The Savannah River Site (SRS) is opening new early construction work fronts to accelerate building the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF), including an agreement with the Augusta Building and Trades Council.
The construction is an effort to re-establish the nation’s capability to produce plutonium pits in support of sustainable nuclear deterrence, according to the SRS.
“It’s amazing to see the scale and urgency at which dirt is moving around the SRPPF worksite with the early site preparation scopes in progress,” said Jeff Griffin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS). “The construction work fronts for this project are dynamic and will move throughout the project site as different tasks are completed and new ones begin. SRNS is working together with our partners to accelerate this important infrastructure project for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Time is critical for this mission of national importance, and each day matters as we work to deliver SRPPF project completion by the early 2030s.”
The SRPPF project involves repurposing an unfinished facility at SRS with more than 400,000 square feet of available Hazard Category-2 space. This allows the NNSA to make use of an existing, seismically-qualified structure to meet pit production requirements. The project also involves construction on more than 20 additional support facilities, as well as building temporary infrastructure to support the incoming construction workforce.
“The SRPPF Project Execution organization is opening up additional work fronts not already in progress prior to starting Critical Decision (CD)-2/3 construction,” said Mike Basham, SRNS Senior Vice President and SRPPF Project Director. “NNSA approval of CD-2/3 will establish a baseline for the project and provide authorization to proceed with full construction. In preparation for CD-2/3 approval, we’re optimizing our construction approach and opening up new work fronts to accelerate the project.”
Early site preparation activities include subprojects inside and outside of the SRPPF Main Process Building, such as interior and exterior building modifications, Special Facility Equipment procurement, and the installation of underground water system utilities and infrastructure.
During the life of the SRPPF project, more than 4,000 craft and staff employees are expected to support construction. To support workforce needs, SRNS signed a Project Labor Agreement with the Augusta Building and Construction Trades Council. Once constructed and operational, SRPPF is expected to require approximately 2,100 employees.
