DOE names deputy cleanup manager in Oak Ridge

 

The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday named a deputy cleanup manager in Oak Ridge.

The new deputy manager, Laura Wilkerson, has been selected as the deputy manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. That’s the program responsible for cleanup projects at federal sites in Oak Ridge, including the East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex.

Wilkerson previously served as the director of OREM’s Planning and Execution Division, a press release said. She has more than 25 years of federal service.

OREM is responsible for environmental cleanup across the 32,400-acre Oak Ridge Reservation. Wilkerson will oversee the daily operations needed to perform environmental cleanup and stewardship, decontamination and decommissioning activities, waste processing and management, surveillance and maintenance programs, and procurement and contract functions, the press release said.

In her previous role, she oversaw all planning and execution activities related to the cleanup at Oak Ridge’s three primary sites: ETTP, ORNL, and Y-12.

“We are very fortunate to have Laura help lead our organization forward as we begin crucial new phases of cleanup at Y-12 and ORNL,” OREM Manager Jay Mullis said. “She brings an extensive amount of experience and in-depth knowledge about both of those sites, our employees, vision, goals, and challenges, and she will use that to ensure we maintain our momentum.”

During her tenure with OREM, Wilkerson served as a portfolio federal project director for cleanup and waste management activities at Y-12 and transuranic waste disposition. She also served as the portfolio federal project director for the $630 million that OREM received in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for cleanup and remediation at ORNL and Y-12—directing the successful completion of more than 30 projects. She has also served as the deputy federal project director for the Uranium-233 Disposition Project, the press release said.

Wilkerson has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. She began her career with DOE at the ORNL Site Office as a program manager for facilities and infrastructure programs. She later served as program manager in the Reindustrialization Program, an innovative effort to convert a former government-owned uranium enrichment complex into a private-sector industrial park, the press release said. Prior to joining OREM, she served as senior technical adviser to DOE’s Oak Ridge Operations manager and to the assistant manager for Oak Ridge Nuclear Energy Programs.

“It’s an honor to continue working alongside Oak Ridge’s outstanding men and women who are transforming the region and setting the standard for cleanup nationwide,” Wilkerson said. “I’m excited to begin serving in this new role and helping OREM continue its progress advancing safety, creating new economic opportunities, and enabling DOE’s important ongoing missions locally.”

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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