Michael Mikolanis, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Savannah River Field Office, will move back to Los Alamos in September to lead the agency’s field office there, local publication Aiken Standard reported.
Mikolanis will succeed Ted Wyka, who retired in June after five years as manager of the NNSA Los Alamos Field Office, according to an announcement from NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mikolanis has spent more than 30 years with the Department of Energy, serving in various management jobs for both NNSA and its sister organization, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. Before becoming a nuclear fed, Mikolanis worked for Bechtel Power and also was a U.S. Navy submarine officer.
At Savannah River, Mikolanis has overseen the field office since March 2024. The office is responsible for federal oversight of NNSA missions at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., including plutonium processing, tritium operations and nuclear materials management.
Mikolanis’ tenure has coincided with the site’s expanded role in NNSA’s effort to reestablish a domestic plutonium pit production capability. Savannah River is part of NNSA’s two-site strategy for eventually producing at least 80 war reserve plutonium pits annually, alongside Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Also during Mikolanis’ tenure, the Savannah River site completed a transition under which NNSA assumed primary landlord responsibility for the site from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
Before joining the Savannah River Field Office, Mikolanis served as manager of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office from 2021 to 2024. He previously held several leadership positions at Savannah River, including assistant manager for nuclear material stabilization.