New mission for SRS will help protect the nation

Aiken City, North Augusta City and Aiken County councils approved resolutions supporting pit production at the Savannah River Site because it is uniquely qualified and well-suited for this mission. The mission is vital to our national security, and will provide significant positive impact on the local economy.

Our national defense relies on a nuclear deterrent, but our nuclear weapons systems, while powerful, credible and long lived, still must be serviced or replaced.

Part of that modernization will include the manufacture of a sizable number of plutonium pits. Plutonium pits have not been produced in the United States since 2011.

Our region’s nuclear and environmental workforce can safely and effectively do this job. For more than 60 years, starting with DuPont, SRS contractors have set the global standard for nuclear safety and security.

They have conducted large-scale nuclear manufacturing operations in a safe, secure and environmentally responsible manner. The SRS security personnelroutinely receive outstanding grades from the Department of Energy.

Further, the Savannah River National Laboratory has core competency in actinide chemistry and a long history of directly supporting plutonium operations. SRS has the geography, infrastructure, facilities, proven processes, skilled workforce and nuclear culture to safely conduct this mission.

It is appropriate to consider the disposition path for nuclear material coming into South Carolina and any residuals remaining. In the pit production mission, the product will be going back out of the state for the intended defense purpose. Any incidental waste from pit production has an established disposition path for disposal at the waste isolation pilot plant in New Mexico. There will be no new high-level waste generated.

The pit production mission is expected to bring 800 high paying, skilled jobs, including managers, engineers, operators and health-protection personnel. These will be enduring jobs supporting an enduring mission.

We welcome the opportunity for SRS to be considered for the production of plutonium pits. The region and nation will benefit from this vitally important, long-term mission.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.

This story was originally published February 12, 2018 at 1:56 PM with the headline "New mission for SRS will help protect the nation."