J. Kent Fortenberry
Manager, Technical and Nuclear Services, URS CH2M Oak Ridge LLC
URS CH2M Oak Ridge LLC
Kent Fortenberry is UCOR’s Technical and Nuclear Services Manager. He has 38 years of experience in the design, licensing, operation, and safety oversight of both government and commercial nuclear facilities. He was previously Savannah River Remediation’s (SRR) Chief Engineer, where he managed, planned, and integrated all engineering services required to support the liquid waste work scope. He implemented and managed programs for systems engineering, configuration management, commercial grade detection, nuclear safety, and fire protection. He provided engineering for operations support, including surveillance, maintenance, and system modifications and upgrades. He provided engineering leadership for SRR projects and also supported projects with engineering staff and functional support. He also served as SRR’s Waste Disposal Authority.
Kent started his career as a Nuclear Propulsion Design Engineer at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. He moved into commercial nuclear power with the Entergy Corporation, where he built a solid base of expertise, including plant operations as a licensed Senior Reactor Operator, nuclear fuels engineering, reactor physics, safety analysis, and licensing. He previously worked for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), where he played a significant role as that agency’s Technical Director, providing nuclear safety oversight of design, construction, operation, deactivation, and research and development activities throughout both DOE-Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
After 16 years with the DNFSB, he joined the Parsons Corporation to provide technical services related to the design and construction of uranium processing, uranium enrichment, and high-level radioactive liquid waste treatment facilities. During this time, Mr. Fortenberry also directed Parsons’ engineering activities at the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.
He joined the AECOM Corporation (previously URS) in 2009, working on radioactive waste missions at both Hanford and Savannah River Site. In addition, he worked on corporate performance assurance and oversight to support safe and effective execution of nuclear activities across the DOE complex and abroad.