U.S. DOE Savannah River Site Management & Operations

Client: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Location: Aiken, SC, U.S.

Map showing the location of U.S. DOE Savannah River Site Management & Operations

Executive Summary

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (SRNS), a Fluor-led partnership comprising Fluor, Newport News Nuclear and Honeywell, is responsible for the management and operations of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS), located near Aiken, South Carolina.

Dedicated to maintaining the highest safety and security standards, the SRS is key to the DOE's industrial complex and serves a diverse mix of federal missions. The site acts as the benchmark federal facility for environmental management, secure clean energy, and national security. In support of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the site leverages its world-class capabilities to manage vital defense programs, including tritium modernization and plutonium pit manufacturing.

Client's Challenge

The mission of the SRS focuses on the safe, secure, and cost-effective management of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, nuclear materials, and the environment. To fulfill this objective, the SRS processes and stores nuclear materials while developing and deploying advanced technologies to treat nuclear and hazardous waste.

To support these efforts, the DOE required a dedicated team to provide environmental management services and the cleanup of nuclear legacy materials. Operating in a dual role, SRNS executes vital NNSA national security missions. This includes managing the Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE) program and supporting the site's critical plutonium and nuclear nonproliferation initiative.

Fluor's Solution

Since August 2008, SRNS has served as the management and operations (M&O) contractor at the SRS. With a team of 7,000 nuclear-trained personnel, SRNS ensures the safe and cost-effective management of the nuclear stockpile and handles complex projects like environmental remediation, waste management, nuclear storage, and facility decontamination. This cleanup scope expanded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), leading to the closure of more than 100 structures. Balancing its modern mission with site transitions, SRNS also managed the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) until June 2021.

Fulfilling these critical DOE and NNSA requirements, SRNS cleans up legacy nuclear materials and facilities while managing the vital SRTE program. The SRTE serves as the nation's only facility that recycles, purifies, and extracts tritium gas essential to America's weapons stockpile. As part of this broader site mission, SRNS restarted a spent fuel processing campaign at the H-Canyon separation facility in February 2016. While H-Canyon safely handles the stabilization and disposal of legacy nuclear materials, the SRTE continues to expand its critical role by supplying and loading tritium components for national defense. Additionally, SRNS down-blends existing nuclear materials to support the nation's new High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) initiative to fuel advanced commercial reactors.

The team's technical excellence has earned top national recognition. In January 2022, the DOE honored the W76-2 team with the Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for its "relentless dedication" in updating a U.S. Navy submarine warhead to improve regional deterrence. SRS weapons program engineers represented the SRTE's vital contribution of supplying and loading the critical gas transfer systems that store and deliver tritium gas. Additionally, the SRNS Tritium Diffuser Design Team received an achievement award for developing advanced components that keep tritium facilities running at peak performance. Looking to the future, SRNS is managing the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF), a major NNSA initiative that repurposes an unfinished facility to manufacture at least 50 plutonium pits per year for national defense.

Conclusion

Through its long-standing role as the M&O contractor, SRNS has successfully balanced environmental cleanup with critical national security mandates. From clearing legacy waste and decommissioning Cold War-era facilities to leading modern NNSA initiatives like SRTE and the SRPPF, SRNS continues to protect the environment while strengthening the nation's nuclear deterrent. Backed by an award-winning workforce of 7,000 nuclear-trained personnel, Fluor and its partners have established the SRS as a safe, cost-effective benchmark for both environmental remediation and long-term national defense.