Overview of Savannah River Site (SRS) and
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL)
Dr. Mary K Harris
Director, Computational Sciences
February 8th, 2012
SRS Snapshot
198,334 acres,
or about 310 square miles
Fourth largest DOE site in
the United States (behind
Nevada Test Site, Idaho
National Laboratory and
Hanford Site)
SRS workforce: Approximately
10,000
Prime contractor (about 58
percent)
DOE-SR and DOE-NNSA
Other contractors
2
Chronology of the Savannah River Site
Sept. 23, 1949
President Truman announced Russia tested its
first atomic weapon
June 12, 1950
Atomic Energy Commission asked E.I. Du Pont
de Nemours & Company to undertake a new atomic
project
Du Pont built SRS and operated it for nearly 40
years
April 1, 1989
Washington Savannah River Company took the
reins as SRS’s prime contractor
August 1, 2008
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions assumed
responsibility for SRS management and operations
July 1, 2009
Savannah River Remediation now in charge of
liquid waste disposition
3
Initial Construction Facts
Earth moved
39 million cubic yards (a wall 10 feet high and 6 feet
wide from Atlanta, GA to Portland, OR)
Concrete
1.5 million cubic yards (a highway six inches thick
and 20 feet wide from Atlanta, GA to Philadelphia, PA)
Reinforcing steel
118,000 tons (a train 30 miles long)
Structural steel
27,000 tons (a train eight miles long)
Lumber
85 million board feet (enough for 15,000 homes)
Roads
230 miles of new roads
(including South Carolina’s first clover leaf intersection)
Railroads
63 miles of permanent new track
Blueprints
2 million
Process Steel
All of the 304L and 316L stainless steel
available in the United States from 1951 through 1953
4
Site History
The Atomic Energy Commission
builds a nuclear weapons
complex
Six South Carolina towns moved;
6,000 people relocated
F Canyon in 1952
Tank
construction
in the late
1970s
H Canyon in 1952
5
Historical Facts of Note
1956: Neutrino was discovered by Fred Reines and Clyde
Cowan – P Reactor. 1995 Physics Nobel Prize
1961: University of Georgia founded the Savannah River Ecology
Laboratory (SREL) to study effects of radiation on the environment
1972: SRS designated as a National Environmental Research
Park
1980’s: Produced Pu-238 for NASA’s deep space exploration
program
Environmental Cleanup began under the RCRA program
6
Production Years
Produce and recover nuclear materials
Tritium
Plutonium 238
H Canyon
and HB
Line
Plutonium 239
Facilities
Five reactors
Two chemical separations plants
Heavy water extraction plant
Nuclear fuel and target fabrication facility
Waste management facilities
SRS produced about 36 metric tons of plutonium from 1953-1988
End of Cold War meant a whole different philosophy and approach
to the nuclear arsenal
7
Where We Are Today
~$2 billion site budget
50 percent is EM
50 percent is NNSA
The contracts
Management & Operations
Savannah River Nuclear
Solutions
Comprised of Fluor, Newport
News Nuclear and Honeywell
Liquid Waste
Savannah River Remediation
Comprised of URS, Babcock &
Wilcox, Bechtel and CH2M Hill
Separate contracts for other major
projects
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SRS’s Missions Today
Operations inside the
Tritium Extraction
Facility
K Area
Complex
One of many
scientists in SRNL
Spent fuel being
unloaded in L Area
TRU waste being
loaded for
shipment
Demolition work
inside P Reactor
Shipments from the HEU
Blend Down program
Old Radioactive Waste
Burial Ground during
remediation
9
New Missions
~$8 billion over 20 years
Disposition of 34 tons excess weapons-usable plutonium
Three new facilities
Mixed Oxide (MOX)
Fuel Fabrication Facility
Began construction Aug. 1, 2007;
being built and operated by Shaw
AREVA MOX Services
Pit Disassembly
and Conversion
In design phase
Waste Solidification
Building
Supports both MOX and PDC;
groundbreaking in January 2009;
currently under construction
10
SRNL Organization
Dr. Terry A. Michalske
Executive Vice President
& Laboratory Director
Debra Bates
Executive Assistant
Dr. Thomas (Tom) L. Sanders
Associate Laboratory Director for
Clean Energy
Margaret (Peggy) A. Davis
Business Manager and SRNS CFO
Frederick (Freddie) M. Grimm
Director, Research Operations
Dr. Jeffrey (Jeff) C. Griffin
Associate Laboratory Director for
Environmental Stewardship
Richard (Rick) M. Sprague
Associate Laboratory Director for
Nuclear Materials Program
Integration
David E. Eyler
Senior Vice President &
Deputy Laboratory Director
Diane McGee
Executive Assistant
Dr. Anthony (Tony) E. Burris
Associate Laboratory Director for
National Security Programs
Dr. John E. Marra
Associate Laboratory Director for
Science & Technology
Wendolyn S. Holland
Director of Strategic Development
and Technical Partnerships
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Early Days of the Laboratory
- Began operation in 1953
- Original mission:
■
■
■
■
Reactor research
Chemical separations
Tritium/Hydrogen support
Environmental science and monitoring
- Changing mission:
■ End of Cold War in 80’s focus on safe
containment disposition/clean up/D&D
■ Response to 9/11 homeland security
initiatives
■ Need for energy independence dual use
of hydrogen technology
SRNL brought technological support to nation’s
cold war efforts
12
Evolution of SRNL
Savannah River Laboratory - established 1951
R&D to support the Savannah River Plant’s mission of producing nuclear
materials for the national defense
Savannah River Technology Center - 1992
Continued support to Savannah River Site (SRS)
Diversified technological focus
Savannah River National Laboratory - 2004
Expanded role for DOE/EM and broader national security missions
13
SRNL at a Glance
• 1000 Staff; ~ $250M (FY10)
• Safest DOE National Laboratory
• Broad Science and Engineering Capabilities
– Nuclear Materials Detection, Handling and Processing
– Light Elements
Multi-Program Laboratory
National Laboratory Injury & Illness Data
Per 200,000 Hours Worked, CY 2010
Note: Data obtained from DOE Computerized Accident/Incident Reporting System (CAIRS)
Energy Security
1.6
1.4
1.2
National
Security
EM
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
SRNL FY10 Revenue
0
SRNL
INL
NREL
ANL
PNNL
2010 MTC Rate
ORNL
BNL
LBNL
SNL
LANL
LLNL
2010 DART Rate
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Aerial View of SRNL
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Our Facilities
SRNL Main Campus
Hydrogen Technology
Research Laboratory
Aiken County’s
Savannah River
Research Campus
Aiken County
Technology Laboratory
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Multi-Program National Laboratory
SRS Tritium Facilities
Environmental
Management
• Waste Treatment
• Materials Stabilization
and Disposition
• Remediation and Cleanup
• Assessments and Verification
National and
Homeland Security
Nuclear Defense
Plutonium Technology
Homeland Security
Nonproliferation
Nuclear Forensics
Energy Security
• Hydrogen Production
and Storage
• Nuclear Fuel Cycle R&D
• Renewable Energy
Research
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SRNL Innovation Impacts Broad National Priorities
Environmental Management
National and Homeland Security
Energy Security
Small Column Ion
Exchange module
FBI Forensics
Porous wall hollow glass
microspheres
Rotary Microfilter
Tracking and tagging technology
Testing SODAR to measure off-shore wind
CCR
Collaborati
on Award
18
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South Carolina Consortium for Offshore Wind
Advance the sustainable development of
offshore renewable energy to include
wind and hydrokinetic resources:
Partners:
SRNL, Clemson University (CURI), Santee Cooper,
Coastal Carolina University, Second Wind, CMMC,
LLC, Center for Hydrogen Research, Coast Guard,
Fluor
Characterize onshore & offshore wind and
marine resources
Install wind turbines for Educational Outreach
Develop SC business strategy to further
deployment
Three year grant September 2011
Conduct research for design conditions for
offshore wind energy structures
CCU, NREL, MMI Engineering
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Wind Research Activities
200
20m
180
160
140
Height (m)
120
100
80
60
40
Center for Hydrogen Research
Install 2 wind turbines Integrate with 25
Kw regenerative fuel cell and solar
Meteorological tower installation
on Goat Island
Vertical Axis Wind
Turbines (VAWT)
installed on ocean front
20
0
Met Tower
Wind Turbine
Sodar
Wind Speed
Increase fidelity of
vertical profile
Secondwind Triton
Deploy & test Sonic Wind Profiler
(200m vertical) SODAR (sound
detection and ranging)
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Wind Drivetrain Test Facility
Clemson University
Restoration Institute (CURI),
with multiple partners, including
SRNL wins DOE project
proposal for $45M for test
facility, with $51M in-kind from
state entities.
Pier, drydock and Bldg 69.
7.5 MW and 15 MW test
stands, largest in world when
completed
Groundbreaking at CURI October 28, 2010
15 MW dynamometer
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The Future: Clean Energy Initiative
SRNL has announced
agreements with Hyperion and
GE that, with DOE approval,
could lead to deployment of a
small modular nuclear reactors
at SRS
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Business Segments
National Security
Enhance national security by providing innovative, customized solutions to the global nuclear
nonproliferation and detection, counter proliferation, deterrence and threat reduction challenges
through the innovative application of unique nuclear materials, technology and systems assets at SRS
Clean Energy
Accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy through public and private partnerships that solve critical
nuclear material storage, processing and disposition challenges, and use our broader expertise to
support regional energy sustainability while maintaining environmental health
Environmental Stewardship
Transform liabilities into assets to reduce the environmental legacy of nuclear materials and
radioactive waste at SRS in a way that utilizes technology to provide innovative solutions to speed and
improve SRS processing and leverages these solutions to other DOE and non-DOE locations and
customers
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SRNL/SRS Expertise - Key Component in our Nation’s Security
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Enterprise SRS Vision
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