Clinton picks new head of nuclear-waste office

Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1999 | 10:10 a.m.

President Clinton has nominated Ivan Itkin, a former Pennsylvania legislator and nuclear scientist, as chief of the government office responsible for managing nuclear waste and overseeing the repository studies at Yucca Mountain.

Itkin, 63, of Pittsburgh would replace Lake Barrett, acting director of the Office of Civilian Waste Management. Barrett became acting director when Director Daniel Dreyfus resigned in January 1997.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing on Itkin's nomination on Sept. 15. If approved, Itkin will head the scientific research at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the only site in the nation under study as a high-level nuclear waste repository.

Earlier this year Itkin's name was submitted to Clinton by Pennsylvania representatives to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the licensing agency that would grant the Department of Energy permission to build and operate a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. This was after Itkin lost the governor's race in 1998 by a 26-percent margin.

Itkin had represented Pittsburgh in the Pennsylvania House for 26 years before running for governor, combining a rare blend of science and politics. Before winning his legislative seat, Itkin worked 15 years for Westinghouse Corp. in Pittsburgh.

He holds a doctorate in mathematics, a master's degree in nuclear engineering and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering.