The Department of Energy announced Monday that it has selected a new Savannah River Site manager to replace Jack Craig, is retiring after three years in the role and 32 years of federal service.
Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Michael Budney will take over at the 310-square-mile site near Aiken, S.C. While serving for nearly three decades in the Navy, Budney was an officer on three surface vessels and four submarines, including two-and-a-half years as commanding officer of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Pennsylvania. Prior to leaving the service, he was deputy director of the Nuclear Command Control System Support Staff at U.S. Strategic Command.
At DOE, Budney previously led the Office of Business Operations for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
“I am confident he will maintain the high standards of managing one of the most diverse and complex sites in DOE and continue the tremendous progress underway in Savannah River,” James Owendoff, principal deputy assistant energy secretary for environmental management (EM), said in a press release.
The total SRS workforce is about 11,000 and includes personnel from DOE and five major contractors. Its missions encompass both environmental management and work for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), including liquid waste treatment, nuclear materials processing, and tritium production for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Craig is retiring after 29 years in leadership roles associated with the Energy Department’s cleanup work. On Craig’s watch over the past three years, SRS reached several environmental management milestones, including closure of one of the site’s 40-plus liquid waste tanks. Prior to closing, each tank holds hundreds of thousands of gallons of radioactive salt and sludge waste, a byproduct of Cold War nuclear weapons production at SRS. That waste must be converted into a glassy, less harmful form suitable for interim storage on-site until the federal government selects a permanent repository.
Craig also oversaw completion of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), which will treat the site’s salt waste starting in December of this year. The treated product will be placed in SRS Saltstone facilities for permanent disposal.
Craig previously served as the acting associate principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental management at DOE headquarters, director of the Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center, and deputy manager of the DOE Ohio Field Office.
“Jack Craig is an exemplary leader and his long record of achievements speak for themselves,” Owendoff stated. “We are deeply grateful for his service and I know he will be greatly missed by those who have has the honor and pleasure of serving with him.”
