Assistant Secretary Walsh Views the ‘Art of the Possible’ in SRS Visit

Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management (EM) Tim Walsh places a medallion on the H Tank Farm monument to commemorate preliminary cease waste removal for Tank 14. EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne, right, U.S. Department of Energy-Savannah River Manager Edwin Deshong, far left, and Savannah River Mission Completion President Tom Burns are also pictured.

AIKEN, S.C. — Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management (EM) Tim Walsh recently visited the Savannah River Site (SRS) to view the cleanup mission firsthand and tour Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and H Canyon, the nation's only operating, production-scale, radiologically shielded chemical separations facility.

Walsh, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne and other EM leaders also toured EM’s liquid waste facilities and the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC), a facility that will enable breakthrough technologies to support SRNL missions in national security, environmental stewardship and energy resilience.

Prior to beginning the three-day tour of the 312-square-mile SRS, Walsh spoke at the Energy Communities Alliance Forum in Augusta, Georgia.

He then took part in a ceremony to commemorate preliminary cease waste removal for Tank 14 — meaning regulators concur that radioactive waste has successfully been removed from it. It was the eighth waste tank to achieve this regulatory milestone in four years. Walsh, U.S. Department of Energy-Savannah River (DOE-SR) Manager Edwin Deshong and liquid waste contractor Savannah River Mission Completion President Tom Burns placed a medallion on the H Tank farm monument to represent the milestone.

Savannah River National Laboratory scientist Kathryn Taylor-Pashow delivers an overview to Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh on how the laboratory is innovatively advancing the nuclear fuel cycle through cutting-edge solutions. Johney Green, laboratory director, and others looked on.

The tour continued with visits to the Salt Waste Processing Facility, Defense Waste Processing Facility and Saltstone Disposal Units, where Walsh and his team witnessed improvements across all the facilities to accelerate the mission.

“The integrated approach to the cleanup mission is a model for what is the art of the possible,” Walsh said.

The team viewed operations at H Canyon and HB-Line, which will enable recycling of surplus plutonium into fuel for advanced nuclear reactors.

During the tour, Jeff Griffin, president and CEO of contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, emphasized the unique capability of the two facilities to advance EM’s priorities and deliver critical mission outcomes for the nation.

"I had the opportunity to visit H Canyon and HB-Line — two of the most instrumental facilities in the entire complex — and see firsthand the one-of-a-kind capabilities that only exist right here at SRS," Walsh said, adding, “The leaders in the nuclear renaissance are right here at Savannah River Site.”

Walsh also stopped at SRNL’s 63,000-square-foot AMC facility, where Secretary of Energy Chris Wright was the keynote speaker for a ceremony marking the facility’s opening in August 2025.

“You all are setting the standard within EM,” Walsh told DOE-SR employees during an “all hands” meeting.

Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh, second from left, views gloveboxes in HB-Line during his visit to Savannah River Site. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) recently announced the decision to restart operations there to strengthen the domestic nuclear industrial base and deliver fuel the country needs to power advanced reactors. Also pictured, from left, are EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne; EM Chief Operating Officer David Brunnert; and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions Environmental Management Operations Senior Vice President Janice Lawson.

SRNL Director Johney Green led Walsh through several tour stops across multiple SRNL campuses, including the AMC.

At the AMC, Walsh met teams developing next generation modeling and simulation capabilities to support evolving national energy and technology needs. At SRNL’s applied research and main campuses, the head of the EM program received updates on programs spanning tritium science, nuclear materials processing, robotics and remote systems, and research supporting future plutonium pit production.

SRNL plays a critical role in supporting the DOE’s Genesis Mission – applying artificial intelligence and advanced computing to decades of cleanup data to accelerate environmental remediation and close the nuclear fuel cycle.

“We can’t have a nuclear renaissance if we don’t close the nuclear fuel cycle…and we can’t close the fuel cycle without SRS,” said Walsh.

Walsh also received a briefing on Savannah River Ecology Laboratory by director Olin E. Rhodes Jr. and met Stumpy, an alligator that came to the laboratory in the early 1980s.

-Contributors: Rachel Banks, Lj Gay, Sonya Goines, Colleen Hart, Aunarey Herbert, Lindsey Kennedy, Lindsey MonBarren, Laura Russo, Sara Shoemaker