Permanent DOE manager named for Hanford nuclear reservation following competition

A permanent Department of Energy manager has been named for the Hanford nuclear reservation.

Brian Vance, who has been serving as manager under a limited appointment since February 2019, has been given the position permanently after the job was advertised nationally.

William “Ike” White, the DOE senior adviser for the Office of Environmental Management, made the announcement Tuesday.

Vance had to reapply earlier this year for the job and compete for the position to ensure a fair and open competition was held for the DOE senior executive position.

In the time Vance has served as the top DOE manager at Hanford, he has headed both the Hanford Richland Operations Office and the Office of River Protection.

About 11,000 people are employed at Hanford.

He has defined site-wide priorities and developed an integrated approach to the site’s environmental cleanup, White said in a memo to staff Tuesday.

Congress has ordered the two Hanford offices to remain separate.

The Office of River Protection is responsible for storing and treating 56 million gallons of radioactive waste left from the past production of plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

The Richland Operations Office is responsible for all other environmental cleanup at the site and overall operation of the 580-square-mile site.

Naming one manager for both offices provides for coordination between them as Hanford prepares to begin treating tank waste at the vitrification plant by the end of 2023, while still allowing the two DOE offices to maintain their distinct scopes of work, White said.

Each office will continue to have deputy managers responsible for day-to-day operations — Joe Franco at the Richland Operations Office and Ben Harp at the Office of River Protection.

Vance has more than 30 years of nuclear industry experience and is a retired Navy nuclear submarine officer.

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 9:17 AM.