Director, Office of Nuclear Engineering and Safety Basis Assessments
Brent Jones is the Director of the Office of Nuclear Engineering and Safety Basis Assessments within the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA). The office conducts independent assessments and studies to provide critical feedback and objective information on programs and performance in protecting workers, the public, and the environment from radiological hazards with a focus on nuclear safety engineering, safety bases, and performance analysis of hazardous nuclear facilities and operations. This information identifies areas for improvement to support the safe performance of the Department’s missions.
Mr. Jones’s career spans more than 39 years in engineering and operations management. He joined DOE in 2008 and worked as a Nuclear Safety Specialist within the Safety Basis Team at the Los Alamos Site Office and Richland Operations Office before joining the Livermore Field Office in 2019. Mr. Jones is a recognized subject matter expert in nuclear safety and has participated in the development of National Training Center safety basis coursework; on writing teams to update nuclear safety orders, standards and guides; and as a safety basis assessment lead for Chief of Defense Nuclear Safety biennial reviews across the DOE complex.
Before joining DOE, Mr. Jones worked in plutonium operations at PUREX as a process engineer (Rockwell Hanford Operations), copper foil plating operations for circuit board manufacturing as a supervisor (Gould Electronics), propellant manufacturing for automobile airbags as a manager (TRW Vehicle Safety Systems) and microprocessor research and development as a supervisor (Intel Corporation). Mr. Jones’s work experience includes over 12 years of management experience and 39 years in facility operations and environmental programs in various capacities encompassing the complete life cycle of a facility from planning, budget management, design, construction, startup, maintenance, upgrades, and closure. Mr. Jones’s experience has provided him a strong base in statistical process control and continuous process improvement.
A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Mr. Jones is a graduate of Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.