Previous Up & Atom Speakers

2024

Topic: Regulator, the Reactor, and a Whole Set of Reports: Licensing Advanced Reactor Technology for Domestic Deployment” (September 12, 2024)

Travis Chapman, Director Regulatory & Licensing, BWXT.
(Travis’s Presentation)

Topic: SRPPF: The Future of Production at SRS (July 17, 2024)

Erika Baeza-Wisdom, Deputy Vice President, Pit Production Operations and Programs at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC.

Topic: Experiences from current SRS interns (July 17, 2024)

SRMC, SRNL, SRNS interns provide their observations. 

Topic: NuWadi Consortium & Concept-Based Siting (June 5, 2024)

A consortium led by Clemson University. 

Topic: Fuel Strategy for the eVinci Microreactor (March 13, 2024)

Dr. Kallie Metzger, eVinci Fuel Director, Westinghouse (Metzger Presentation Here)

2023

Topic: Faster Times at SRNS (October 31, 2023)

Dennis Carr President and Chief Executive Officer Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC

Topic: An Encore Performance from SRNL’s Research SLAM Participants (October 3, 2023)

Six early career researchers presented their research in three-minute talks. 

Topic: SRS Interns share their experiences working on site (July 19, 2023)

Justin Vu Le (Savannah River Mission Completion), Zaire Shaw (Savannah River National Laboratory), and Neal Thakkar (Savannah River Nuclear Solutions)

Topic: Vogtle 1-4 Soon-to-be America’s largest reactor site (April 20, 2023)

Joel Leopard, Senior Communications Specialist, Southern Nuclear- Plant Vogtle

Topic: Here Comes the Sun…Almost (March 9, 2023)

Dr. Fred Beranek, Director of Engineering and Fusion Program Manager, Fluor Nuclear Power (Beranek Up & Atom Presentation PDF)

Topic: Savannah River Site: Landlord Transition from DOE to NNSA (February 2, 2023)

Frank Rose, NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator, & Ike White, DOE Senior Advisor for Environmental Management (Presentation Video)

2022

Topic: Capturing History: The Legacy of Savannah River Plant’s Early Photographers (December 6, 2022)

Mary Beth Reed, President of New South Associates (Museum Up & Atom Presentation part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

Topic: Apprenticeship- The Pipeline from the SC Technical School System to SRS (October 20 2022)

Dr. Dorian Newton (Program Manager, Apprenticeship & Pipeline Training for SRNS), Aherial Polite (Department Chair of Chemistry, Physics and Nuclear Technology at Aiken Technical College), and BooBoo Roberts (Deputy Program Manager, Apprenticeship & Pipeline Training for SRNS) (Presentation PDF)

Topic: The Road to Completing the Liquid Waste Mission (September 29, 2022)

Dr. David Olson, President & Program Manager for Savannah River Mission Completion

Topic: The Manhattan Project (August 17, 2022)

Alan Carr, Los Alamos National Laboratory Historian (Carr Presentation, Carr’s YouTube page)

Topic: SRS Interns (July 19, 2022)

Interns and intern coordinators from SRMC & SRNS share their experiences

Topic: Fast Times at SRS (June 15, 2022)

Stuart MacVean, President & CEO of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions

Topic: National Laboratory Management and Operations at Battelle (May 12, 2022)

Dr. Mark Peters, Executive Vice President for National Laboratory Management and Operations at Battelle (Battelle Presentation (5.22))

Topic: WORC is Working, Hear how the Workforce Opportunities in Regional Careers (WORC) grant is making a multi-million-dollar impact to help build the future SRS workforce (March 23, 2022)

Mindy Mets (SRSCRO), Crystal Ratliff (ATC), and Brooke Stagich (SRNL) (Work is Working PDF)

2021

Topic: Seventy Years of Ecological Research – The History and Mission of UGA’s Savannah River Ecology Lab (December 8, 2021)

Dr. Olin (Gene) Rhodes, Jr., Director of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Topic: Amentum- Solution Provider to the U.S. Government (October 13, 2021)

Tom Foster, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Nuclear & Environment for Amentum

Topic: SRNL Update & Future Direction (August 25, 2021)

Dr. Vahid Majidi, President of BSRA & Director of SRNL (Presentation PDF, Video of Presentation)

Topic: SRR’s Success at the Savannah River Site (July 21, 2021)

Philip Breidenbach, President & Project Manager for Savannah River Remediation (Plus two summer interns!)

Topic: Workforce Development – Short-Term, Long-Term, Nuclear, and Beyond (June 23, 2021)

Dr. Forest Mahan, President of Aiken Technical College (Presentation PDF)

Topic: NNSA Capital Projects Update (May 27, 2021)

Dave Olson, Executive Vice President, NNSA Capital Projects for SRNS (Video of Presentation)

Topic: National Security in 2021 (Virtual February 24, 2021)

Admiral Charles Munns (Video of Presentation)

2020

Topic: The Nuclear We Need (Virtual December 2, 2020)

Dr. Jonathan Cirtain, CTO of BWXT (PDF of Presentation) (Video of Presentation)

Topic: Update on Construction at Vogtle 3 & 4 (Virtual November 11, 2020)

Brian Reilly, Senior Vice President & Project Director for Bechtel

Topic: Savannah River Remediation: Delivering Results in 2020 (Virtual October 7, 2020)

Phil Breidenbach, SRR President & Project Manager (Presentation PDF) (Video of Presentation)

Topic: Nuclear Power in America (Virtual August 26, 2020)

David Amerine (Presentation PDF) (Video of Presentation)

Topic: State of SRS Environmental Management (February 20, 2020)

Mike Budney, DOE-SR Manager (Presentation PDF)

Topic: Huntington Ingalls Industries: Leveraging The Legacy (January 2020)

Michael Lempke, President, Nuclear & Environmental Group, HII Technical Solutions (Presentation PDF).

2019

Topic: I Didn’t Know DOE Had an Office of Intelligence (October 2019)

Steven K. Black, Director, Office of Intelligence & Counterintelligence, U.S. Department of Energy

Topic: High-Precision Nuclear Forensics-
The Case of the MK18A Target Assemblies (September 2019)

Richard Meehan, Director of the Office of Nuclear Materials Integration (NNSA) (Presentation PDF)

Topic: SRNS: Leaning Forward (August 2019)

Stuart MacVean, President & CEO of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions

Topic: Recruiting & Retaining Top Talent Engineers: Good for our Company and Good for our Community (July 2019)

Phil Breidenbach, Chief Engineer & two SRR Summer Interns

Savannah River Remediation

Topic: Research at South Carolina Universities (June 2019)

South Carolina Universities Research and Education Foundation (Presentation PDF)

Clemson University (Presentation PDF)

South Carolina State University (Presentation PDF)

University of South Carolina (Presentation PDF)

Topic: National Security Implications of U.S. Nuclear Power in the 21st Century
(May 2019)

David Gattie, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of Georgia’s College of Engineering
Resident Fellow, University of Georgia’s Center for International Trade and Security
Presentation PDF

Topic: Introducing Nicole Nelson-Jean (February 2019)

Nicole Nelson-Jean, Manager National Nuclear Security Administration
Savannah River Field Office

Topic: Proactive Tactics for Cybersecurity in Complex Facilities
(January 2019)

Dave Trask, Principal Engineer Information & Control Systems Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
Gus Tomé, Cyber Business Unit Leader Jacobs Engineering, Blue Canopy Group

2018

Topic: Air Force Global Strike Command Brief
(November 2018)

Dr. Rodney L. Miller, Chief Scientist
Air Force Global Strike Command

Topic: The Future of Nuclear Energy – Plant Vogtle (September 2018)

Mr. Michael McCracken, Communications Director Southern Nuclear Company, Plant Vogtle

Topic: State of SRS (August 2018) 

Mr. Michael D. Budney, Manager USDOE Savannah River Operations Office

Topic: What Is SRR Doing to Get Ready for the Salt Waste Processing Facility? (July 2018)

Mr. Tom Foster, President and Project Manager
Savannah River Remediation, LLC

Topic: Nuclear Innovation in Support of Mars Mission (June 2018)

Dr. Jonthan Cirtain, Vice President of Advanced Technologies,
BWX Technologies, Inc.

Topic: Introducing Dr. Majidi and Spotlight on Young Professionals
(May 2018)

Dr. Vahid Majidi, Director, Savannah River National Laboratory

Topic: Radioactive Wildlife: The Secret Life of Wildlife Inhabiting Chernobyl and Fukushima (March 2018)

Dr. Jim Beasley, Assistant Professor, University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and
The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

Topic: SRNL’s Role in Homeland Security (January 2018) 

Rick Reichel, Director of Global and Homeland Security Programs,
Savannah River National Laboratory

2017

Topic: New Initiatives in the Programs at USC Aiken & USC Columbia (December 2017)

Dr. Daren Timmons, Dean, College of Sciences and Engineering, USC-Aiken
Dr. Hossein Haj-Hariri, Dean, College of Engineering and Computing, USC-Columbia

Topic: SRS Economic Impact Study (August 2017)

Mr. Tom Stellman, Founder and CEO, TIP Strategies
Dr. Simon Medcalfe, Hull College of Business, Augusta University

Topic: The Future Is Now (July 2017)

Mr. Tom Foster, President & Project Manager
Savannah River Remediation, LLC … and Two SRR Interns

Topic: WIPP Recovery and Status (June 2017)

Mr. Jim Blankenhorn, Vice President, Operations Nuclear & Environment, AECOM

Topic: DC Politics and the Nuclear Industry (May 2017 dinner)

Mr. Matt Blackwell, Legislative Assistant for U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson

Topic: Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) Start Up Status (May 2017)

Dr. Thomas D. Burns, Jr. Parsons’ Salt Waste Processing Facility

Topic: BWXT Nuclear Processing Excellence – Fire Power to Electric Power (April 2017)

Mr. Scott Kirk, Director of Regulatory Affairs, BWXT Technical Services Group

Topic: Department of Energy’s National Laboratories: Past, Present, and Future (March 2017)

Mr. Jeff Baker, Assistant Vice President, Stoller Newport News Nuclear

Topic: Advancing Advanced Reactors (February 2017)

Dr. Andrew C. Klein, President, American Nuclear Society

Topic: SRNS: Innovation for Tomorrow, Today (January 2017)

Mr. Stuart MacVean, President and Chief Executive Officer
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC

2016

Topic: SRNL Recent Engagement in Recovery from the Nuclear Accident at Fukushima, Japan(September 2016)

Dr. Jeff Griffin, Associate Laboratory Director – Environmental Stewardship
Savannah River National Laboratory

Topics: SRR Liquid Waste Update / Our Interns’ Perspective (July 2016)

Tom Foster, President & Project Manager
Savannah River Remediation, LLC

Topic: Nuclear Leadership: Sustaining Nuclear Operations Excellence for 60 Years (June 2016) 

Van Mauney, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
BWXT Technologies, Inc.

Topic: An Overview of DOE Environment, Health, Safety & Security Programs (April 2016)

Matt Moury, Associate Under Secretary for Environment, Health, Safety & Security
U.S. Department of Energy

Topic: An Overview of Decommissioning Commercial US Power Plants (March 2016)

Rob Trimble, President, REI Nuclear

Topic: SCE&G New Nuclear Update (January 2016)

Stephen (Steve) Byrne, President, Generation and Transmission Chief Operating Officer, SCE&G
Executive Vice President, SCANA

2015

Topic: SRNL Update (December 2015)

Dr. Terry Michalske, Executive Vice President, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
Director, Savannah River National Laboratory

Topic: Man vs. Wild: Environmental Program Edition (November 2015)

Frazer Lockhart, Assistant Vice President
Stoller Newport News Nuclear (SN3)

Topic: Overview of Nuclear Medicine:
“Radiopharmaceuticals and Clinical Indications” (October 2015)

Dr. Ben Greenspan, President, Technical Services & Nuclear Energy
Professor, Department of Radiology and Imaging
Medical College of Georgia

Topic: “The New BWXT Company” (August 2015)

Bill Fox III, President, Technical Services & Nuclear Energy
BWX Technologies, Inc.

Topic: “SRR Update / Our Interns’ Perspective” (July 2015)

Mark Schmitz, Chief Operating Officer, Savannah River Remediation, LLC

Topic: “Status of Plant Vogtle and VC Summer New Build Projects” (June 2015)

Kelly Trice, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Construction, CB&I Power Business Unit

Topic: “SRS – Setting the Success Standard for Our Nation” (April 2015)

Dr. David C. Moody, III, Manager, Department of Energy Savannah River Operations Office(