Savannah River Site
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the state of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, located on land in Aiken
Aiken County, South Carolina
Aiken County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2000, its population was 142,552; in 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that its population had reached 160,099...
, Allendale
Allendale County, South Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,211 people, 3,915 households and 2,615 families residing in the county. The population density was 28 people per square mile . There were 4,568 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...
and Barnwell
Barnwell County, South Carolina
-History:The Barnwell District was created in 1798 from the southwestern portion of the Orangeburg District, along the Savannah River...
Counties adjacent to the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
, 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
. The site was built during the 1950s to refine nuclear materials for deployment in nuclear weapons. It covers 310 square miles (802.9 km²) and employs more than 10,000 people.
It is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
(DOE). The management and operating contract is held by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC (SRNS), and the Liquid Waste Operations contract is held by Savannah River Remediation, which is a team of companies led by URS Corporation.
A major focus is cleanup activities related to work done in the past for the nation's nuclear buildup. Currently none of the reactors on-site are operating (see list of nuclear reactors), although two of the reactor buildings are being used to consolidate and store nuclear materials. SRS is also home to the Savannah River National Laboratory
Savannah River National Laboratory
The Savannah River National Laboratory is the applied research and development laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. SRNL was founded in 1951 as the Savannah River Laboratory. It was certified as a national laboratory on May 7, 2004...
and the nation's only operating radiochemical separations facility. Its tritium facilities are also the United States' only source of tritium, an essential component in nuclear weapons. And, the nation's only mixed oxide fuel (MOX) manufacturing plant is being constructed at SRS. When operational, the MOX facility will convert legacy weapons-grade plutonium into fuel suitable for commercial power reactors.
Future plans for the site cover a wide range of options, including host to research reactors, a reactor park for power generation, and other possible uses. DOE and its corporate partners are watched by a combination of local, regional and national regulatory agencies and citizen groups. Security is provided by Wackenhut Services, Inc.
History
- 1950-1951: The federal government asked E.I. DuPontDuPontE. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
to build and operate a nuclear facility near the Savannah River in South Carolina. The company had expertise in nuclearNuclear engineeringNuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of the breakdown as well as the fusion of atomic nuclei and/or the application of other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics...
operations, having designed and built the plutonium production complex at the Hanford siteHanford SiteThe Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
for the Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A large portion of farmland, the towns of EllentonEllenton, South CarolinaEllenton was a town that was located on the border between Barnwell County and Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. Settled around 1870, it was acquired by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1950 as part of a site for the Savannah River Plant. It was located between the current CSX...
and DunbartonDunbarton, South CarolinaDunbarton was a town in Barnwell County, South Carolina, United States. The area was originally settled around 1800. Dunbarton grew after a train stop was built on a new rail line. In 1951, it was acquired by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission as part of a site for the Savannah River Plant...
, and several other communities including Meyers MillMeyers Mill, South CarolinaMeyers Mill was an unincorporated community in southwestern Barnwell County, South Carolina, United States. The area was originally settled by the Meyer family in the late 19th century. Meyers Mill grew after a train stop was built on a new rail line. In 1951, it was acquired by the U.S...
, Leigh, Robbins, and Hawthorne were bought under eminent domainEminent domainEminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
, and the site of 310 square miles (802.9 km²) became the Savannah River Site, managed by the U.S. Atomic Energy CommissionUnited States Atomic Energy CommissionThe United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
. Biologists from the University of Georgia began ecological studies of local plants and animals, and construction began.
- 1952-1954: Production of heavy waterHeavy waterHeavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
for the site reactors began and reactors R, P, L and K went critical. The first irradiated fuel was discharged. F Canyon, the world's first operational full-scale PUREXPUREXPUREX is an acronym standing for Plutonium - URanium EXtraction — de facto standard aqueous nuclear reprocessing method for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from used nuclear fuel. It is based on liquid-liquid extraction ion-exchange.The PUREX process was invented by Herbert H. Anderson and...
separation plant, began radioactive operations on November 4, 1954. PUREX (PlutoniumPlutoniumPlutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
and UraniumUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
EXtraction) extracted plutonium and uranium products from materials irradiated in the reactors.
- 1955-1956: C Reactor went critical. The first plutonium shipment left the site. H Canyon, a chemical separation facility, began radioactive operations. Construction of the basic plant was completed.
- 1956: The neutrinoNeutrinoA neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with a half-integer spin, chirality and a disputed but small non-zero mass. It is able to pass through ordinary matter almost unaffected...
was discovered by Fred Reines and Clyde CowanClyde CowanClyde Lorrain Cowan Jr was the co-discoverer of the neutrino, along with Frederick Reines. The discovery was made in 1956, detected in the neutrino experiment....
using the flux from P Reactor. Reines was awarded the 1995 Physics Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
; Cowan had already died.
- 1961: University of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
professor Eugene OdumEugene OdumEugene Pleasants Odum was an American scientist known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology. He wrote the first ecology textbook: Fundamentals of Ecology....
founded the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory to study the effects of radiation upon organisms at the site.
- 1962-1964: The Heavy Water Components Test ReactorHeavy Water Components Test ReactorHeavy Water Components Test Reactor was an experimental nuclear reactor at the Savannah River Site in Aiken County, South Carolina. It was commonly called "Hector."...
(HWCTR) was tested.
- 1963-1971: The Receiving Basin for Offsite Fuels (RBOF) received the first shipment of off-site spent nuclear fuel. L Reactor was shut down for upgrades. R Reactor was shut down. K Reactor became the first reactor to be controlled by computer.
- 1972: The site was designated as a National Environmental Research Park.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act , enacted in 1976, is the principal Federal law in the United States governing the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste.-History and Goals:...
(RCRA). The heavy water rework facility was closed. Construction of the defense waste processing facility began.
- 1985-1987: HB Line began producing plutonium-238 for NASA's deep space exploration program. L Reactor restarted and C Reactor shut down. A groundwater remediationGroundwater remediationGroundwater remediation is the process that is used to remove pollution from groundwater. Groundwater is water present below the ground surface that saturates the pore space in the subsurface. At least one half of the population of the United States depends upon groundwater as a source of...
system is constructed in M Area. Construction of Saltstone and of the Replacement Tritium Facility began. DuPont notified DOE that it would not continue to operate and manage the site.
- 1988-1989: K, L, and P Reactors were shut down. An effluent treatment facility began treating low-level radioactive wastewater from F and H Area separations facilities. The site was included on the National Priority List and became regulated by the EPAUnited States Environmental Protection AgencyThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
. Westinghouse Savannah River Company assumed management and operation of site facilities.
- 1990-1993: Construction of a cooling towerCooling towerCooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
for K Reactor began. Saltstone began operation. The mixed waste management facility was the first site facility to be closed and certified under the provisions of RCRA. L Reactor and M Area settling basin were shut down. With the end of the Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, production of nuclear materials for weapons use ceased. The cooling tower was connected to the K Reactor, and the reactor operated briefly for the last time. The Secretary of Energy announced the phase-out of all uranium processing. Non-radioactive operations began at the Replacement Tritium Facility and the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). K Reactor was placed in cold standby condition. Construction began on the Consolidated IncinerationIncinerationIncineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...
Facility. The Workforce Transition and Community Assistance began.
- 1994-1997: The Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board was established. DWPF introduced radioactive material into the vitrification process. K Reactor was shut down. F Canyon restarted and began stabilizing nuclear materials. The first high-level radioactive waste tanks were closed.
- 1998-2000: Savannah River Site was selected as the site of three new plutonium facilities for: a MOX fuel fabrication; pit disassembly and conversion; and plutonium immobilization. The K Reactor building was converted to a storage facility. WSRC earned the DOE's top safety performance honor of Star Status.
- 2001: The first shipment of transuranic waste was sent to the DOE's Waste Isolation Pilot PlantWaste Isolation Pilot PlantThe Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository licensed to permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 years that is left from the research and production of nuclear weapons...
(WIPP) Project in New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. DWPF completed production of four million pounds of environmentally acceptable glassified waste.
- 2002:
- The F Canyon and FB Line facilities completed their last production run. The Savannah River Technology Center participated in a study of using a nuclear power reactor to produce hydrogen from water.
- Scientists report finding a new species of radiation-resistant extremophiles inside one of the tanks. It was named kineococcus radiotolerans.
- 2003: In January, Westinghouse Savannah River Company completed transferring the last of F Canyon’s radioactive material to H Tank Farm. DWPF began radioactive operations with its second melter, installed during a shutdown. The last depleted uranium metal was shipped from M Area for disposition at Envirocare of Utah. The last unit of spent nuclear fuel from RBOF was shipped across the site to L Reactor in preparation for RBOF's deactivation.
- 2004: The site shipped its 10,000th drum of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a DOE facility in New Mexico, 12 years ahead of schedule. In a visit, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham designated the Savannah River National LaboratorySavannah River National LaboratoryThe Savannah River National Laboratory is the applied research and development laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. SRNL was founded in 1951 as the Savannah River Laboratory. It was certified as a national laboratory on May 7, 2004...
(SRNL), one of 12 DOE national laboratories. Two prototype bomb disposal robotsRemote control vehicleA remote control vehicle is defined as any mobile device that is controlled by a means that does not restrict its motion with an origin external to the device. This is often a radio control device, cable between control and vehicle, or an infrared controller...
developed by SRNL were deployed for military use in Iraq.
- 2005: The Tritium Extraction Facility (TEF) was completed for the purpose of extracting tritium from materials irradiated in the Tennessee Valley AuthorityTennessee Valley AuthorityThe Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
's commercial nuclear reactors. Savannah River Site's first shipment of neptunium oxideNeptuniumNeptunium is a chemical element with the symbol Np and atomic number 93. A radioactive metal, neptunium is the first transuranic element and belongs to the actinide series. Its most stable isotope, 237Np, is a by-product of nuclear reactors and plutonium production and it can be used as a...
arrived at the Argonne West LaboratoryArgonne National LaboratoryArgonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
in Idaho. This was the last of the nation's neptunium inventory, and the last of the materials to be stabilized to satisfy commitments for stabilizing nuclear materials. F Canyon was the first major nuclear facility at the site to be suspended and deactivated. Low-enriched uranium (LEU) from the site was used by a Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear power reactor to generate electricity. The tritium facilities modernization and consolidation project completed start-up and replaced the gas purification and processing that took place in 232-H. WSRC began multi-stage layoffs of permanent employees.
- 2006: Design work took place and is ongoing for the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), a facility designed to process radioactive liquid waste stored in underground storage tanks at the site. The SWPF project work is performed by a group anchored by Parsons CorporationParsons CorporationParsons Corporation is an engineering, construction, and technical and management services firm headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1944 by engineer Ralph M. Parsons, Parsons Corporation is currently one of the largest such companies in the United States, with revenues exceeding...
. Work continued on design of the MOX fuelMOX fuelMixed oxide fuel, commonly referred to as MOX fuel, is nuclear fuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material. MOX fuel contains plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium. MOX fuel is an alternative to the low-enriched uranium fuel used in the...
fabrication facility by a company now known as Shaw AREVA MOX Services.
- 2007: On August 1, 2007, construction officially began on the $4.86 billion MOX facility. The current deadline for the completion of construction is 2014. Following startup testing, the facility would begin operations in 2016 with a disposition rate of up to 3.5 tons of plutonium oxide each year. The mission is supposed to end in 2035, although it could be extended to 2038.
Reactors
| Reactor name | Start-up date | Shutdown date |
|---|---|---|
| R Reactor | December 1953 | June 1964 |
| P Reactor | February 1954 | August 1988 |
| K Reactor | October 1954 | July 1992 |
| L Reactor | July 1954 | June 1988 |
| C Reactor | March 1955 | June 1985 |
Source.
Contract changes
Management of the Savannah River Site was to be bid in 2006, but the Department of EnergyUnited States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
extended the contract with the existing partners for 18 months to June 2008.
In 2006 DOE decided to split the WSRC contract into two new separate contracts, i.e. the M&O Contract and the Liquid Waste Contract to be awarded before June 2008. Responding to the DOE RFP, the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), LLC - now a Fluor
Fluor
Fluor Corporation is a publicly owned engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance services organization. Fluor is headquartered in the Las Colinas area of Irving, Texas. The company employs more than 41,000 international employees and maintains offices in over 25 countries...
partnership with Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
, and Huntington Ingalls Industries
Huntington Ingalls Industries
Huntington Ingalls Industries is an American shipbuilding company formed on March 31, 2011 as a spin-off of Northrop Grumman. Formerly known as Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding , it was created on 28 January 2008 by the merger of Northrop Grumman's two shipbuilding sectors, Northrop Grumman Ship...
(formerly part of Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
) - submitted a proposal in June 2007 for the new M&O Contract. A team led by URS and including many of the WSRC partners also submitted a proposal. On January 9, 2008 it was announced that SRNS LLC had won the new contract, with a 90-day transition period to start January 24, 2008. However, the transition was delayed by a protest filed with GAO by the URS team on January 22, 2008. The GAO denied the protest on April 25. DOE-SR then directed SRNS to start transition on May 2 and take over operation on August 1, 2008.
See also
- Savannah River National LaboratorySavannah River National LaboratoryThe Savannah River National Laboratory is the applied research and development laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. SRNL was founded in 1951 as the Savannah River Laboratory. It was certified as a national laboratory on May 7, 2004...
- PUFF-PLUMEPUFF-PLUMEPUFF-PLUME is a model used to help predict how air pollution disperses in the atmosphere. It is a Gaussian atmospheric transport chemical/radionuclide dispersion model that includes wet and dry deposition, real-time input of meteorological observations and forecasts, dose estimates from inhalation...
, an atmospheric dispersion model developed for emergency response use at the Savannah River Site. - Building BombsBuilding BombsBuilding Bombs is a 1991 documentary film produced and directed by Mark Mori and Susan J. Robinson. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It dealt with environmental contamination and worker safety issues at the Savannah River Site nuclear materials processing center...
, a 1991 documentary film by Mark Mori and Susan J. Robinson
External links
- Official website of the Savannah River Site
- Official website of the MOX (Mixed Oxide) Project
- Official website of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL)
- Official website of the Department of Energy
- Official website of the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS)
- Official website of Washington Division of URS Corporation
- Official website of Parsons Corporation
- Official website of Bechtel
- Annotated bibliography for Savannah River from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- Official EPA Tritium Fact Sheet
- Savannah River Site Mortality Study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health