NNSA/NSO Announces Employees of Quarter

January 14, 2009

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in 2009 has started a new program to recognize employees of the quarter for their service to NNSA assets in the nuclear complex such as the Nevada Test Site and its support organizations.

The first two Nevada Site Office (NSO) Employees of the Quarter are Peter Munding, a physical scientist with NSO, and Robert L. Stueckrath, a health physics supervisor with National Security Technologies (NSTec).

Nominations are made by the supervisors and then NSTec senior management and the NSO management make the final decision on their respective employee.

Peter Munding, Physical Scientist, NSO

Peter Munding successfully led the joint U.S. and United Kingdom project, Black Widow 61, which was conducted at the Nevada Test Site. This project had many challenges, highlighted by the 24-hour a day, 55-day duration. In managing this project, Mr. Munding integrated both safety and security into the early planning process to ensure hazards and risks could be appropriately addressed.

Additionally, he coordinated and interacted with the multiple organizations involved with this effort to ensure that the project staff, which was over 100 personnel, could successfully execute the project. Senior officials from both the U.S. and U.K. complemented Mr. Munding’s leadership abilities with formal recognition of his efforts.

 

Robert L. Stueckrath, Health Physics Supervisor, NSTec

Bob Stueckrath’s initiative, tireless efforts and teamwork greatly contributed to the tremendous success of the Over Size Box (OSB) waste repackaging project at the Nevada Test Site. He initiated numerous improvements to enhance the safety of the workers in this radiological high-risk work environment. These included the use of fixative on protective clothing and improved doffing methods.

He was instrumental in the design of the confinement system and ventilation flowpath to minimize the risks of personnel contamination. His clear explanations and one-on-one training of the risks present as well as the controls in place to minimize those risks have been invaluable. As a result, the OSB Project is one of the most advanced and safe high-risk waste repackaging facilities in the DOE complex.