Meet the Office of Environmental Management Leaders Changing the Outlook of Nuclear Waste Cleanup

The WIPP facility began operations in 1999 and celebrated 20 years of operations in 2019. To date, WIPP has received more than 13,000 shipments that were safely transported more than 15 million cumulative miles. Under direction of the U.S. Department of Energy, WIPP has made major contributions to the safe cleanup of environmental legacy resulting from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.

Meet our DOE leaders:

William “Ike” White – Senior Advisor

William "Ike" White is the Senior Advisor for the Office of Environmental Management (EM). He provides leadership for the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy brought about from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.

Under White’s leadership, EM has made major progress in liquid waste treatment systems, including beginning operations at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site and completing construction of the facilities supporting the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste Treatment approach at Hanford. At Oak Ridge demolition was completed at the East Tennessee Technology Park, making it the first site in the world to remove an entire uranium enrichment complex. He also issued EM’s annual 10-year Strategic Vision outlining planned accomplishments over the next decade.

Candice Robertson – Acting Principal Deputy Assistant

Candice Robertson is currently serving as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Environmental Management (EM). In this role she works to enable the safe and successful execution of the EM mission, while providing management oversight of activities, operations, and program integration across Department of Energy (DOE) field sites.

Robertson has nearly 20 years of experience managing critical business functions in both the public and private sectors and is knowledgeable about all aspects of EM’s mission and operations after serving in multiple management and leadership roles in EM including Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Corporate Services, Chief Communications Officer, Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations, Director of External Affairs, Chief of Staff and Senior Communications Advisor.

Prior to her current position, she served as a Senior Advisor to DOE Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm and DOE Deputy Secretary David M. Turk. She has served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to three DOE Deputy Secretaries including Dan Brouillette and Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.

Nicole Nelson-Jean – Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations

Nicole Nelson-Jean is the Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations for the Office of Environmental Management (EM). Nelson-Jean has the overriding responsibility to develop strategies, policy, and guidance for the 15 EM field sites in support of the EM mission. She oversees nuclear operations, safeguards and security, and technology development. Nelson-Jean also oversees EM’s efforts under the Justice40 Initiative.

A veteran to the nuclear industry, she served as the Manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Savannah River Field Office, and has held various roles for the Livermore Field Office and the Los Alamos Site Office.

Nelson-Jean has been a champion and provides leadership for the EM Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP). EM’s MSIPP includes internships, competitive research awards, a post-doctoral research program, the Savannah River Environmental Sciences Field Station, technology curriculum and professional development program, graduate fellowship program, and an EM/Minority Serving Institutions shared interest research partnership.

John Arthur (Jay) Mullis – Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs

John Arthur (Jay) Mullis II is currently serving as the Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs in the Office of Environmental Management (EM). The office provides technical and policy support in the planning and field execution of EM waste and materials disposition, soil and groundwater remediation, and deactivation and decommissioning of EM facilities. He also provides leadership on matters related to regulatory affairs defined by law or negotiated or stipulated compliance agreements.

Prior to this position, Mullis served as the Manager of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management from November 2017 until November 2021. He was responsible for safely executing the environmental cleanup of the 32,400-acre Oak Ridge Reservation, which entailed successfully managing the cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Y-12 National Security Complex. He oversaw environmental cleanup and stewardship, decontamination and decommissioning activities, waste processing and management, surveillance and maintenance programs, historic preservation efforts, and procurement and contract functions.

Dae Chung – Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Corporate Services

Dae Chung serves as the Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Corporate Services for the Office of Environmental Management (EM). He is responsible for leading and overseeing the strategic corporate operations and essential business services necessary to support and enable the over $7 billion EM cleanup program including resource management, acquisition and project management and internal and external communications. Additionally, he advises and guides EM leadership on the successful integration of supporting policies and strategies.

Chung has 37 years of broad experience in U.S. government programs and operations, global engineering and construction business, safety management and operations oversight, and commercial nuclear power industries. He directed or managed multi-billion dollar corporate functions at a Fortune-500 Engineering and Construction (E&C) company, large-scale national programs and international projects. In addition to his executive leadership and management experience, he has specialized skills and experience in budget and strategic planning, program/project management, workforce planning, design, engineering, safety, quality assurance, and operational oversight of complex government facilities, operations, and E&C projects.

About the DOE EM

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) mission is to address the nation’s Cold War environmental legacy resulting from decades of nuclear weapons production and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. This legacy includes some of the world’s most dangerous radioactive sites with large amounts of radioactive wastes, spent nuclear fuel, excess plutonium and uranium, thousands of contaminated facilities, and contaminated soil and groundwater. Created in 1989, EM has the responsibility for completing the cleanup of this Cold War legacy and managing the remaining nuclear materials.

Reference: https://www.energy.gov/em/leadership