11th ANNUAL NATIONAL CLEANUP WORKSHOP RECAP
Last week, the National Cleanup Workshop was hosted in Arlington, Virginia where DOE leaders, local government officials, and industry leaders from across the country gathered to discuss the DOE's cleanup priorities, workforce issues, and more.
Beginning on Tuesday, the ECA Board met ahead of the workshop to vote in the new ECA Executive Board for the 2026-2027 term. The incoming board (listed below) will serve a two-year term beginning on January 1, 2026.
ECA Chair – Councilmember Chuck Hope (Oak Ridge, TN)
ECA Vice-Chair – Mayor Pro Tem Jason “JJ” Chavez (Carlsbad, NM)
ECA Secretary – Chairman & Commissioner Jerome Delvin (Benton County, WA)
ECA Treasurer – Councilor Randall Ryti (Los Alamos County, NM)
ECA Member-At-Large – Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Wilson (Paducah, KY)
We would like to congratulate the incoming board members, and we look forward to their leadership and guidance. Finally, a thank you to the current Board of Directors (listed below) for your leadership as we continue to move forward ECA members’ goals and priorities the past two years!
ECA Chair – Mayor Brent Gerry (West Richland, WA)
ECA Vice-Chair – Mayor Rebecca Casper (Idaho Falls, ID)
ECA Secretary – Councilmember Chuck Hope (Oak Ridge, TN)
ECA Treasurer – Councilor Randall Ryti (Los Alamos County, NM)
ECA Member-At-Large – Mayor Pro Tem Jason “JJ” Chavez (Carlsbad, NM)
On Wednesday, Department of Energy office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Acting Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne gave the keynote address highlighting DOE Secretary Chris White’s ambitious vision for the new nuclear future, and the critical need of EM to accelerate reuse to fuel new nuclear development. However, he noted that the success of these ambitious projects cannot happen without community involvement stating, “You cannot separate site and community - nothing is confined to the DOE space.”
Thursday, Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors Dr. Rian Bahran was the featured keynote speaker, where he expressed his excitement at the progress the Department has made stating, “The pace we are moving at is faster than anything I’ve ever seen, it is incredibly exciting…The Secretary has directed that we will be testing at least three reactors by next year – and we are on track to meet that goal.”
Here are the Major Takeaways from the workshop:
Continuously engaging with communities to build transparent and trusted relationships is imperative to the success of EM projects.
Focusing on the cleanup and disposal of legacy waste is imperative right now, but concurrently ensuring no new legacies are created in the process.
Continuously engaging with communities to build transparent and trusted relationships is imperative to the success of EM projects.
Thank you to Acting Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne and to Deputy Assistant Secretary Rian Bahran for taking the time to speak at the National Cleanup Workshop! Finally, ECA wants to thank all attendees for your energy, partnership, and collaboration during the 2025 National Cleanup Workshop.
Make sure to save the date for next year's National Cleanup Workshop hosted in Arlington, VA from September 14-16, 2026!