Brad Smith will take over as president and general manager of N3B Los Alamos as Kim Lebak moves on to a corporate role at HII, the parent company of N3B. Courtesy photo
Kim Lebak is leaving her position of president and general manager of N3B Los Alamos. Courtesy photo
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Kim Lebak, president and general manager of N3B Los Alamos is set to return to a corporate role with N3B’s parent company Huntington Ingalls Industries leaving the contract for legacy waste cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory for the Department of Energy Environmental Management Field Office in the hands of N3B’s current executive officer Brad Smith.
In a letter to staff Monday morning, Lebak said that as N3B begins Option Period 1 under its contract, the company is eagerly looking forward to achieving “a significant set of cleanup accomplishments” over the next three years. These accomplishments will be “protecting crucial water sources, reducing legacy waste inventories and developing solutions for longer-term challenges”.
“This marks a natural transition point to bring on new leadership to help tackle new challenges we may face and ensure our continued success,” Lebak said.
Lebak has been in the top position since 2021 prior to which she was vice president for independent performance assurance for HII’s nuclear and environmental group before joining N3B as environmental remediation program manager. Prior to that she spent a 27-year career with the Department of Energy, including three years as the DOE/NNSA field office manager at LANL.
Lebak also announced that Brad Smith will take over as president and general manager for N3B. Smith currently serves as acting executive officer having taken over from former vice president and executive officer Joe Legare who was on the LANL contract from 2018 to earlier this year. Smith has been with N3B since 2021 and has also served acting environmental remediation program manager, engineering and nuclear safety director.
“I’ve appreciated Brad’s dedication and expertise. His leadership will keep N3B on track for the progress we’re set to make during the three-year Option Period 1 contract,” Lebak said.
She also announced that Brian Clayman will serve as Contact-Handled-Transuranic (TRU) program manager, taking over from Jerry O’Leary. Clayman previously served as director of waste management for Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Deactivation and Decommissioning project. and held management and waste roles at Oak Ridge’s East Tennessee Technology Park and the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Lebak said O’Leary will serve as senior technical advisor for the cleanup at Technical Area 21, which she said is “a crucial project for our local stakeholders”. Cleanup at TA-21, which is located at the end of DP Road has been going on for some time. TA-21 is a former Manhattan Project and Cold War era complex where plutonium was processed and tritium research for energy, environment and weapons defense was conducted.
“I want to thank Jerry for his role in the successes we have realized in the drill and drain campaign, the corrugated metal pipe projects and addressing legacy TRU and low-level/mixed-waste inventories,” Lebak said.
Lebak noted that the more than four years she has spent at N3B and the amazing team in Los Alamos that she has gotten to know and work with, has been one of the highlights of her career.
“I am so proud for what we have been able to achieve – setting a strong foundation for the legacy cleanup mission at Los Alamos, and achieving tangible benefits for all of those who call this area home,” she said.