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Reducing the footprint in F Area

SRNS has made significant progress in decommissioning the legacy project team transitioned in May 2020 to deactivating the facility.
facilities in an area of the Site known as F Area with recent work Deactivation will place the facility in a stable configuration for long-
completed in Building 235-F and the F/H Analytical Laboratory. term safe storage until the eventual decommissioning.
“The entirety of legacy facilities in F Area are expected to be placed SRNL has performed analytical sampling from radiochemical
in surveillance and maintenance mode by 2024,” said Stuart processing and radiological environmental monitoring programs
MacVean. “Along with F Canyon, which was partially deactivated at facilities across the Site for over 55 years, utilizing one of the F
before SRNS took over the prime contract, closing down these two Area legacy facilities, the F/H Analytical Laboratory. SRNL used the
additional facilities will make analytical laboratory in F Area to support analyses on a wide range
a big impact on reducing our of matrices, such as soil, water, gases, foodstuffs, decommissioning
operational footprint.” debris, waste, process control, accountability, nuclear safety and
Since late 2012, SRNS industrial hygiene samples.
has been executing DOE’s To reduce costs and streamline capabilities, SRNS and SRNL are
Implementation Plan for nearing the end of a multi-year project to relocate analytical services
Defense Nuclear Facilities and methods from SRNL’s analytical laboratory facilities in F Area to
Safety Board Recommendation SRNL’s main laboratory in A Area, several miles away. This will save
2012-1 to reduce the hazards millions annually in facility costs and provide for closure of F Area
associated with the material legacy facilities. By the end of January, all 59 laboratory methods
at risk, namely plutonium, will have been relocated and established in A Area. Deactivation of
that remains as residual the legacy F/H Laboratory will begin in FY2021 and is scheduled to
Aerial view of F Area. Building 235-F is contamination in Building 235-F. be complete in FY2024. Already, 21 laboratories have been taken
highlighted in yellow, the F/H Analytical Building 235-F was part of the out of service in the F Area Analytical facilities no longer in use, and
Laboratory facilities in orange and F Canyon/ original construction at SRS a number of gloveboxes have also been cleaned out to accelerate
FB Line in purple deactivation activities next year.
in the early 1950s and was
utilized for several production “I am proud of the safe manner that SRNS has conducted this work,”
missions throughout its operational life, each of which has left a said MacVean. “Cleaning up from a legacy of nuclear materials work
stamp on the robust facility. Its operations have benefited the nation’s is a long process and involves coordination between DOE, SRNS,
defense, NASA and DOE. SRNS reduced risk at 235-F by removing state and federal regulators. We pride ourselves on delivering on our
residual plutonium contamination to lessen risks to co-located environmental commitments and this work is just another example of
workers. With the risk reduction portion of the project complete, the how we make the world safer.”
On-site rapid testing strengthens SRS’ COVID-19 response

COVID-19 has challenged SRS employees to develop and enact
stringent health protocols to protect the workforce from virus
transmission. In 2020, the SRNS-led SRS Infectious Disease
Response Team (IDRT) organized a response effort that included
full-time monitoring of local, regional and national data and led the
implementation of sitewide guidelines to address changing conditions.
To further strengthen COVID-19 mitigation efforts, the SRS IDRT
launched COVID-19 rapid testing to provide additional opportunities
for on-site personnel. In addition to rapid testing, independent testing
made possible through a partnership with Augusta University Health
(AU Health) was previously launched in the summer of 2020.
Since on-site rapid testing began in November, 406 voluntary rapid
tests have been administered to Site employees. This service has also SRNS implemented on-site rapid testing for SRS employees in November.
made COVID-19 testing more accessible to employees who plan to
travel or those who are concerned that they may have been exposed in easily accessible test results, providing them peace of mind when it is
a public setting. needed most,” said Brenda Mills, SRNS Site Medical Director.
“The SRS rapid testing program has provided Site personnel with The SRS rapid testing program is capable of testing 18 employees
reliable test results in approximately 15 minutes. Since the program’s per day, in addition to the 52 daily test capability provided at the
inception on Nov. 23, 18 asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 have been SRS testing location independently operated by AU Health, which has
identified and quickly quarantined, while others have been afforded the conducted 7,198 tests for SRS employees since June.