Abstract: There is a lot of creativity, activity, and money going into extending the life of the current reactors and into developing and deploying new advanced reactors. Along with that comes more spent nuclear fuel. What are we doing with it and what should we do with it? How did we get to where we are?  Come learn about what the US does with spent nuclear fuel and what we hope to do.

Biography: Sylvia Saltzstein is the Senior Manager of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Technologies group where she leads R&D in nuclear waste storage, transportation, disposal, security, and safeguards, as well as advanced reactor physical security, and advanced energy conversion.

Past Sandia leadership roles have been for the software application department for ES&H and Security, the Operational Manager of the Neutron Generator Facility for 6 years where she was responsible for the ES&H, Security, Facilities, the Training Qualification Program, Quality Program (first at SNL to achieve ISO-9001), and equipment calibration and maintenance of a 300-person weapons component facility. After that, she was the Technical Deputy to Marianne Walck and then the Strategic Capabilities Deputy to Jill Hruby. 

For the nine years, she was the manager of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage, Transportation, and Safeguards R&D Department (8845) and she was the Control Account Manager for the DOE:NE-8 Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology Storage and Transportation Campaign, which leads about $30M in funding in FY19 at five national labs, numerous universities, and international research organizations. Though this work, she led the teams that won the DOE Secretary of Energy Achievement Award 2017, Multi-Modal Surrogate Nuclear Fuel Transportation Test and the DOE Secretary of Energy Achievement Award 2018, EPRI/DOE High Burnup Nuclear Fuel Demonstration Project. She has close communication with the NRC to ensure the DOE R&D is relevant to the NRC work and has frequently presented this work at the NRC, NWTRB, IAEA, EPRI, NEI, NTI, BAM, KAERI and other venues. Sylvia has a Masters Degree in Public Health and Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California at Berkeley and was a Certified Industrial Hygienist for 20 years. 

Sylvia was awarded the Woman of Influence, Albuquerque Business First Award in 2019 and the US DOE Women in Energy Designation in 2020.