Savannah River Site plutonium pit production facility construction to start soon

• By Matthew Christian mchristian@aikenstandard.com
• October 6, 2022

The failed Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site will be repurposed into a plutonium pit production facility. Construction work on the conversion is expected to begin by the end of hte year. (Matthew Christian/Aiken Standard)

Initial construction work on the Savannah River Site plutonium pit production facility could begin by the end of the year. 

James Toler, executive vice president of the National Nuclear Security Administration capital project for site manager and operator Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, said Thursday 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 year. 

Toler said the first contracts are for the initial opening and internal refurbishment of the failed Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility which is also known as Building 226-F.

Will Salters and James Toler sign an agreement for nineteen local unions to provide workers for the construction of the pit production facility at the Savannah River Site. Staff photo by Matthew Christian

The MOX facility was developed by the Department of Energy to meet the obligations of a nuclear non-proliferation treaty signed with the Russian Federation in 2000 that called for both countries to dispose of excess plutonium. 

Construction of the facility began in 2007 but was quickly beset with financial problems and ultimately canceled by the Department of Energy in 2016 and the plan to develop the facility was ended in 2018. 

Prior to the cancelation, the Department of Energy shipped several tons of plutonium to the Savannah River Site for disposal . But the cancellation of the MOX facility meant the plutonium wasn’t disposed of or removed from the state, leading to the federal government’s $600 million settlement with the state. 

In 2018, the Nuclear Weapons Council endorsed a National Nuclear Security Administration plan to repurpose the MOX facility into a facility for the production of replacement plutonium pits for the nation’s nuclear stockpile. 

Nuclear weapons contain a shell of plutonium called a pit and several other elements into which a neutron is injected to start an uncontrolled nuclear fission reaction. Over time, the plutonium in the pits can begin to decay into other elements, necessitating their periodic replacement. 

The National Nuclear Security Administration plan called for the construction of 50 pits per year at the Savannah River Site and 30 pits per year at Los Alamos National Laboratory by 2030. But the timeline to produce pits at the Savannah River Site has been pushed back. 

Several other buildings will also be constructed to serve the main pit production facility. 

Nineteen local unions signed a contract to provide workers for the construction of the plutonium pit prodcution facility at the Savannah River site Thursday afternoon. (Matthew Christian/Aiken Standard)

Toler’s update about the facility came at an event to celebrate the signing of an agreement between Savannah River Nuclear Solutions and the Augusta Building and Construction Trades Council, a consortium of 19 local trade unions, for skilled workers during the construction phase of the facility. 

“One of the key things the PLA [the agreement with the unions] does for us is it allows us to tap into a talented set of craft and union workers that we desperately will need to be able to successfully deliver this project,” Toler said. 

Will Salters, president of the union consortium, said Thursday was an exciting day, one that the unions have been looking forward to for months.

When completed the pit production facility, to be called the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility, is expected to employ 1,800 people. Construction will peak with around 2,500 workers. 

“This project in and of itself is a significant project not only for the site but also the region for the resources and the workforce its bringing in,” Toler said. 

Salters wondered how many restaurants and hotels will be developed because of the facility. 

“So its really, really good for the community,” Salters said. 

Brian Schepens, deputy director for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s property management and acquisitions office, and Jason Armstrong, National Nuclear Security Administration field office manager, also spoke at the ceremony.