RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy has picked a new manager for its Office of River Protection on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
The agency on Monday announced that Brian Vance will manage the office, which is responsible for the nuclear waste kept in 177 giant underground storage tanks.
Vance has more than 30 years of experience with Westinghouse, AREVA, and as a career submarine officer in acquisition programs and the Navy nuclear propulsion program.
He most recently worked for Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company.
The Hanford site was created in World War II to make plutonium for nuclear weapons, and now is engaged in cleaning up the resulting wastes.