WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today named John Kotek the new Deputy Manager for the department's Idaho Operations Office (NE-Idaho) in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

"John's experience and familiarity with DOE's nuclear programs, with Argonne National Laboratory, and in particular, his experience at the Idaho site, makes him ideally suited for the Deputy Manager position at Idaho," said William D. Magwood, IV, Director, DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology. "I am confident that this new senior management team at Idaho has the experience and leadership qualities that we need to establish the new Idaho National Laboratory and lead the exciting new nuclear missions at the Idaho site."

Mr. Kotek has over 14 years of engineering experience in nuclear reactor development and management of federal research programs, both as a prior federal employee and since 1999, as a senior manager within Argonne National Laboratory. In the 1990s, Mr. Kotek served in a number of senior positions in the department's nuclear energy program, including Associate Director for Technology.

More recently, he served a key leadership role for Argonne in the development of DOE's Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Technology Roadmap. This roadmap identifies six promising advanced reactor technologies for future joint international collaboration and development. Currently, Kotek serves as Argonne's program manager for research into the use of nuclear energy for the production of hydrogen.

"I'm excited to bring on board someone who has experience in nuclear reactor development and hydrogen production - two keys to the future of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory," said Beth Sellers, manager of NE-Idaho. "John's focus will be on growing the laboratory, particularly the laboratory's nuclear missions."

Kotek was the American Nuclear Society's Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Fellow in 2002, serving as an energy advisor to Sen. Jeff Bingaman. Mr. Kotek holds a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Maryland.

DOE announced earlier this year that it intends to merge Argonne-West and INEEL into one national laboratory - the Idaho National Laboratory - to be the Nation's premier center for nuclear energy research and development.

Media Contacts:
Hope Williams (DC), 202/-586-5806
Brad Bugger (Idaho), 208/526-0833

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