INL employees recognized at Department of Energy Secretary's Honor Awards

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recognized dozens of Idaho National Laboratory employees for outstanding performance during the 2022 Department of Energy Secretary's Honor Awards. These annual awards are the highest nonmonetary form of recognition presented annually to honor groups and individuals from the Department of Energy and contractors who have achieved notable successes throughout the year to advance the department's mission. Winners must demonstrate excellence, ownership and teamwork to be recognized with this prestigious award. INL employees were recognized in six winning teams. 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy:

• Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Grand Challenge Team: This award recognizes the SAF Grand Challenge Team's efforts to achieve at least 50% reduction in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fuel. Additionally, it recognizes their progress toward the goal of supplying sufficient SAF to meet 100% of aviation fuel demand by 2050. INL's Lynn Wendt served on this team.
• Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Team: INL researchers John Smart, Jean Chu and Torrey Lyons made significant contributions to this team's work to make electric vehicle charging more accessible nationwide. The joint office developed a set of minimum standards and requirements that new and existing charging stations funded by the Department of Transportation must meet.

Nuclear Energy:

• Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Core Internals Changeout VI Team: This award included a core planning and execution team leading the safe and efficient execution of ATR's sixth Core Internals Changeout, which was the most complex overhaul outage in the test reactor's 56-year history.INL employees recognized on this project are David Almgren, Michael Ayre, Cody Boriboun, Jackson Brower, Todd Buchanan, Tate Capson, Robert Chapa, Jordan A. Cox, Jeffery Crane, Clayton Dance, Charles Doty, Lance Eliazar, Ryan Erickson, Jake Fields, Randy Gamett, Marvin Guzman, Anson Hall, Jeremiah Hall, Craig Jackson, Jeremy Jennings, Travis Julius, Robert Kepler, John Lathouris, Michael Main, Dennis Miller, Terril Myers, Kevin Ransom, Rusty Reynolds, Peter Ritchie, Darrin Robinson, Derek Scott, Daniel Shipley, Michael W. Smith, Stephen Stapleton, Dustin Stokes, Daren Terry, Tony Wease, Clinton Weigel, Lucas Zachow and Kelly Zimmer.
• ATR Top Head Closure Plate (I-Loop) Project Team: This award included a project team that executed a difficult phase of a multiyear effort to add new pressurized loop experiment capabilities in ATR's outer I-Loop test positions, which is necessary to help restore commercial testing capabilities lost with the shutdown of the Halden reactor in Norway.INL employees on this team include Heath Buckland, Kristian Carlquist, Kelly Ellis, Steven Hayes, Thomas Maddock, Nate Oldham, Lex Strain and Nicolas Woolstenhulme.
• Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) Environmental Impact Statement Team: The VTR Environmental Impact Statement team led the planning, decision-making negotiations and public outreach efforts for the VTR project. Major infrastructure projects like VTR, a proposed 300 MW fast spectrum test reactor, have a complicated and specific set of planning and outreach steps under the National Environmental Protection Act.INL's Jason Andrus, Doug Crawford, Patrick Hogan and Lee Nelson were part of this team.

National Nuclear Security Administration

• Kazakhstan Reactor Conversion Team: This award recognizes a team, which includes four INL researchers, for their efforts to convert the Kazakhstan IVG reactor from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium, reducing proliferation concerns in Kazakhstan. The team was responsible for fabricating, delivering and testing the new IVG low-enriched uranium fuel assemblies.This team includes INL's Igor Bolshinsky, Ken Bateman, Dennis Keiser and Wendell Hintze. 

Please join us in congratulating these employees on their achievements.

DOE Secretary's Honor Awards winning projects with INL employees

DOE Honor Awards page 

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