AIKEN, S.C. - EM Assistant Secretary Anne White visited the Savannah River Site (SRS) for the first time last week, touring facilities and meeting with early career professionals and other employees.
“I am truly, humbly honored to be the head of EM and I fully recognize the immense responsibility this role brings," White told the employees. “You are doing a tremendous amount of good work here at SRS."
White, who was sworn in to her position in late March, first visited the site’s liquid waste facilities. She toured tank farm operations, which included a new project underway that uses an innovative technology to remove cesium, a highly radioactive chemical element, from the salt waste to accelerate waste removal and tank closure.
At the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), White viewed the control room and completed a test weld of a glass-waste canister. The DWPF vitrifies liquid waste stored in SRS tanks into a solid glass form suitable for long-term storage and disposal.
“Stabilizing and safely storing the radioactive waste at SRS is an important part of DOE’s Environmental Management mission," DOE-Savannah River Manager Mike Budney said.
White also visited the Salt Waste Processing Facility, which is in the testing and commissioning phase. That facility will process the majority of the remaining SRS liquid waste by separating the highly radioactive cesium and actinides from the salt waste inventory before it goes to DWPF for vitrification.
The tour included the Saltstone Disposal Units (SDUs), including a 32.8-million gallon unit completed last year, and the Saltstone Production Facility, which stabilizes the waste in the solid, cement-based form and pumps the grout to the SDUs.
Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) Federal Project Director Pam Marks, right, takes EM Assistant Secretary Anne White through SWPF, pointing out the massive tanks integral to supporting future processing of Cold War legacy waste and accelerated tank closure at the Savannah River Site.
During the nuclear materials operations portion of the tour, White saw H Canyon, the nation’s only operating, production-scale nuclear chemical separations facility. It converts nuclear materials into material that can be eventually turned into commercial power reactor fuel for electricity, aiding the nation’s nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
A meeting with EM employees rounded out White’s first day at SRS. She shared observations of SRS field work with the employees and asked them for input on improving work efficiencies.
The Assistant Secretary said she is visiting field sites to see EM’s work firsthand to best understand what works well and find opportunities for improvement. White also wants to share expertise and knowledge among field offices. She noted that EM headquarters has the responsibility to find the balance that best enables field sites to get work done with the greatest efficiency.
On her second day at the site, White toured EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and its Aiken County Technology Laboratory, where she received an overview of the lab’s innovations and research in waste vitrification and cementitious materials.
The Assistant Secretary also visited SRNL’s Shielded Cells Facility, which provides heavy shielding for the safe examination of testing of highly radioactive materials. After seeing a demonstration of operators using robotic manipulators to handle materials in the cells, White learned about the lab’s innovative approaches to nuclear materials processing, including the recovery of highly valuable isotopes.
Employees also briefed White on new virtual reality and remote system applications for safer, more effective environmental remediation and discussed advanced manufacturing methods. White also had lunch with the early career professionals.
Field Note from Assistant Secretary White
Much thanks to Mike Budney and his team at the Savannah River Site for providing an action-packed agenda that made my first visit to SRS a highly productive one. Spending time at the facilities and alongside workers just further underscored for me the important work that SRS personnel performs on site cleanup and in their contributions to the EM program.
My tour began at the liquid waste facilities. At the Defense Waste Processing Facility, Facility Representative Keith Sandroni briefed me on operations, and DWPF operators Ben Anderson and Robert Wallace instructed me on performing a canister test weld. Elsewhere on the tour, Salt Waste Processing Facility Federal Project Director Pam Marks and Facility Representative Steve Stamper walked me through the SWPF that is undergoing testing and commissioning.
During the day I heard about the successful security drill that had taken place prior to my arrival. Edmund Szymanski, deputy director of the Office of Safeguards, Security and Emergency Services, shared with me a video on the work his group performs.
A trip highlight was meeting with EM employees, and the lunch I had with several SRS early career professionals - Patrick Cunning, Azadeh Samadi-Dezfouli, Sunny Lunka, Dan Billings, Kathryn Taylor-Pashow, and Matthew Williams. We had rewarding discussions on topics ranging from regulatory relations and compliance, federal hiring and position management processes, and vision for the future of SRS. It was clear to me how much they care about their work.
The second day of my visit focused on the Savannah River National Laboratory, EM’s corporate lab. I was briefed about the lab’s role in providing technical leadership and support at sites throughout the EM complex.
The work being done at Savannah River is important work, good work. I heard the word “pride" many times during my visit, and it was obvious the great pride the site workers take in their work. My message: Keep up the good work. I’m looking forward to working with you moving forward and making EM the best it can be.
-Anne Marie White
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
