Trump to tap nuclear industry lobbyist for U.S. Energy Dept job

[November 16, 2017]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump plans to nominate Melissa Burnison, a nuclear energy industry lobbyist, to serve as assistant secretary in charge of congressional and intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Energy Department, the White House said on Wednesday.

Burnison is currently director of federal programs for the Nuclear Energy Institute, "where she plans, directs and executes legislative strategies for nuclear energy programs and policies on behalf of the nuclear energy industry," the White House said in a statement.

Previously, she was a senior adviser at the Energy Department and at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources, where she advanced legislation to expand U.S. energy production and jobs, the statement said.

(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Tom Brown)

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