Ike White, right, Senior Advisor for EM, engages DOE-Savannah River employees at a meeting after touring Savannah River Site (SRS) liquid waste facilities. Also pictured is SRS Manager Mike Budney. Courtesy/DOE
Ike White, left, Senior Advisor for EM, tours the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) with Cliff Conner, cognizant system engineer and process manager for Parsons, EM’s SWPF contractor at the Savannah River Site. Courtesy/DOEDOE News:
AIKEN, S.C. ― EM Senior Advisor Ike White recently visited the Savannah River Site (SRS), where he toured liquid waste facilities and met with employees, commending them for their part in the cleanup program’s successes.
“You have a history of success here,” White told the staff. “For the past 30 years, men and women across the EM complex have come together as well, unified in our determination to tackle that legacy — cleaning up sites and preparing them for the next chapter in partnership with local communities like yours.”
White, SRS Manager Mike Budney, SRS Deputy Site Manager Thomas Johnson, and others toured the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) and the Actinide Removal Process (ARP) and Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) and Tank Closure Cesium Removal projects.
“We’re pleased to have Ike here with us today and to highlight for him some of the successes in the liquid waste mission,” Budney said.
A key facility to the future success of the liquid waste mission is the SWPF. White toured SWPF with Pam Marks, SWPF federal project director, and Frank Sheppard, senior vice president and project manager for Parsons, EM’s SWPF contractor.
“Once SWPF is operational it will greatly boost our ability to treat waste that is among EM’s most challenging and highest risk,” White said.
White also attended an employee recognition event held at the site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility. Savannah River Remediation, the SRS liquid waste contractor, recognized its employees for advancing the SRS liquid waste mission and for their work on ARP/MCU, a successful 11-year demonstration of two interim salt waste processing facilities that ended this year as crews prepare for startup of SWPF.
“The success of the ARP/MCU — and the broader tank waste mission here at Savannah River — illustrates what is possible when we, collectively, come together to achieve a common goal,” White said.
