In The News

The National Nuclear Security Administration's first in command, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, is scheduled to announce a workforce development and education initiative Monday during a visit to Aiken Technical College.

Gordon-Hagerty's afternoon announcement will involve "support for programs at institutions" surrounding the Savannah River Site, according to a June 13 NNSA notice.

The event is closed to the public but is open to media.

Accompanying the under secretary for nuclear security, who was confirmed early last year, will be Aiken Technical College President Forest Mahan, Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon and U.S. Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Rick Allen, R-Ga.

Mahan has said nuclear-oriented curriculum is important given the college's proximity to the site — Plant Vogtle in Georgia, too. Osbon often praises the Aiken-area workforce for its track record of skilled and s Coordination between the U.S. Department of Energy and local institutions is not unusual. In September 2018, USC Aiken and the Savannah River National Laboratory, overseen by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, consummated a partnership known as the Collegiate Affiliate Program.

The program provides qualified national lab retirees the ability to teach college-level classes and labs. Another portion of the partnership enables retirees to mentor and counsel students as well as involve themselves with the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center.

"Over the past decades we've worked hard to find ways to merge the intellectual capital of the university with the intellectual capital of the Savannah River Site and the national lab for the benefit of both of our organizations, but more specifically for the benefit of educating the next generation of creative problem solvers," USC Aiken Chancellor Sandra Jordan said at the time. 

The NNSA, established by Congress in 2000, is a semiautonomous Energy Department agency in charge of the nation's nuclear outfit and related nonproliferation.

The NNSA already operates at SRS.

By Colin Demarest