Los Alamos National Laboratory names Jeffrey Mousseau Associate Director of Environmental Programs

Will Oversee Transuranic Waste Disposal and Environmental Cleanup Projects

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., September 18, 2012—Los Alamos National Laboratory today announced that Jeffrey Mousseau has been hired as the new associate director for Environmental Programs.

Mousseau currently works as a senior project manager for the Laboratory’s transuranic waste disposal program. In his new position, he will oversee this program as well as other key environmental cleanup and monitoring activities.

“Jeff shares my personal commitment to sustaining the current momentum of waste removal and cleanup that the Lab has steadily built over the past five years,” said Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan. “His expertise in this area is outstanding, and will be highly valuable as we continue removing waste and cleaning up contamination left over from past activities in Los Alamos.”

Mousseau succeeds Michael Graham, who left the Laboratory in August to oversee commercial and government environmental management work for Bechtel National, Inc.

Mousseau has more than 30 years’ experience in the field of nuclear waste management, including 20 years at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Idaho and New Mexico.

Before coming to Los Alamos, he served as president of Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC, the management and operations contractor for the DOE’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) at the Idaho National Laboratory. The largest transuranic waste project in the Department of Energy complex, AMWTP safely shipped more than 40,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste for permanent disposal during Mousseau’s tenure.

Before becoming president, Mousseau served as vice president, plant manager and waste program manager at AMWTP. During his time at AMWTP, the project compiled one of the best safety records of any DOE site, including more than 12 million safe work hours and more than 6 years without a lost-workday accident.

“I am pleased to have Jeff on board to continue his record of leadership and commitment to public and worker safety,” said McMillan.

Mousseau also has led cleanup projects involving the disposal of mixed and low-level radioactive waste, ensured that newly generated waste was disposed of in accordance with federal and state environmental laws, and managed groundwater and soil remediation projects.

He negotiated agreements with state regulators for activities related to closing above- and below-ground nuclear waste storage areas. He was responsible for coordinating relationships with Congressional representatives, the State of Idaho governor’s office and Department of Environmental Quality, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the Shoshone-Bannock tribal nation, and the laboratory’s Site Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board.

“As the Lab gets ready to set yet another record for transuranic waste shipments in a single fiscal year, I am honored to have the opportunity to work with the state, the community and the federal government to keep up the steady progress on environmental cleanup,” said Mousseau.

A licensed mechanical engineer and certified project management professional, Mousseau holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Idaho.

What is transuranic, or TRU, waste?

TRU waste consists of clothing, tools, rags, debris, soil and other items contaminated with radioactive material, mostly plutonium.  Transuranic elements such as plutonium have an atomic number greater than uranium, so they are labeled transuranic, for “beyond uranium” on the periodic table of elements.

About 90 percent of the current TRU waste inventory is a result of decades of nuclear research and weapons production at the Laboratory.  It is often referred to as “legacy” waste.