Savannah River advisory panel welcomes interim EM site manager

A Department of Energy advisory board on nuclear cleanup at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina this week welcomed Edwin DeShong III as interim manager of the remediation field office. .

Phyllis Britt, who chairs the Savannah River Site (SRS) Citizens Advisory Board (CAB), acknowledged DeShong’s promotion from deputy manager of the Environmental Management field office at the start of the Tuesday meeting. He replaces former SRS manager Mike Budney, who left the site last month as part of a federal workforce reduction.

“I just want to say ‘welcome’ to Edwin,” Britt said. “We’re missing Mike Budney, but we expect Edwin to fill his shoes well.”

As the top cleanup office fed at the 310-square-mile SRS property, DeShong provided a general update on operations including progress with the liquid waste mission, as well as work at the Savannah River National Laboratory.

DeShong has more than 32 years of experience in nuclear field management, according to his DOE bio page. This includes years served as a chief engineer at Savannah River Site, as well as time as an acting deputy manager in the site’s field office. The interim manager has also worked at DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, which is now the SRS landlord.

DeShong replaces Budney, who became site manager in 2018. Budney is a Naval Academy graduate who had a decades-long federal and corporate career after spending 29 years in the U.S. Navy. Exchange Monitor has previously reported that Budney is leaving DOE as part of the White House effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce. A DOE representative said Tuesday Budney will formally “retire” later this year.