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UCOR announces management change

Posted at 12:04 pm February 5, 2023
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Tom Dieter

United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC, the lead cleanup contractor at federal sites in Oak Ridge, has announced a top management change that will be effective April 1.

UCOR Chief Operating Officer Tom Dieter has announced he will retire March 31, and Kent Fortenberry has been appointed to take his place.

In a press release, UCOR said Dieter has had a 30-year career, and during that time, he has earned a national reputation, leading more than $3 billion in cleanup successes in complex nuclear enterprises in several states.

“Tom led UCOR’s transition for our 10-year, $8.3 billion Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup contract, and we’re grateful for his leadership in the company maintaining a strong safety performance in our first year,” said UCOR President and Chief Executive Officer Ken Rueter.

Kent Fortenberry

Fortenberry will become chief operating officer after serving as UCOR critical projects director. He has more than four decades of relevant experience in operations, decontamination and decommissioning, environmental remediation, and safety oversight of government and commercial nuclear facilities in the U.S. and overseas, the press release said.

At UCOR, Fortenberry has managed engineering, environmental services, nuclear safety, and technical services functions, as well as serving as UCOR’s chief regulatory officer, the press release said.

“Kent brings a breadth of experience from the naval reactors propulsion program, commercial nuclear power operations, (Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration’s) nuclear weapons and nuclear cleanup enterprises, as well as from serving as technical director for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board,” Rueter said. “He is well-suited for our next phase of cleanup on the Oak Ridge Reservation. His broad range of industry expertise will ensure UCOR continues its emphasis on safety and environmental compliance in all aspects of our operations and support organizations.”

UCOR is the lead environmental cleanup contractor for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The company is a partnership between Amentum, Jacobs, and Honeywell, and it employs more than 2,100 workers to reduce environmental risk on the Oak Ridge Reservation while helping DOE’s Office of Science and the NNSA continue their missions, the press release said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR Tagged With: cleanup contractor, Ken Rueter, Kent Fortenberry, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, Tom Dieter, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC

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