Bruce A Moyer

Bruce A Moyer

Corporate Fellow

Experience Highlights 

  • Over 43 years of experience and >250 open-literature publications in separation science and technology
  • Secretary of Energy Award, 2013. Glenn T. Seaborg Actinide Separations Award, 2019
  • ORNL Corporate Fellow, AAAS Fellow
  • Editor, journal Solvent Extr. Ion Exch. and book series Ion Exch. Solvent Extr.

Education

PhD, 1979, Inorganic Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

BS, 1974, Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Duke University

Research and Professional Experience

Bruce Moyer is a Corporate Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), specializing over a 43-year career in both fundamental and applied aspects of separation science and technology, especially on the chemistry of solvent extraction and ion exchange. His more than 250 open-literature publications include 175 journal articles, 17 patents, 8 patent applications pending, 6 edited books, 15 book chapters, 30 peer-reviewed proceedings articles, and 26 open-literature ORNL reports. He earned his BS degree summa cum laude with chemistry honors from Duke University in 1974 and a PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979 under the direction of Prof. Thomas J. Meyer. His graduate work dealt with fundamental mechanisms of redox catalysis, oxygen atom transfer, and proton-coupled electron transfer. In 1979, he joined the staff at ORNL and has worked on a variety of problems in separations chemistry, always with an eye on incorporating principles of molecular recognition. In addition to his recent duties as Group Leader, Chemical Separations, in the ORNL Chemical Sciences Division, Dr. Moyer has provided leadership for three programs for the US Department of Energy: Principles of Chemical Recognition and Transport in Extractive Separations (Office of Science), the Sigma Team for Advanced Actinide Recycle (Office of Nuclear Energy), and the Diversifying Supply Focus Area of the Critical Materials Institute, a USDOE Energy Innovation Hub (Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy). He has also provided leadership for the chemical development of the Caustic Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) process implemented at the Savannah River Site for cesium removal from tens of millions of gallons of legacy nuclear waste, winning the Secretary of Energy's Award in 2013. Dr. Moyer also serves as Co‑editor of the journal Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange as well as the book series Ion Exchange and Solvent Extraction.

Dr. Moyer’s most successful technology application is the development of the CSSX and Next Generation CSSX processes. CSSX is operating successfully in the $2B Salt Waste Processing Facility at the USDOE Savannah River Site, and both processes previously operated sequentially for 11 years in the Modular CSSX Unit at the Savannah River Site, processing over 7 million gallons of high-level waste. Dr. Moyer's 17 patents range from solvent extraction of cesium for nuclear-waste cleanup to supported liquid membrane systems and novel anion-exchange resins. Dr. Moyer became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019 and has received a number of awards: 2019 Glenn T. Seaborg Actinide Separations Award, 2017 R&D 100 Award for ACE: The Ageless Aluminum Revolution; 2013 US Department of Energy Secretary's Award for Salt Waste Technologies Team; 2011 Council of Chemical Research Collaboration Award for Development and Implementation of High-Level Salt-Waste Processing Technology (team award); R&D 100 Award in 2004 for A Highly Selective, Regenerable Perchlorate Treatment System; UT-Battelle Technical Achievement Award in 2000 for Contributions to the Development of Novel Resin Regeneration Techniques; three Lockheed Martin Research Corporation Achievement awards in 1999—Leadership Award, Development Award (novel bifunctional anion exchange resin), and Development Award (novel process for cesium separation from waste). Recently, he co-chaired and co-edited the 2022 workshop report, Innovative Separations Research and Development Needs for Advanced Fuel Cycles and served on the National Academy of Science Committee on A Research Agenda for a New Era in Separations Science in 2018–2019. He also served as the Technical Chair of the 2008 International Solvent Extraction Conference (ISEC '08) and Editor-in-Chief of the proceedings, and in 2011 he served as member of the Advisory Committee, Program Chair for Nuclear Separations, and Co-editor of the proceedings of ISEC 2011.

Relevant Projects

  • Led the research program “Principles of Chemical Recognition and Transport in Extractive Separations,” DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science.
  • Leads the Diversifying Supply Focus Area, Critical Materials Institute, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub under the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office.
  • Caustic Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX)—developed process at the heart of the $2B Salt Waste Processing Facility for cesium removal from millions of gallons of legacy nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site.
  • Led the Sigma Team for Advanced Actinide Recycle for DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, 2009–2018.
  • Co-developed BiQuat, bifunctional anion exchange resin commercialized by Purolite for perchlorate and pertechnetate removal from groundwater: R&D 100 Award, 2004.