CNTA Overview

In 1991, a handful of citizens and a few companies in the Central Savannah River Area of South Carolina and Georgia banded together to form a nonprofit, grassroots organization that would be pro-nuclear and proud of it. We carry out educational programs to provide factual information about the benefits and risks of nuclear technologies and the Savannah River Site.

Our other major objective is to sensitize elected officials and the public to the need to acquire new missions for the Savannah River Site at Aiken, South Carolina, a major component of the United State's nuclear defense production complex.  CNTA advocates specific new missions that will keep SRS viable well into the 21st century.

From this small beginning, CNTA has become an organization with over 2500 individual members. Our corporate members include world-class companies such as Fluor, URS Washington Group, Bechtel, BNFL Inc., Wackenhut, Burns and Roe, Shaw AREVA MOX Services, and others who recognize the importance of CNTA programs.

News: CNTA Announces 2010 High School Essay Contest

Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness announced details for the 2010 essay contest for high school students in Aiken, Richmond, and Columbia County Schools. The winner of the essay contest will receive a $1000 scholarship, and will be honored along with their parents and a school representative at the Edward Teller Lecture/Banquet as guests of CNTA. The winner's school will also be awarded $500. Submittals are due by February 28, 2010.

Click here to visit the High School Essay page.

Event: CNTA Celebrates 18th Annual Edward Teller Lecture and Banquet

Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness celebrated its annual Teller Lecture and Banquet on November 12 to a packed and enthusiastic house. The Hon. James E. Clyburn, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives for South Carolina's 6th district and House Majority Whip, was the featured speaker.

Congressman Clyburn spoke to the critical need for the United States to expand the scope of the commercial nuclear industry to provide key baseline capacity that will be necessary to assure energy independence, and shared insights on the needs for public and political education and a strengthening of existing public support. He is a strong proponent of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, and called the suspension of the Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository project a challenge for the U.S. to pursue recycling of used fuel.

Other features of the event (not counting the dinner) were awards of the Fred C. Davison Distinguished Scientist Award to Dr. Al Garrett and the Robert Maher Memorial Scholarship to Mr. Rea Cauthen, and recognition of the three scholarship winners from CNTA's High-School Essay Contest.

Click here to visit the Teller Lecture page and photo gallery.

News: Garrett to Receive Davison Distinguished Scientist Aware

The CNTA is pleased to announce the winner of the 2009 Fred C. Davison Distinguished Scientist Award is Dr. Alfred J. Garrett, leading scientist, researcher, and manager at the Savannah River Site for 30 years. Dr. Garrett is a nationally recognized technical and scientific expert in remote sensing, with a focus on developing and applying models for data exploitation in relation to nonproliferation applications.

Dr. Garrett will be honored at CNTA's annual Edward Teller Lecture/Banquet in November. Click here to visit the 2009 Davison Award page. Click here to visit the Teller Lecture page.

News: CNTA Announces 2009 Robert Maher Memorial Scholarship Winner

Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA) is pleased to announce that Mr. Rea Cauthen, a senior Mechanical Engineering student at the Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, is the recipient of the 2009 Robert Maher Memorial Scholarship.

URS Washington Division and its URS partners sponsor this $5,000 scholarship, which honors Bob Maher, who worked at SRS in key managerial roles for 48 years until his unexpected death in 2002.

Previous winners of this prestigious award were Christopher J. Fong of Georgia Tech in 2003, Kara Beharry of South Carolina State University in 2004, James Weathers of Georgia Tech in 2005, Emily Colvin of Georgia Tech in 2006, Matthew Presson of the University of South Carolina in 2007, and Andrew Petraca of the University of South Carolina in 2008.

Mr. Cauthen has distinguished himself academically and in work assignments with the Savannah River Site where he completed two summer internships. The first was spent with a regulatory group (Site Regulatory Integration & Planning) working on legal documentation necessary for closing the waste tanks in F and H Areas as well as the Saltstone vaults. His second internship was with Savannah River National Laboratory as part of the CRAWDAD project that was conducted on L Lake. This project tested commercially available radiation detectors as part of the Department for Homeland Security Small Vessel Security Strategy. Mr. Cauthen has received a number of awards including the WSRC Family Scholarship Award, Secretary's Department of Homeland Security Team Award, and the Clemson Department of Mechanical Engineering Junior Scholastic Achievement Award.

After his undergraduate studies are finished, he plans to pursue a nuclear career where he can apply the engineering fundamentals he has learned

Mr. Cauthen will be honored at CNTA's 18th annual Edward Teller Lecture/Banquet, which will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and Convention Center in the Fall. Click here to visit the 2009 Maher Scholarship page. Click here to visit the main Teller Lecture page. Click here to visit the Maher Scholarship page.

PREVIOUS NEWS ITEMS

Event: 2009 CNTA Golf Tournament a Great Success!

Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness hosted its 2009 Golf Tournament, May 8th, 2009, at Houndslake Country Club in Aiken. Further details, a photo gallery, and news from past year's tournaments are posted at the 2009 Golf Tournament link.

News: 2009 High School Essay Contest Winners

CNTA is proud to announce the winners of the 2009 High School Essay Contest.

o Michael Ridlehoover - 12th Grade, Evans High School, Columbia County GA
o Cody Pope - 12th Grade, Evans High School, Columbia County GA
o Patrick Hauer - 12th Grade, Aiken High School, Aiken County SC

The purpose of the contest to increase awareness of nuclear technology and its effects on society, among high school students in the local area. Three $1500 awards ($1000 scholarships for the winning essays and $500 awards for the winners' schools). Further details and the application form are posted at the High School Essay Contest link.

Event: Premiere Showing of "Displaced: The Unexpected Fallout from the Cold War"

A new feature-length film records the first recorded memories from the residents of Ellenton, Dunbarton, and surrounding towns, as these rural communities were displaced following the withdrawal of land to form the outline of the Savannah River Project (now Savannah River Site). The film premieres March 20, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Etherredge Center of the University of South Carolina - Aiken. Links to the program and to the production's website are shown at the SRS Heritage Foundation page.

News: 17th Annual Edward Teller Lecture and Banquet

CNTA's 17th Annual Edward Teller Lecture/Banquet convened on November 12 at the Doubletree Hotel and Convention Center in Augusta GA. This year's guest speaker was Gwyneth Cravens, environmentalist, journalist and novelist. Also featured were the presentation of the Fred C. Davison Distinguished Scientist Award to Dr. Frank Avignone and the Robert Maher Memoral Scholarship to Mr. Andrew Petrarca. Further details are posted at the 2008 Teller Lecture page.

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