For Immediate Release
Contact: Sonya Johnson
Sonya.Johnson@orcc.doe.gov
(702) 219-1073
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Oct. 18, 2019 – With 29 years working in nuclear operations under his belt, UCOR’s Maurice “Hoss” Brown knows the importance of working safely. For much of his career, Brown has led teams working with hazardous materials like plutonium and has been an exceptional advocate for maintaining the safest working conditions. The Department of Energy has recognized his commitment to safety by presenting him the Voluntary Protection Program’s Contractor Champion Award, one of only three given across the entire DOE complex.
The Champion Award was presented at a National Symposium of the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA) in New Orleans. VPPPA is a global organization dedicated to excellence in occupational safety, health, and environmental management systems. The Award recognizes contractors “for outstanding performance and leadership” in championing DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program.
Brown said he was honored to receive the award. “I believe that this award belongs to all the employees that have performed so safely while performing highly complicated and dangerous work,” he said. “I also believe I am fortunate to have worked with some very professional people that have a safety minded attitude allowing for the projects I have been associated with to be successful.”
Brown, who moved to Knoxville in early 2019, is the Senior Director of Excess Contaminated Facilities for UCOR, an AECOM-led partnership with Jacobs. He manages more than 300 people working to deactivate and demolish unused, contaminated facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Before joining the UCOR team, Brown worked in a variety of leadership positions over 14 years at the Idaho Cleanup Core. His last position there was Senior Operations Director of the Radioactive Waste Management Complex. Brown also worked at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technological Site, where he was part of the team that performed the first demolition of a highly contaminated plutonium facility.
UCOR is the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s lead cleanup contractor on the Oak Ridge Reservation. Since August 2011, UCOR has worked to reduce environmental risk by cleaning up legacy facilities from the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, allowing DOE to repurpose the land and buildings for use as a multi-use industrial park, national park, and conservation area. The company is also cleaning up contaminated facilities that are no longer in use at ORNL and Y-12, reducing environmental risk and helping the DOE Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration to continue their missions.
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Photo attached: hoss_brown.jpg
Caption: UCOR’s Hoss Brown
UCOR NR 2019-9
