Decommissioning Environmental Science and Remote Technology 2021 Speaker

Betsy Forinash

U.S. Department of Energy, USA

Director for the Infrastructure Management and Disposition Policy Office

Betsy Forinash is the Director for the Infrastructure Management and Disposition Policy Office in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Environmental Management, whose mission is the cleanup of sites contaminated by the legacy of nuclear weapons development and production from the Manhattan Project and since. Her current role is focused on environmental remediation, facility decommissioning, and long-term stewardship at DOE sites.

At DOE, Betsy previously led programs related to radioactive waste management and disposal. Prior to DOE, she spent 15 years in regulatory and oversight programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repositories, radioactive air emissions, contaminated site clean-up, naturally-occurring radioactive materials, and radiological emergency preparedness. She also worked for five years at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, based in Paris, with international expert groups on strategic and technical aspects of radioactive waste disposal.

Betsy holds a BS degree from Duke University (go, Blue Devils!) and an MS from Northwestern University, both in civil engineering.