ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two employees of Sandia National Laboratories are leading well-respected nuclear power associations, and a retiree has been honored by one of the top organizations in the country.
Steve Ortiz, a 29-year Labs employee, is president of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), and Tom Sanders, manager of Sandia’s Global Nuclear Futures Initiative, is president-elect of the American Nuclear Society.
In addition, Rip Anderson, who retired from Sandia in 2002 after 41 years, was recently honored by the American Nuclear Society with a Presidential Citation for his active engagement in the education of the public on nuclear issues.
“These are the two leading organizations in the world that address the challenges associated with nuclear energy, nonproliferation and nuclear materials management and that contribute significantly to the science and engineering foundation for nuclear energy worldwide.” says Les Shephard, vice president of Sandia’s Energy, Security, and Defense Technology Center. “This recognition is a real tribute to Steve, Tom and Rip and their personal commitments and dedication to excellence that has had significant impact on the Laboratory and on these two organizations.”
Ortiz started at Sandia in 1980 as a member of technical staff in the Nuclear Safeguards and Security Directorate and from 1988 to 1990 was the technical division supervisor for the Satellite Integration and Test Organization in the Space Systems Department. Since 1990 he has been manager of Sandia’s Security Technology Department in the Nuclear Security Systems Center.
Over the years Ortiz has assumed growing responsibilities in INMM, including serving as chairman of the Physical Protection Technical Division, senior member of INMM, member of the INMM Technical Program Committee, member at large of the INMM executive committee, INMM vice president from 2006-2008 and currently INMM president.
Sanders is currently vice president of the American Nuclear Society and will become president in June. The 23-year Sandia veteran is the leader of the Global Nuclear Futures vision at the Labs. He led the development of topical meetings, policy papers, news articles, partnerships with other countries and nongovernmental organizations and caucus events on Capitol Hill to articulate that a healthy and thriving U.S. nuclear energy infrastructure is key to global proliferation risk management in the future.
Anderson, now retired, is an internationally recognized expert in risk and performance assessment. As manager of the WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) Performance Assessment Department at Sandia, he led the construction and preparation of performance assessment analysis for a compliance certification application to the Environmental Protection Agency that resulted in the opening of the facility. He joined Sandia in 1961 and while at the Labs he was acting director of the Nuclear Waste Management Programs Center, senior manager of the Program Development and Environmental Decisions Department, manager of the WIPP Performance Assessment and Nuclear Waste Technologies Department and manager of the Subseabed Programs Department.