Amentum’s Nuclear & Environment Business Unit is a $1 billion segment with almost 10,000 employees. Mark Whitney has profit-and-loss and operations management responsibility for N&E’s work with the Energy Department, the U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and other international clients.
Whitney’s leadership fosters Amentum’s core values of safety and innovation in his team while projecting them to his clients. A prime example is every Amentum-led DOE contract team holds Voluntary Protection Program Star status — signifying they meet the requirements for outstanding safety and health programs — and all were selected as industry safety leaders by the National Safety Council in 2019.
In our industry, “we are focused on the complex and high-hazard missions of our clients and innovation is key to ensure the work is done safely while achieving schedule and cost improvements,” Whitney said.
As an example, Amentum’s Advanced Technology Office led the development of a software platform named SmartSites, which is specifically designed to address the complex industrial requirements of safety, productivity and accountability of DOE sites.
“We are also revolutionizing the way we handle high-level radioactive waste for the DOE at the Savannah River Site by slashing the time it takes to prepare the waste for treatment by 75%,” Whitney said. “At the U.K.’s Low-Level Waste Repository, we introduced innovations and significant changes to how nuclear waste is managed in the U.K., which extended the lifetime of the facility by more than 100 years and led to cost-avoidance of over £2 billion.”
Whitney’s commitment to collaboration and innovation has brought significant growth in new markets, new work and organic expansion within ongoing contracts. As a champion of innovation and collaboration with DOE customers, he has led significant work scope and contract extensions at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Hanford and Savannah River Sites and the East Tennessee Technology Park. Under his leadership, an Amentum-led joint venture recently won the Central Plateau Cleanup Contract at the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, valued at $10 billion over 10 years.
Why Watch
Whitney’s focus is solving clients’ problems to safely achieve their missions through effective use of the best talent in the industry and applying innovative approaches to complex challenges. His leadership will drive innovation in operations, small business subcontracting and talent development to serve new and existing clients.
Read the rest of the “Top 30 Public Sector Leaders to Watch in 2020” list here.