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Australian Radioactive Waste Agency appoints new CEO

Eliza Sayon Oct 28, 2021

2 min read

After a global recruitment search, the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency (ARWA) has appointed its first Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sam Usher.

Mr Usher is a leader in the nuclear industry, with almost three decades of experience. He graduated with a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nottingham in 1993.

Since then, he has undertaken a wide range of Executive and non-Executive roles across nuclear businesses in both public and private sectors.

Prior to becoming the CEO of ARWA, he was working on the decommissioning of the United Kingdom’s Dounreay facility.

As the new CEO of ARWA, Mr Usher will be responsible for:

The overall governance and performance of the agency. This will include establishing a strong safety and security culture, and setting the organisation’s strategic direction; and
The siting, construction and operation of Australia’s first National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF).

The NRWMF will be for the disposal of the country’s legacy and future stream of low-level radioactive waste. It will also be the temporary storage of our intermediate-level waste.

Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt said Mr Usher has the right credentials and experience to lead ARWA.

“I look forward to working with him on the ongoing process to site the facility and responsibly manage our radioactive waste which is largely driven from nuclear medicine production,” Minister Pitt said.

“I am confident that Mr Usher is the right person to continue to build trust in the new agency and oversee the process to site Australia’s NRWMF.”

Meanwhile, Mr Usher said that it was a great privilege to be leading ARWA and that he was looking forward to leading Australia’s dedicated radioactive waste agency.

“Australia’s radioactive waste is driven by nuclear medicine production and important industrial and environmental applications that benefit all Australians,” he said.

“We have a responsibility to safely manage the radioactive waste by-products of the processes which enable these benefits, and the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency will do just that.”

Mr Usher will be commencing his new role in January 2022 and will be based in Adelaide.

Source: Minister for Resources and Water Media Release

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.