AIKEN, S.C. — The plutonium pit plant planned for the Savannah River Site near Aiken now has the federal green light to move into full-scale construction, a step expected to bring a large wave of new workers to the site.
On Oct. 15, the National Nuclear Security Administration gave the project, formally the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility, the approval known as Critical Decision 2/3, site officials announced Monday. The approval closes out the design phase for the Main Process Building and sets a performance baseline for the job.
Site officials expect more than 3,000 new workers at the peak of construction. Once the plant is running, its workforce is projected at more than 2,000 people. A training center meant to prepare future pit production staff is also under construction and is forecast to be finished in 2028.
The price tag is now put at $23.5 billion, and the facility is not expected to be complete until December 2038. Earlier schedules had pointed to 2030 and then 2032.
The plant is being built inside the unfinished structure left behind when the Energy Department halted a mixed-oxide fuel project at the site in 2018. Federal law calls for the Savannah River Site to produce at least 50 plutonium pits a year, with Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico making 30 more.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, a partnership of Fluor and HII, manages and operates the site for the Energy Department.
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