Savannah River Site pit production prep continues

• By Matthew Christian mchristian@aikenstandard.com
• December 28, 2022

Work continues to prepare the Savannah River Site to produce 50 plutonium pits per year in the 2030s. 

Funding for the construction of the SRS facility where the plutonium pits will be made was included in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act and a federal funding bill signed into law by President Joe Biden before Christmas. 

The Department of Energy began the process of transitioning primary oversight of the Savannah River Site to the National Nuclear Security Administration from the Office of Environmental Management in October. 

Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Senior Advisor William “Ike” White and National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Jill Hruby sent a planning memorandum on Oct. 6 directing that their offices begin the process of making the NNSA the primary office responsible for the site. 

The Office of Environmental Management is responsible for managing the site. Its mission to clean up the radioactive waste left over from when the site was producing plutonium and tritium for atomic weapons during the Cold War is expected to be complete in the mid-2030s. At that point, the national security missions of the site – plutonium pit production and tritium production – will be the primary activities at the complex located south of Aiken. 

The memo instructs both Department of Energy offices to form an integrated team of senior subject matter experts and develop a transition plan by June 2023. The plan will define the responsibility and management of functions and capabilities for each organization. The plan will also assess and recommend the timing of the transfer of functions and responsibilities through a phased approach.

The transition to NNSA management is expected to be complete during fiscal year 2025 (Oct. 1, 2024-Sept. 30, 2025). 

The three primary contractors at the Savannah River Site will not be changed during the transition. 

The contract with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions was extended for four years from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2026, with an additional option through Sept. 30, 2027, earlier this year. The liquid waste operations contract with Savannah River Mission Completion was awarded in 2021 and is good for a decade. The Savannah River National Laboratory, managed by Battelle Savannah River Alliance, will remain under administration by the Office of Environmental Management. 

Also, in October, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions and the Augusta Building and Construction Trades Council, a consortium of 19 local trade unions, signed an agreement for the council to provide skilled workers during the construction phase of the facility. 

James Toler, executive vice president of the National Nuclear Security Administration capital project for the site manager and operator Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, said at a ceremonial signing that the company was in the process of awarding the first construction contracts for the project and that the contracts called for field activity to begin by the end of the year. 

Production of plutonium pits is expected to begin by 2036.