McMillan named federal project director for ORNL cleanup

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has named Bill McMillan as its new federal project director for cleanup at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

As federal project director, McMillan oversees cleanup, decontamination, decommissioning, waste storage, and disposal operations at the site, a press release said.

“Bill possesses all the qualities needed to successfully manage and continue our cleanup efforts at ORNL,” said Mark Whitney, Oak Ridge’s EM manager. “He has demonstrated excellent leadership and has an intimate knowledge of our largest ongoing projects on-site, having overseen the Transuranic Waste Processing Center and U-233 Disposition Project.”

The press release said the ORNL cleanup differs from projects at other environmental management, or EM, sites because the lab conducts other essential DOE missions and employs more than 4,500 non-EM employees.

It said ongoing cleanup actives at ORNL are “essential to improve employee safety, protect substantial science investments, and provide space for future missions at DOE’s largest multi-program national laboratory.”

The release said federal oversight for the Y-12 National Security Complex and ORNL was previously consolidated.

“With the new position, EM can dedicate more time and oversight to one of Oak Ridge’s most crucial cleanup areas,” it said.

There are two ORNL cleanup activities that McMillan will not oversee: the Transuranic Waste Processing Center and the Building 3026 hot cell removal project.

The release said McMillan has served in Oak Ridge’s EM program for 17 years, most recently as the TRU waste project manager and as acting federal project director for the Uranium-233 Disposition Project.

He has a bachelor’s degree in biology from the College of Charleston and a master’s degree in environmental systems engineering from Clemson University.