To the UCOR Workforce:
I have some exciting news to share with you. Just a few minutes ago, Mark Whitney, President of Amentum Energy & Environment (E&E), announced that he is naming Jim Blankenhorn as the next President and CEO of UCOR, effective April 1.
Jim is not new to most of you as he has served as the chair of UCOR’s Board of Managers and is currently senior vice president of Amentum’s E&E North America. This is good news for UCOR. Jim is intimately familiar with our work and has a good relationship with OREM. He brings a wealth of knowledge and 38 years of experience to the position.
You are in good hands—I am confident that Jim will continue leading UCOR toward successfully achieving OREM’s mission with exceptional performance. Please congratulate Jim on his new assignment and support him as he prepares to step into his new role.
See Mark’s message below.
Best Regards,
Ken Rueter
UCOR President & Chief Executive Officer
December 16, 2025
Dear E&E Colleagues,
Following up on my November 4 message, I want to share the good news that Jim Blankenhorn has been selected as the new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR), effective April 1, 2026. Jim replaces Ken Rueter who is retiring on March 30, 2026, after a long, distinguished career in the nuclear industry.
Jim’s appointment positions UCOR for continued success and provides strong strategic focus as UCOR continues executing the DOE environmental clean-up mission across the Oak Ridge Reservation. This is an exciting new chapter—one that will lead the UCOR team to making continued monumental strides in cleanup while further enabling modernization and next-generation nuclear on federal lands.
As senior vice president of Amentum’s E&E North America business line, Jim has excelled in leading the growth of our environmental cleanup and nuclear business. Previously, he served as president of Amentum Technical Services, providing engineering, design, consulting and project services and solutions and prior to that, he was the lead for the Nuclear Operations and Cleanup Sector, providing technical solutions and project delivery in support of the Department of Energy Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Jim’s experience in the DOE Environmental Management industry is extensive having served as the recovery manager, deputy project manager and chief operating officer for the Amentum-led Nuclear Waste Partnership, LLC at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, NM. There, he successfully led the effort that resulted in the resumption of DOE’s halted transuranic waste transportation and disposition program for which he won the corporation’s 2017 Project Delivery Excellence Award.
He also served as deputy project manager for West Valley Environmental Services, LLC; program director for the Waste Disposition Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory; and waste type manager for the DOE Mixed Waste Focus Area. Jim held several leadership positions at the Savannah River Site, including chief engineer, deputy chief engineer for the Material Disposition organization and deputy area project operations manager for the Waste Management Area Project.
Jim served as an officer in the U.S. Army, retiring as a Brigadier General. His expertise included concept development, training, staffing and doctrine development for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Forces, Consequence Management Operations, and Defense Support to Civilian Agencies. His awards include the Legion of Merit (two awards), the Meritorious Service Medal (six awards), and the Army Commendation Medal (eight awards).
With this news our process to find the new leader of E&E’s North America business line will begin immediately. I will share details about the leadership transition as soon as they are finalized. In the meantime, Jim will continue his current role until April 1.
I extend my gratitude to Jim for his leadership and dedication.
Please congratulate Jim on this exciting news and thank him for his exceptional leadership of the North America business line.
Regards,
Mark Whitney