Note: This story was updated at 9:15 a.m.
Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as the U.S. Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security and administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Once she is sworn in to the position, Gordon-Hagerty will be responsible for the management and operation of NNSA, supporting the nuclear security agenda of Energy Secretary Rick Perry and President Donald Trump, a press release said.
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site.
The NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within DOE, and it is responsible for nuclear nonproliferation, the nation’s naval reactor programs, and managing and securing the nation’s nuclear weapons. It also responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad; provides safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons, components, and special nuclear materials; and has other national security missions.
“We are excited to welcome Lisa to the DOE team following her confirmation,” Perry said in the press release. “Her knowledge in the national security space, including her history with the department in running the emergency preparedness operation, will be an asset to the National Nuclear Security Administration. I look forward to working with her as she takes the helm in NNSA and thank the Senate for their attention to her nomination.”
Gordon-Hagerty replaces Frank Klotz, a retired Air Force general who had been in the job since 2014 and retired January 19.
Steve Erhart has been the acting under secretary for nuclear security and NNSA administrator. Erhart was previously the director of NNSA’s Office of Policy, and he has served as the manager of the NNSA Production Office, which manages and oversees the consolidated contract at Y-12 and the Pantex Site in Amarillo, Texas.
Gordon-Hagerty’s nomination was announced in December. The Thursday press release from the NNSA said she has more than 30 years of national security experience, including in nuclear security. Before joining the Trump administration, she was president of Tier Tech International Inc., as well as president and CEO of LEG Inc.
Her previous government service includes stints at the National Security Council, DOE, and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. She began her career as a health physicist at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Gordon-Hagerty is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in health physics.
She was one of four nominees who had a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, February 8. In a statement to that committee, she said one of her top priorities would be infrastructure modernization.
“More than half of NNSA’s facilities are over 40 years old, and nearly 30 percent date back to the Manhattan Project era,” Gordon-Hagerty said. “I will work closely with Congress to meet the long-term challenges of modernizing NNSA’s infrastructure.”
You can see advance policy questions for Gordon-Hagerty here.
See here statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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