Q1) How large is the Savannah River Site?
198,344 acres, or 310 square miles. Includes portions of Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties.
Q2) Who are the Site's contractors?
 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (Site Management and Operations)
Savannah River Mission Completion (Liquid Waste operations)
Centerra - SRS (Security)
University of Georgia (Savannah River Ecology Laboratory)
Q3) How large is the SRS workforce?
Approximately 11,000.
Q4) How large is the annual budget allotted to SRS?
Approximately $2 Billion.
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Q5) What kind of work is performed at SRS?
Dedicated to maintaining the highest safety and security standards, the Savannah River Site (SRS) is a key Department of Energy (DOE) industrial complex responsible for environmental stewardship, environmental cleanup. waste management, and the disposition of nuclear materials. More specifically, SRS processes and stores nuclear materials in support of national defense and U.S. nuclear non-proliferation efforts. The Site also develops and deploys technologies to improve the environment and treat nuclear and hazardous wastes resulting from the Cold War.
Q6) Why was the site built back in the 1950's?
During the early 1950s, SRS began to produce materials used in nuclear weapons, primarily tritium and plutonium-239. Five reactors were built to produce nuclear materials. Also built were support facilities, including two chemical separations plants, a heavy water extraction plant, a nuclear fuel and target fabrication facility, a tritium extraction facility and waste management facilities.
Irradiated materials were moved from the reactors to one of the two chemical separations plants. In these facilities, known as “canyons,” the irradiated fuel and target assemblies were chemically processed to separate useful products from waste. After refinement, nuclear materials were shipped to other DOE sites for final application. SRS produced about 36 metric tons of plutonium from 1953 to 1988.
Q7) What purpose does the National lab at SRS serve?
The Savannah River National Laboratory puts science to work to create, test and deploy solutions to the technological challenges facing the Site and the nation in three key areas: national and homeland security, energy security, and environmental management. SRNL researchers have made significant advances in glass technology, hydrogen technology, nonproliferation technology, environmental characterization and cleanup, radioactive waste treatment, sensors and probes, and other fields.
Q8) What kind of economic impact has the site had on area communities?
The site’s economic impact ripples across a two-state area at a rate of about $2.6 billion each year. Currently, our overall budget is about $2 billion. Of that, roughly 70 percent is payroll and employee benefits. The site spends about $200 million each year in procurements in the two-state area. Site employees paid over $150 million in federal and state taxes, and $97 million in medical claims.
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