Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1161773
IDAHOFALLSMAGAZINE.COM 59 the former ANL-West campus, now INL's Materials & Fuels Complex, and eventually enrolling in the welder helper program (he expects to qualify as a nuclear welder in September 2019). This was five years after his father had retired, and their conversations about EBR- II, which was scheduled for demolition, were bittersweet. "He loved that reactor and I was tearing it down," he said. The landmark steel-and-concrete contain- ment dome at EBR-II had been on DOE's decontamination and demolition list since 2007. The last remaining sodium coolant was removed, and the reactor cavity was grouted with concrete, creating a clean floor inside. Had demolition occurred, the dome would have been cut off at the floor level, about 10 feet above ground, leaving a flat, cone-shaped cap. The EBR-II dome got a reprieve when Battelle Energy Alliance, INL's management and operations contractor, determined it might have possible uses. In 2017, DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) became its landlord, taking over from the Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM). This is a hopeful sign to Darrell Pfannenstiel. "I'm really encouraged," he said. Kevin Pfannenstiel enjoys the family feel- ing that still exists at MFC, and hears noth- ing but good things about his dad. "They all say they miss him," he said. "They tell me he was a very fair guy. I guess he knew how to talk to people in a good way. He had a lot of knowledge about the place, too." If there's one thing about the job he likes, it's that there is something different to do every day. With the restart of the Transient Reactor Test Facility and the Space and Security Power Systems Facility, the mis- sion at MFC is looking as promising as it has in a long time, Darrell Pfannenstiel said. "It's not just a job," he said. "There's a future out there, and you've got to keep working at it." The latest Pfannenstiel to join INL's ranks is Casey's son Kyle, one of the lab's summer 2019 interns. A journalism/political sci- ence major at University of Idaho, Kyle said he didn't know much about INL when he was growing up. "I don't have a technical background, so when they started talking nuclear my eyes would kind of glaze over," he said. When the family moved to Idaho Falls in 2014, he started getting to know his grand- father better, and as a communications intern, he is learning how deep his family roots go. Having the last name Pfannenstiel sets him apart from the Smiths and Joneses of the world. At INL, "Two times a week I'll run into someone who says, 'I knew your grandpa,'" he said. On a tour of INL given to the interns, one of the places they visited was the EBR-II control room. "They said, 'This is where your grandfather sat,'" he said. "It's been so much fun to learn about all the interesting science and technology going on here." Honduras, South Korea and Germany, he moved back to Idaho Falls with his family in 2014, but took a part-time job ferrying people to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico for six months of the year. "I had spent less time with my family than when I was in the Army," he said. The N&HS job, dealing with financials and budgets, suits him fine. "A lot of the people we deal with are [Department of Defense], and because of my experience I understand pretty well what they want." Of all the children, it was Kevin who fol- lowed most closely in his father's footsteps, coming to work in 2015 as a laborer at DarrellPfannenstielwithhistwosons,Kevin(middle)andCasey(right).Together,theyhave decadesofexperienceatIdahoNationalLaboratory,DarrellatArgonneNationalLaboratory- West,nowINL'sMaterials&FuelsComplex.KevincametoworkatMFCin2010,afterhisfather retired,andmuchofhisjobhasinvolveddismantlingfacilitieswherehisfatheroversawday- to-dayoperations.NowheworksasaprojectmanagerforINL'sNational&HomelandSecurity directorate.AftermanyyearsintheU.S.Armyasahelicopterpilot,heretiredfromtheArmyand returnedtoIdahoFallswithhisfamilyin2014. Darrellwithaframedcollectionof photosofhimselfandcolleaguesat ArgonneNationalLaboratory-West. IF