Myrick is responsible for the interface between ORNL and Environmental Management programs administered by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems for DOE. Myrick's office provides technical and financial coordination for environmental restoration, waste management and technology development programs. Transportation research and development, pollution prevention and facility transition programs have also been incorporated into the jurisdiction of Myrick's office.
DOE maintains and operates large, fully integrated waste management facilities for handling radioactive and hazardous wastes. These facilities include more than 150 waste treatment, storage and disposal sites at ORNL. Myrick's responsibilities cover the construction, operation and proper closure of these facilities and development of new technologies for minimizing waste volumes and for handling waste safer and cheaper.
Myrick worked at ORNL from 1980 to 1989 in several environmental management capacities. He was program manager for ORNL's Remedial Action program and section head for the waste management programs. Myrick later transferred to the Oak Ridge K-25 Site, where he worked from 1987 to 1991 as the head of Energy Systems' Waste Management organization. Since 1991, he has been employed at SAIC in Oak Ridge as a corporate vice president for environmental and waste management programs.
Myrick earned a B.S. degree in nuclear engineering from Kansas State University and an M.S. in environmental engineering from the University of Florida. He is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, is active in Habitat for Humanity and is on the board of directors for Aid to Distressed Families of Anderson County.
He and his wife, Teresa, are residents of Claxton.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp.
Myrick was born and raised in Liberal, Kan., and is the son of Gene and Glenna Myrick of Liberal.
ORNL, located in East Tennessee, is the nation's largest and most diverse energy research and development institution. Its activities are focused on basic and applied research and development to advance the nation's energy resources, environmental quality and scientific knowledge.
The principal elements of ORNL's mission include energy and engineering science; life sciences and environmental technologies; physical sciences and advanced materials; neutron research; and computing, robotics and education.
ORNL has identified five "core competencies," each of which meets six criteria: an investment of at least $100 million a year, national or world prominence, a high degree of integration, relevance to Laboratory missions, difficulty to reproduce, and demonstrated success.
The Lab's core competencies are energy production and end-use technologies; biological and environmental science and technology; advanced materials synthesis, processing and characterization; neutron-based science and technology; and computational science and advanced computing. In addition, the Lab has identified instrumentation, manufacturing, and control technologies as an emerging core competency shared with the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.
ORNL's core competencies are characterized by an integration of technical foundations in physical, chemical and materials sciences; biological, environmental and social sciences; engineering sciences; and computational sciences and informatics.
Four distinguishing institutional competencies cross-cut the core competencies and the technical foundations: development and operation of national user facilities; R&D integration and partnerships; technology transfer; and science education.
ORNL hosts more than 4,000 guests a year, approximately a third of whom are from industry. The Lab's unique national research facilities are available for use by representatives of industry and universities, and have attracted large numbers of users.
ORNL also is very interested in education. More than 20,000 precollege students and 800 precollege teachers are reached each year by ORNL, and approximately 1,200 university students, faculty and postgraduates are involved with the Lab each year.