DOE clears construction of Savannah River plutonium pit plant, a second site alongside LANL
The approved baseline for the facility's main processing building was signed Oct. 15.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy has approved the performance baseline and authorized a full start of construction for the main processing building of the Savannah River Pit Production Facility, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Oct. 16.
Once construction is finished, the Savannah River Site will join Los Alamos National Laboratory as a site for producing plutonium pits under NNSA's two-site strategy to deliver pits for a modernized U.S. nuclear deterrent, the agency said.
The baseline, known as Critical Decision 2/3, was signed Thursday, Oct. 15. The facility includes the main production building and support facilities needed to make war reserve pits, covering 160 acres of the Savannah River Site.
Earlier this year, DOE approved the same milestone for the facility's High-Fidelity Training and Operations Center, a training facility for pit production at the site.