Renewables lab exec picked as director of Savannah River Lab

An executive with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, Johney Green, will be the new head of the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, Battelle said last week.

Battelle Savannah River Alliance said in a Dec. 13 press release it chose Green, the associate laboratory director for mechanical and thermal engineering sciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, as the new director of Savannah River National Laboratory.

In September, Vahid Majidi, who ran the Savannah River National Laboratory for about six years, announced he was resigning in January. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management posted the job opening.

Green will become Savannah River lab director effective Jan. 6, a Battelle spokesperson said Wednesday.

At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Green oversees the lab’s transportation, buildings, wind, water, geothermal, advanced manufacturing, concentrating solar power and other programs, according to the Battelle press release. Green has previously worked with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

Savannah River National Laboratory has an annual budget of about $400 million. The lab does research and development for DOE’s Offices of Environmental Management and Legacy Management as well as for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

“We are thrilled to have Johney become the new leader of SRNL,” said Juan Alvarez, Battelle’s Executive Vice President for National Laboratory Management and Operations and Chair of the Board of Directors at Battelle Savannah River Alliance.

In announcing his departure, Majidi said he always planned to serve three years after Battelle Savannah River Alliance took over lab management in early 2021 from Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the operations manager for the entire Savannah River Site. DOE had decided to carve out a lab-management contract separate from the site-operations deal.