Eighty-one Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) employees received awards from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for their significant contributions to the program responsible for ensuring the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

The employees were members of five teams that received Defense Programs Awards of Excellence, established to recognize individuals or teams who made significant achievements in support of the Stockpile Stewardship Program or other important national security objectives. This award is for
achievements that contribute to quality, productivity, cost savings, safety, creativity, and enhanced
surety of the Nation’s nuclear deterrent. Brigadier General Ty Neuman, NNSA’s Principal Assistant
Deputy Administrator for Military Application, presented the awards at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

In his remarks to the honorees, Brig. Gen. Neuman noted that much of the work for which these
teams were being recognized involved “talented individuals who used innovation to make existing
capabilities even better,” and expressed his deep appreciation for their accomplishments.

One of the award-winning teams was recognized for improvements to the system that unloads tritium
reservoirs returned from the stockpile so the gas can be purified, recycled, and reloaded into new
reservoirs. The other teams were recognized for their work in support of the programs that make up NNSA’s warhead modernization activities. These activities ensure that the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile continues to meet Department of Defense (DoD) requirements while enhancing safety and
security without providing new military capabilities or the need for explosive nuclear testing.

One of the groups of honorees consisted of the SRS members of a multi-site team recognized for
Exceptional Achievement – a special category of Defense Programs Awards of Excellence reserved for
those accomplishments that are “home run” examples of using stockpile stewardship capabilities to
promote and further advance important national security objectives.

SRNS honorees included personnel from the Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE) and Savannah
River National Laboratory (SRNL), along with other supporting SRNS organizations. SRTE serves the
NNSA as the Nation’s only center for products and services related to tritium, the radioactive form of
hydrogen used in our nuclear defense. SRNL is the applied research and development laboratory at
SRS, serving the Nation by providing innovative solutions for the U.S. Department of Energy, NNSA
and other federal agencies across the country and around the world.