Departing officers of an advisory board for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said this week they are feeling less anxious about the National Nuclear Security Administration taking over the 310-square-mile property on Oct. 1.
That’s when the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) , a semi-autonomous branch of DOE, is scheduled to assume the landlord role at Savannah River from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
During a two-day meeting this week of the Savannah River Site’s Citizens Advisory Board, both Chair Gregg Murray and Vice Chair Charles Hilton said they are more optimistic about the change after a Jan. 8 meeting with NNSA’s deputy administrator Frank Rose as well as Environmental Management No. 2, Jeffrey Avery.
Murray has worried that NNSA might not be forthcoming enough in sharing information with the Citizens Advisory Board but said Monday he feels better about the transition. At the same time, the Citizens Advisory Board “must at least minimally be involved in planning” for the waste that will result from plutonium pit production, Murray said.
Until recently, the Office of Environmental Management spent more on remediation at the property than NNSA does on nuclear weapons-related work. But DOE managers have said that’s changing as NNSA moves toward plutonium pit production at the site.
“I’ve had my share of concerns with the transition,” Hilton said, but adding he left this month’s meeting feeling “hopeful” and impressed by Rose. Murray and Hilton are at the end of their terms and rotating off the citizens’ board.
Phyllis Britt, a member who is remaining on the advisory board, said she was also impressed by Rose’s openness.
During the two-day meeting, some speakers welcomed the news that Michael Mikolanis, a former Environmental Management supervisor at Savannah River, is coming back to South Carolina as NNSA’s top manager for Savannah River.
Michael Budney, Environmental Management’s top Savannah River executive, said Mikolanis is already involved in some of the transition planning. Mikolanis is currently legacy nuclear cleanup field manager at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
