This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions said Friday it has hired Victoria Napier to be its new senior vice president of federal government relations.

Napier previously has worked at the White House and government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy, where she oversaw a $7.1 billion budget and 42 active DOE sites nationwide.

"Victoria will play a key role in driving the growth of our Federal business," said David Lockwood, the nuclear-waste company's president and CEO.

EnergySolutions is planning to return to private ownership later this year, under a $1.1 billion deal announced last month in which company stockholders will receive $3.75 per share.

The company has been reshaping itself in the seven years it has been publicly traded as some of its most ambitious programs have faltered. There have been three major changes in leadership, operation cutbacks to save $35 million annually and layoffs of hundreds of employees within its worldwide workforce.

EnergySolutions operates the nation's busiest commercial disposal site for low-level radioactive waste in Tooele County, about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. Reductions in government spending and a slowing of reactor cleanups have meant a dramatic decrease in the volume of waste coming to the Utah site.

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