Members of EM leadership participated in a robust panel discussion at the 2023 Waste Management Symposia on some of the cleanup program’s top challenges and successes in the past year as well as a look ahead to progress in 2023.
Jeff Avery told the audience he has hit the ground running as EM’s new principal deputy assistant secretary and has already visited a few EM sites, including Savannah River Site and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Echoing comments EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White made in an address earlier at the conference, Avery noted that EM is at a crossroads and is looking toward the future. Avery emphasized that alignment between EM’s workforce, leadership, regulators and stakeholders is critical to the cleanup program’s future.
Nicole Nelson-Jean, EM’s associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, said she sees opportunities when she thinks about the challenges EM faces. She noted EM’s progress in just the last couple of years and expressed excitement about the future as EM continues to turn challenges into opportunities to succeed and excel in the EM mission.
A key theme of the conference this year was the need to fill workforce vacancies. Nelson-Jean pointed to more than 200 vacancies EM needs to fill. She said the vacancies give EM the opportunity to bring in new talent, train new team members and truly create careers, not just jobs. Nelson-Jean added that filling the vacancies will help EM create a more diverse and dynamic workforce that will enhance the program’s successes.
Randy Hendrickson, EM’s acting associate principal deputy assistant secretary for regulatory and policy affairs, noted that EM will be focused on training the workforce of tomorrow when filling those vacancies. He said EM needs to focus on local recruitment. That allows the cleanup program to build a long-term workforce, which can be seen in EM’s vast network of “legacy” employees whose families have been part of the EM workforce at some EM sites for generations.
Dae Chung, EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary for corporate services, told the audience that EM is hiring. He added that he has set a goal of increasing EM’s onboard count by at least 10% this year.
The panelists discussed other important areas of EM work in the coming year, including the new Regulatory Center of Excellence and continuing to ensure EM’s contracting partners have what they need to continue fulfilling their missions safely and efficiently. The panelists also talked about a regulatory reset, in which EM works to strengthen its working relationship with regulators by building on its past successes and lessons learned.
The panelists also discussed exciting opportunities to increase stakeholder engagement in light of the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. It was noted that EM is already seeing success with EM’s Los Alamos Site as a pilot site for the initiative.
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