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SRS Contractor Receives National Honors for Exceptional Research Contributions

Team members with the Office of Environmental Management liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site have been recognized nationally for “papers of note” and “superior” technical papers presented at the Waste Management Symposia. July 29, 2025

Office of Environmental Management

July 29, 2025
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Collage of seven professional headshots

Savannah River Mission Completion “papers of note” and “superior papers” team included, top row from left, Shelby Peterson, Josh Pifer, Josh Goldblatt and Thuy Le. Bottom row from left, Fred Angel, Amanda Coleman and Peter Henry.

AIKEN, S.C. — Team members with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) have been recognized nationally for “papers of note” and “superior” technical papers presented at the Waste Management (WM) Symposia held earlier this year.

Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) is the liquid waste contractor at SRS. The annual WM Symposia provides an international forum for discussing solutions to the management and disposition of radioactive waste and decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

Amanda Coleman and Peter Henry, both from the SRMC Flowsheet Development and Facility Integration group, achieved the prestigious “Papers of Note” rating at the WM Symposia 2025 for “The Utility of Waste Tank Historical Reviews in Bulk Waste Removal Operations at the Savannah River Site.” This rating was given to only 24 out of more than 530 papers.

“Papers of Note” recipients have demonstrated their superb knowledge and understanding of their subject and, therefore, deserve this distinguished recognition, according to Gary Benda, WM deputy managing director and program advisory committee chair.

Coleman and Henry’s paper also received the “Superior Paper” award, which recognizes authors and co-authors for distinguished contributions to the advancement of radioactive waste and radioactive material management.

Two other papers authored and co-authored by SRMC employees also achieved “Superior Paper” recognition. Only 93 out of 530 papers received this rating.

SRMC’s Shelby Peterson, from Tank Farm’s Process Engineering Facility Support group, achieved the “Superior Paper” award for her paper on the topic “Evaluating Liquid Waste Transfers and their Impacts to the SRS Tank Farms to Support Operations and Closure.”

SRMC co-authors Joshua Goldblatt, Fred Angel, Joshua Pifer and Thuy Le also achieved a “Superior Paper” award for their submission, “Creating a Salt Batch: Challenges and Lessons Learned.”

SRMC Chief Operations Officer Mike Borders said SRMC’s mission is moving forward at a remarkable standard, thanks in large part to the invaluable contributions from our highly skilled team.

“We take great pride in Waste Management acknowledging these individuals for their noteworthy influence on the nuclear sector, insights that can be leveraged across other DOE sites across the complex,” said Borders.

-Contributor: Dara Glass