Construction plans for Savannah River plutonium facility move forward

By Christina Lee Knauss

Construction on the new Savannah River plutonium processing facility at the Savannah River Site is gearing up to begin by the end of the year.

The project moved ahead on Oct. 7 as Savannah River Nuclear Solutions entered into a project labor agreement with the Augusta Building and Construction Trades Council, comprised of 19 local unions, during a signing event at the International Union of Electrical Workers Hall, according to a news release. The agreement is in support of the new plutonium processing facility.

“This project agreement guarantees SRNS access to more than 2,500 skilled trades and craft employees,” said Will Salters, president of the Council, who signed on behalf of the local unions. “Any time our local union members can find workers in the Central Savannah River area, their families and communities benefit as well.

Signing on behalf of SRNS was James Toler, executive vice president of capital projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

“I look forward to establishing long term, mutually beneficial relationships as we progress into the construction phase of this project,” Toler said.

The plutonium pit production mission is an essential part of the Administration’s long-term strategy for nuclear stockpile sustainment. The agency is responsible for maintaining and ensuring the safety, security and effectiveness of the national nuclear stockpile. Plutonium pits like the one being built at SRS play a key role in sustaining the stockpile because every nuclear weapon contains a plutonium pit, according to the release.

A neutron is injected into the weapon’s pit to start an uncontrolled nuclear fission reaction when the weapon is deployed, according to information from SRS. The plutonium pits begin to break down into other elements over time, which results in the need to replace them periodically.

Under federal law and to meet national security requirements, NNSA must be able to produce no fewer than 80 pits per year to maintain and replenish the nuclear stockpile. Responsibilities for manufacturing those pits will be shared between two sites: Los Alamos National Laboratory in Nevada must produce 30 pits per year and SRS will be responsible for producing the remaining 50.

Once construction of the facility is completed, the plutonium pit production mission will continue to employ about 1,800 people.

The 310-square-mile Savannah River Site encompasses parts of Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell counties.