Savannah River Site
| Savannah River Site | |
|---|---|
| Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell in South Carolina Near Augusta, Georgia in United States | |
Sign at the entrance to the Savannah River Site | |
The Savannah River Site viewed from the International Space Station | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Nuclear Materials Production and Processing Facilities |
| Owner | Government of the United States |
| Operator | United States Department of Energy |
| Controlled by | National Nuclear Security Administration |
| Open to the public | No |
| Status | Active |
| Defining authority | United States Geological Survey (For geography, ground waters, terrains and mapping) |
| Website | srs.gov |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 33°14′46″N 81°40′05″W / 33.246°N 81.668°W |
| Area | 310 sq mi (800 km2) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1951 |
| In use | 1951–present |
| Test information | |
| Remediation | 1981–present |
The Savannah River Site (SRS), formerly the Savannah River Plant, is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reservation in the United States, located in the state of South Carolina on land in Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell counties adjacent to the Savannah River. It lies 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Augusta, Georgia. The site was built during the 1950s to produce plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons. It covers 310 square miles (800 km2) and employs more than 10,000 people.
It is owned by the DOE. The management and operating contract is held by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC (SRNS) and the Integrated Mission Completion contract by Savannah River Mission Completion. A major focus is cleanup activities related to work done in the past for American nuclear buildup. Currently none of the reactors on-site are operating, 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 United States' only operating radiochemical separations facility. Its tritium facilities are the United States' sole source of tritium, an important ingredient in nuclear weapons. The United States' only mixed oxide (MOX) manufacturing plant was being constructed at SRS, but construction was terminated in February 2019. Construction was overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration. The MOX facility was intended to convert legacy weapons-grade plutonium into fuel suitable for commercial power reactors.