Savannah River Tritium Enterprise in Aiken opens new facility

Savannah River Tritium Enterprise recently conducted a ribbon-cutting celebration to commemorate the opening of the new tritium finishing facility warehouse, which will be used to support the replacement of the H Area Old Manufacturing facility.

J.C. Epting, SRTE senior vice president, National Nuclear Security Administration Tritium Operations and Programs, along with Jeff Allison, deputy field office manager, National Nuclear Security Administration Savannah River Field Office and Kevin Buchanan, federal projects director for Surplus Plutonium Disposition (SPD) and TFF commended the team for achieving a significant operational milestone, a news release stated.

“Tangible steps of progress like this warehouse completion are essential steps on the path toward to completing the TFF project,” said Allison. “This critical modernization will ensure that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and SRTE remain well-positioned for continued reliable Tritium shipments to the nation’s warfighters for decades to come just as the Site has done without fail for more than 70 years.”

The team managed to expedite the work scope six weeks ahead of schedule in order to meet this key milestone. Additionally, they successfully reduced the total project cost by more than $3 million — keeping it well under budget, the release stated.

“SRTE is the only facility in the nation capable of preparing tritium for the nuclear weapons stockpile, and TFF is critical to this enduring mission,” said Epting. “This achievement, completed both on time and under budget, reflects SRTE’s commitment to addressing our aging infrastructure and getting the job done.”

The new warehouse will pave the way to replace H Area Old Manufacturing, which has served the nation since 1958. The new warehouse will house the materials from two other warehouses scheduled to be demolished which lie in the footprint of the future TFF process buildings.

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“The completion of the TFF Site Prep showcases our ability to successfully manage a project, keeping it under budget and ahead of schedule,” said Buchanan. “This TFF Project Team has done an outstanding job on making significant efforts to achieve this milestone.”

The construction of the warehouse is a part of a long-term strategy to replace HAOM, which has been directly supporting the nation’s nuclear deterrent by processing gas transfer systems since 1958, according to the release.

NNSA has authorized a replacement facility for HAOM, the Tritium Finishing Facility. The funding for final design and construction of the TFF process building project has been delayed, but the site preparatory work needed to facilitate process building construction was fully approved, which included the construction of the warehouse.

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, a Fluor and HII partnership company, is responsible for the management and operations of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, located near Aiken.