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From YouTube: Aiken Business Matters - December 5, 2016 : SRS Overview
Description
An overview of the history and mission of the Savannah River Site.
A
Welcome
to
a
kid
business
matters,
I'm
John,
McMichael,
your
host
and,
as
you
can
tell
we're
outside
the
studios
today,
we're
on
newbury
street
between
newberry
hall
and
the
aecom
building.
Playhouse
and
behind
me
is,
is
a
container
and
it
celebrates
the
association
of
aiken
and
the
Savannah
River
Site.
This
container
behind
me
is
a
container
that
is
used
to
put
processed
liquid
waste
in
it
is
formed
into
a
liquid
glass
and
they
fill
the
canister
up
and
it's
put
in
a
temporary
storage
facility.
A
It's
it
comes
from
defense
waste
processing
facility
to
this
to
this
canister.
They
put
it
in
underground
and
it's
put
there
temporarily
waiting
the
disposition
into
a
permanent
location
somewhere
in
the
United
States.
But
we
just
thought
we'd
come
out
here
and
show
you
that
today,
because
we
have
a
treat
for
you
today
we
have
a
film
that
deals
with
the
Savannah
River
Site
from
the
inception
to
where
we
are
today.
A
B
Savannah
river
site
was
born
of
an
exciting
yet
perilous
time.
The
nation
was
on
the
cusp
of
the
Atomic
Age
and
the
cutting
edge
of
an
emergent
technology.
Yet
the
specter
of
the
cold
war
loomed
large
and
was
the
motivating
force
behind
the
construction
of
what
was
then
known
as
the
Savannah
River
Project.
The
defense
strategy
of
the
nation
shifted
when
the
Soviet
Union
demonstrated
its
ability
to
detonate
an
atomic
bomb
in
1949.
B
The
creation
and
expansion
of
nuclear
facilities
to
support
the
development
of
our
nuclear
arsenal
became
the
priority
by
October
1950.
The
DuPont
company
was
chosen
as
the
first
contractor
to
manage
the
construction
and
operation
of
the
new
production
facility
near
Aiken,
South
Carolina,
almost
overnight,
droves
of
construction
workers,
engineers
and
scientists
from
every
state
in
the
Union
descended
upon
the
central
Savannah
River
area
to
live,
raise
families
and
begin
work
on
an
industrial
and
engineering
project
that
rivaled
the
building
of
the
Panama
Canal.
B
In
three
short
years,
much
of
the
Savannah
River
plant
went
from
conceptual
design
to
a
functioning
nuclear
materials
production
facility.
Ultimately,
five
production
reactors,
two
separations
facilities,
heavy
water
extraction,
waste
management
laboratories
and
other
support
facilities
were
realized
within
its
310
square
miles.
B
With
little
doubt,
history
proves
that
the
Savannah
River
Site
contributed
to
winning
the
Cold
War.
By
the
time
the
Berlin
Wall
came
down
and
tensions
between
the
former
Soviet
Union
in
the
United
States
thought
the
men
and
women
of
srs
that
worked
safely
and
diligently
for
35
years
meeting
and
perfecting
the
needs
of
our
nation's
defense
and
making
the
world
safer.
B
B
Just
shy
of
200,000
acres,
the
savannah
river
site
was
constructed
on
what
was
once
farmland
in
western
South
Carolina
along
the
banks
of
the
Savannah
River.
Today,
the
vast
forests
of
srs
comprise
a
timber
and
forestry
research
center
managed
by
the
United
States
Forest
Service
in
1972.
It
was
designated
as
the
First
National
Environmental
Research
Park
and
is
now
the
home
to
rare
and
endangered
species.
B
Srs
remains
a
primary
component
of
the
united
states
department
of
energy
complex.
It
ranks
near
the
top
of
safest
industrial
facilities
worldwide.
The
Savannah
River
Site
processes,
nuclear
material
in
support
of
our
national
defense
tritium
at
the
Savannah
River
Site
is
an
enduring
mission.
It
is
the
nation's
only
facility
for
extracting
recycling
purifying
and
reloading
this
hydrogen
isotope.
B
Nuclear
materials
management
encompasses
four
distinct
areas
and
processes.
K
area
complex
spent
fuel
operations,
h
canyon,
HB,
mine,
each
contributing
to
nuclear
non-proliferation
and
environmental
cleanup.
If
any
place
could
be
called
the
Fort
Knox
of
plutonium,
it
would
be
k
area.
The
k
area
complex
is
the
largest
category
1
storage
facility
in
the
Department
of
Energy
complex
for
the
safe
and
secure
handling,
storage
and
surveillance
of
excess
plutonium
and
other
special
nuclear
materials.
B
Another
arm
of
nuclear
material
management
at
srs
is
the
spent
fuel
operations
spent
fuel
is
nuclear
fuel
that
has
been
irradiated
in
a
nuclear
reactor
el
reactor.
The
former
production
reactor
now
serves
as
a
basin
for
the
storage
of
used
nuclear
fuel
consolidated
from
the
production
years
at
the
savannah
river
site
and
the
do
ii
complex
as
well
as
foreign
and
domestic
research
reactors.
El
basin
holds
approximately
3.4
million
gallons
of
water
with
a
pool
depth
of
17
250
feet.
The
basin
water
acts
as
shielding
to
protect
the
workers
from
still
present
radiation.
B
Today,
H
Canyon
stands
as
the
only
large-scale
shielded
radiochemical
facility
in
the
United
States
and
is
currently
participating
in
a
highly
enriched
uranium
blend
down
campaign
that
converts
the
HEU
or
highly
enriched
uranium
extracted
from
used
or
spent
nuclear
fuel
received
from
el
área
to
low
enriched
uranium.
This
leu
is
no
longer
weapons
usable
and
is
used
to
make
fuel
for
use
in
the
Tennessee
Valley
Authority
power
reactors
to
generate
electricity.
B
The
site
has
a
mission
of
dis,
positioning
liquid
nuclear
waste
and
operationally
closing
the
waste
tanks.
This
has
profound
significance
to
the
well-being
of
the
community,
the
nation
and
the
world.
The
radioactive
waste
from
SRS
is
contained
in
the
F
and
H
area
tank
farms.
Much
of
this
waste
resulted
from
the
radiochemical
processing
that
occurred
in
F
and
H
canyon
during
the
Cold
War
and
is
known
as
legacy
waste.
B
Approximately
36
million
gallons
of
this
radioactive
by-product
is
held
in
43
large
underground
tanks
that
were
constructed
between
1951
and
1981.
For
over
20
years,
the
high-level
radioactive
waste
in
the
tanks
has
been
successfully
processed
into
manageable
glass
logs
at
the
defense,
waste
processing
facility
or
DWP
f.
B
B
B
Savannah
River
National
Laboratory
is
a
multi
program,
National
Laboratory
that
puts
science
to
work,
providing
practical,
cost-effective
solutions
for
our
nation's
environmental
cleanup,
nuclear
security
and
clean
energy
challenges.
The
lab
provides
the
science
and
technology
support
for
srs
operations,
as
well
as
non
srs
customers,
including
Department
of
Energy,
National,
Nuclear,
Security,
Administration
and
other
do
e
sites
and
federal
agencies
such
as
the
Department
of
Homeland
Security
and
the
Federal
Bureau
of
Investigation.
B
Srs
provides
unparalleled
community
service
and
economic
impact
to
the
region
through
corporate
support
of
nonprofit
agencies,
schools
and
universities,
as
well
as
opportunities
for
businesses
and
economic
development.
Srs
employees
have
a
long
tradition
of
generously
giving
back
to
their
community
volunteering
in
a
wide
range
of
nonprofit
organizations,
local
service
projects
and
educational
outreach
programs.
The
states
of
South,
Carolina
and
Georgia
realize
a
2.6
billion
dollar
economic
impact
annually.
B
The
more
things
change,
the
more
things
stay,
the
same
after
well,
over
a
half
century
of
service
to
the
country
we
find
ourselves
still
in
a
perilous
world.
At
the
same
time,
faced
with
the
hope
of
new
technologies,
the
unique
skills
of
its
people
and
one-of-a-kind
facilities
allows
the
SRS
to
be
a
key
player
in
developing
innovative
approaches
to
nuclear
materials
challenges
supplying
tritium
for
our
country's
nuclear
weapons,
deterrent,
providing
unparalleled
environmental
stewardship
and
securing
nuclear
materials
to
prevent
unwanted
proliferation.
The
Savannah
River
Site,
helping
to
make
the
world
safer.