Researcher Christine Langton Receives Laboratory Fellow Honor
Savannah River National Laboratory recently named Christine Langton a laboratory fellow. Langton has contributed to lab success in various capacities for the duration of her career. She leveraged her expertise in materials science, engineering and geochemistry to design several processes in environmental management, waste treatment, nuclear facility decommissioning and site closures. Langton served as a senior advisory scientist at SRNL from 2008 to 2023 before accepting her current role of laboratory fellow.
She earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1980, after which she worked as an associate research professor on phase equilibria and reaction kinetics of hydrated silicates under hydrothermal conditions.
In 1983, a year after arriving at SRNL, Langton worked on developing a waste form and process for treating and dispositioning the salt waste solution from the high-level waste tanks. This waste form, referred to as Saltstone, was the first large-volume radioactive waste form produced anywhere in the world. Langton fine-tuned the formulation to meet the Environmental Protection Agency hazardous metals stabilization requirements and to chemically stabilize technetium, a long-lived radionuclide in the waste solution. These efforts aided in developing cement-based grouts that led to the closure of high-level waste tanks at the Savannah River Site in 1997; the first such closure in the DOE complex. Additionally, Langton’s work facilitated disposal of over 60 solid, mixed waste streams, both radioactive and hazardous, that previously did not have feasible pathways to disposal.
Langton’s innovations have also had a significant impact on nuclear facility decommissioning. She led a team at SRNL that developed concrete and grout formulations used to close three reactor buildings and a fuel rod disassembly basin at SRS. The team also designed a high-performing concrete cap for strategic covers over radioactively contaminated structures above and below ground.
“My career at SRNL has been focused on providing technically sound and implementable solutions for SRNL, SRS and the DOE-EM complex,” said Langton “I have been fortunate to have been supported by basic and applied science and engineering experts at SRNL and SRS, all of whom foster innovation that supports successful project completion of first- and one-of-a-kind projects.”
Savannah River National Laboratory Fellow Christine Langton
Currently, Langton is a supporter of SRNL’s Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program and serves as an Environmental and Legacy Management laboratory fellow. Her current work is focused on material formulations, test methods and quality control for low carbon, durable cement matrices including high-volume concretes to support the Department of Energy Environmental Management closure mission.
Appointment to the position of fellow is the highest scientific/engineering achievement within SRNL and is granted by the laboratory director upon the recommendation of the Fellow Committee and Review Panel. Langton has also been recognized by the American Ceramic Society and the American Concrete Institute. She was awarded the SOLVER Award from the Battelle Memorial Institute, Fred D. Davison Distinguished Scientist Award from the Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, and the Don Orth Distinguished Scientist Award from SRNL. She initiated the Cement Barriers partnership in coordination with Vanderbilt University and the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation. She also currently possesses seven U.S. patents.