EnergySolutions CEO at center of nuclear storm

SALT LAKE CITY — He is a man of understated demeanor in an industry marked by shrill rhetoric, by emotional cries of environmental damage, by ardent slogans that screech of Utah being the nuclear dumping ground of the world.

Still, his voice remains one of quiet conviction, of black-and-white facts, of reiterating his points in the face of a loud chorus of disapproval.

Val Christensen, the newly named chief executive officer of EnergySolutions, has stepped onto the center stage of the nuclear arena. His appointment as head of the company comes as developments in the industry and companion controversy power up at a furious pace, locally, nationally and globally.

In Utah, critics of the company that operates the world's largest waste disposal facility in Clive, Tooele County, are waging the radioactive battle on multiple fronts.

Foreign waste. Depleted uranium. Waste blending.

Last year, after the company's 10-member board tapped him as president, Christensen ventured into the potentially stressing fray of being the "face" of a company that many love to hate but few understand.

"Initially it was something I had to adjust to, but I really embraced the opportunity to tell the company story," he said. "I was energized by the chance to get the facts out about the company and to find that people understood that a lot of the things they were hearing were not true. … It really hasn't been a taxing or uncomfortable thing."

The ascension to CEO of inarguably Utah's most controversial company began as a steady climb for the Brigham Young University law graduate.

It was shaped in the basement of Hyrum Smith's home in the mid-1980s when the founder of what would go on to be Franklin Covey was setting up shop to produce day planners and homemade management courses. Christensen was on the ground in the company's formative stages and went on to be its general counsel and executive vice president, running all aspects of the operation.

From its basement beginnings, the company blossomed to include more than 1,500 associates and 37 offices in more than 100 countries.

After Envirocare of Utah joined with two other companies to become EnergySolutions in 2006, top executives started hunting for general counsel, and again Christensen found himself in the formative stages of shepherding a new corporate animal.