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SRNL's Carol Jantzen, Internationally Recognized Glass Expert, Honored

Submitted by: Angeline French on Oct 12, 2010 at 12:39 pm Tagged with: Ceramics, Glass, vitrification Source: Savannah River National Laboratory

AIKEN, S.C. (Oct. 11, 2010) – Dr. Carol Jantzen of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Don Orth Award of Merit. Established in 1992, this award is presented by SRNL to an individual who by character, technical performance and leadership best exemplifies Donald Orth's character and contributions. It is the highest distinction at the Savannah River Site to recognize the ideals of technical excellence and leadership.

Dr. Jantzen is recognized within the SRNL, SRS, DOE, and internationally for her expertise in high level waste vitrification, the transformation of waste into a stable glass form for disposal. In particular, she is recognized for her contributions to the development of the Savannah River Site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Dr. Jantzen developed the statistical process control models that have safely and reliably controlled the DWPF, the world’s largest and the U.S.’s first high level waste vitrification facility, since its inception. She is also recognized for the development of the geochemical based process control model to prevent aluminosilicate scaling in the SRS evaporators, the innovation to use fluidized bed steam reforming technology at SRS for Tank 48 remediation, and the further application of that mineralizing technology for Hanford and Idaho waste stabilization.

The award was presented by Dr. Terry Michalske, SRNL Director, during a ceremony at the Laboratory. In presenting the award, Dr. Michalske said, “It's a pleasure to have the opportunity to recognize the extremely talented and dedicated employees at Savannah River National Laboratory who put science to work for important national missions. Dr. Jantzen is an extraordinary technical leader who is recognized across the SRS, DOE, nationally, and internationally for her knowledge, expertise, and significant contributions to the Department of Energy's Environmental Management mission.”

Accepting the award, Dr. Jantzen acknowledged the contributions of the laboratory technicians and other behind-the-scenes personnel, such as the specialists who design scientific glassware for experiments. Their efforts, she said, make it possible for researchers like her to continue in Don Orth’s footsteps, performing research that has never been attempted before and succeeding.

Her research and process modeling have reached across the DOE complex and internationally. She was called upon by the National Academy of Sciences to participate in a complex-wide review of waste stabilization and acceptance issues. Her expertise well-recognized by her peers in the American Ceramic Society (of which she was the first woman president), ASTM standards development organization, American Nuclear Society, and the Materials Research Society in which she actively participates. She is also a member of U.S. Nuclear Technical Advisory Group of the International Standards Organization where she has served on the teams that write standards for the national nuclear industry and the high level waste geologic repository.

Dr. Jantzen’s contributions have been recognized by numerous awards, including: American Ceramic Society’s Distinguished Life Membership, the Waste Management Symposium’s Wendell Weart Lifetime Achievement Award, the Savannah River Site Career Achievement Award for Technical Achievement, the American Ceramic Society Alfred Victor Bleininger Award of Excellence, D. T. Rankin Award from the Nuclear and Environmental Technology Division of the American Ceramic Society, Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness Distinguished Scientist Award, and an Honorary Professorship at University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

She is credited with over 250 publications and holds 11 patents for her innovations.

The Don Orth Award is named for Dr. Donald A. Orth, an internationally known nuclear chemist who retired as a Consulting Scientist from the Savannah River Site in 1992 after a distinguished career of 41 years. Dr. Orth is very highly regarded throughout the DOE Complex for his technical excellence and creativity, and recognized for his leadership. While obtaining his Ph.D. in Chemistry under Glenn Seaborg at the University of California at Berkeley, he participated in the production of new isotopes of plutonium and americium. He was hired by E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. to work at a new nuclear materials production facility prior to the completion of the site selection, assigned to work at the Argonne National Laboratory and then at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on the extraction flowsheet for plutonium before being transferred to the Savannah River Site in 1953, where he made key contributions to the design, construction and operation of the nuclear fuel reprocessing and plutonium recovery facilities.

Dr. Orth was widely consulted at the Savannah River Site and at other DOE locations - from Rocky Flats to Hanford, to Idaho - on actinide chemistry, plutonium processing operation, criticality concerns and nuclear wastes issues. He often served as consultant to nuclear facility licensing and review groups, and as a key player in major DOE program reviews and special investigations.

SRNL is DOE’s applied research and development national laboratory located at the Savannah River Site. SRNL puts science to work to support DOE and the nation in the areas of environmental management, national and homeland security, and energy security. The management and operating contractor for SRS and SRNL is Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC.
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