to the Y-12 general manager and president. B&W Y-12, which manages and operates the plant for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said the new organizational structure allows Richardson to focus on three areas: production, engineering functions, and facilities, infrastructure, and services.

“Y-12’s mission work has to be conducted at the highest levels of safety, security, and quality, and Dave is the right person for this challenging job,” B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer said in a press release. “He will have responsibility for critical production, engineering, and facilities functions that directly support our national security mission. We look forward to having Dave join our team.”

The press release said Richardson has 32 years of nuclear operations management experience, including significant experience in major engineering and nuclear operations and projects. That work involved planning, project management, personnel management, and project execution.

Richardson recently served as president of Babcock & Wilcox Shaw Remediation LLC, the press release said. He held a number of senior managerial positions at Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, and Idaho National Laboratory, culminating with an appointment as associate laboratory director for nuclear operations from 2005 until 2008.

Richardson also served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, including three years as commanding officer of a nuclear submarine, the press release said.

He has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Montana.

The other deputy general managers at Y-12 are Rod Johnson, who oversees security and was assigned to B&W Y-12 after the security breach, and Jim Haynes, who is deputy general manager for projects, which includes construction of the Uranium Processing Facility. The three deputy general managers report to Spencer and Chief Operating Officer Joe Henry.

Spencer is also relatively new at Y-12. He replaced former B&W Y-12 president and general Darrel P. Kohlhorst, who, like Klemm, retired in early August.

Both men retired shortly after three anti-nuclear weapons activists sneaked into the plant before dawn on Saturday, July 28, evaded guards, cut through fences, and spray-painted slogans and splashed blood on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

The security breach led to a series of investigations, personnel changes in the federal work force and among contractors, congressional hearings, and notices that B&W Y-12 and security contractor WSI Oak Ridge could both lose their contracts. There was also a temporary halt in nuclear operations, and employees had to undergo more security training.

The three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael R. Walli—have been charged with property destruction, property depredation, and trespassing. They face a Feb. 26, 2013, trial in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.