Savannah River Site (SRS)
The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a nuclear reservation in the United States in the state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell Counties adjacent to the Savannah River, 25 miles southeast of Augusta, Georgia. The site was built during the 1950s to refine nuclear materials for deployment in nuclear weapons. It covers 310 square miles and employs more than 10,000 people.
It is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The management and operating contract is held by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC (SRNS), and the Liquid Waste Operations contract is held by Savannah River Remediation, which is a team of companies led by URS Corporation.
A major focus is cleanup activities related to work done in the past for the nation's nuclear deterrent. Currently none of the reactors on-site are operating (see list of nuclear reactors), although two of the reactor buildings are being used to consolidate and store nuclear materials. SRS is also home to the Savannah River National Laboratory and the nation's only operating radiochemical separations facility. Its tritium facilities are also the United States' only source of tritium, an essential component in nuclear weapons. And, the nation's only mixed oxide fuel manufacturing plant is being constructed at SRS. When operational, the MOX facility will convert legacy weapons-grade plutonium into fuel suitable for commercial power reactors.
Future plans for the site cover a wide range of options, including host to research reactors, a reactor park for power generation, and other possible uses. DOE and its corporate partners are watched by a loose combination of local, regional and national regulatory agencies and citizen groups. Security is provided by Wackenhut Services, Inc.
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