The U.S. Department of Energy has named one of its longtime employees as the acting director of the field office that oversees the federal government's troubled nuclear waste repository.
Dana Bryson is replacing Joe Franco, who recently took another job with the agency at the Hanford site in Washington.
The department says Bryson has more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear industry and has served as the deputy manager of the Carlsbad Field Office since 2013.
Bryson previously worked at the DOE's Richland Operations Office, where he was responsible for cleanup and restoration of 220 square miles of the Columbia River corridor.
DOE officials say they're confident he's up to the challenge at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, which has been closed since a February 2014 radiation leak.
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