New Leader Named at Yucca Firm

Jul 11 - Las Vegas Review - Journal

Bechtel SAIC, the company operating the Yucca Mountain Project for the federal government, disclosed a change in top leadership Thursday.

John Mitchell will leave as president and general manager on Aug. 12, a company spokesman confirmed. He will be succeeded by Ted Feigenbaum, who most recently headed the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co.

In an e-mail to employees this week, Mitchell said he will receive a new assignment from parent company Bechtel National Inc. His departure from the nuclear waste program first was reported by Platts Nuclear Publications, an energy newsletter group.

Mitchell's departure was not related to delays that caused the Energy Department to postpone its license application to build a spent nuclear fuel repository at the Nevada site, Bechtel SAIC spokesman Jason Bohne said.

Bechtel National customarily moves its managers every two or three years, Bohne said. Mitchell was appointed head of the Yucca Mountain contract in December 2002, when the program shifted focus to preparing a comprehensive license application.

"That puts him in the time span to move," Bohne said. "John accomplished what Bechtel wanted to accomplish."

Besides heading Maine Yankee, Feigenbaum oversaw operations at the nuclear plant in Seabrook, N.H., from 1992 to 2002. He also held senior positions at the New Hampshire Yankee nuclear utility.

Feigenbaum, who was in Las Vegas for meetings this week, was hired because of his experience running nuclear facilities regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Bohne said. The Yucca project is headed into similar waters when its license application is considered by the NRC.