The head of the U.S. Department of Energy's environmental cleanup office last week expressed no opposition to the National Nuclear Security Administration potentially overseeing and running the Savannah River Site, according to a cluster of Aiken leaders who met and spoke with her at the time.
"There's no opposition from EM-1," Rick McLeod, the president of the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization, said Wednesday, recapping a roughly 40-person sit-down and dialogue with Anne Marie White, the assistant secretary for the DOE Office of Environmental Management.
The assistant secretary title is colloquially referred to as EM-1. Environmental Management is the current SRS landlord.
National Nuclear Security Administration Savannah River Field Office Manager Nicole Nelson-Jean will provide the information.
The NNSA – a semiautonomous DOE agency in charge of the nation's nuclear outfit and related nonproliferation – is currently studying, among other things, taking over as the site's landlord.
"Anne Marie White certainly did not seem opposed to the idea, and was really open to what she thought was best for the community," Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon said. Osbon attended the afternoon meeting with White on Oct. 9.
"I think EM is onboard," Osbon later said.
William "Ike" White, the NNSA chief of staff, was present at the meeting, as well, according to those in attendance.
Last week's exchange with EM-1 was but a portion of a broader annual Washington, D.C., visit chartered by CSRA business, government, education and civic leaders. Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce President and CEO J. David Jameson led the Aiken-area contingent.
The NNSA currently has a site footprint. The agency's activities include the enduring tritium mission as well as management of the now-imperiled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility.
When the NNSA's future-minded study was first announced in June – via an internal memo, which the Aiken Standard obtained – Anne Marie White responded, in writing, saying her agency would gladly assist.
"I believe this is an opportunity to better focus both of our offices' missions," Anne Marie White wrote, addressing NNSA chief Lisa Gordon-Hagerty. "I look forward to working together."
Will Williams, the president and CEO of the Economic Development Partnership, also attended the Oct. 9 sit-down in Washington. Williams corroborated the events and EM-1's feelings on the matter.
"That is what I heard," Williams said, later adding: "She was not opposed to it."
The National Nuclear Security Administration's review of its purpose and missions at the Savannah River Site is "routine" and almost procedura…
"I think that’s a good way to put it," Jim Marra, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, said. Marra, too, attended the summit. "She did not come out and say, 'Hey, NNSA, come on down and take over right away.'"
If the NNSA were to take over as the SRS landlord, Environmental Management would likely become a site tenant – a role flip, so to speak – and would retain its current responsibilities.
Either way, Marra said, the remediation focus for EM-1 remains unchanged.
"She is very interested in cleaning up," Marra said.
During a January confirmation hearing, the assistant secretary said Environmental Management has a "moral obligation to clean up" challenges left over from World War II and the Cold War.
Anne Marie White visited SRS earlier this year.
Inquiries made to the DOE were not returned by deadline.
