The Department of Energy plans an August “transition readiness review” of plans to transfer management of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to its nuclear weapons branch from its Office of Environmental Management.
The readiness review will run from Aug. 5 through Aug. 30, before the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) takes the reins Oct. 1, the beginning of fiscal year 2025, Mike Budney said in a Monday presentation to the South Carolina Governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council. Budney is Environmental Management’s top federal officer at Savannah River.
As part of the changeover, 85 Federal positions will be transferring to NNSA, Budney said. NNSA will also take over management of the K Area Complex, which provides interim storage for excess plutonium and some special nuclear material, as well as the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions prime contract and other non-environmental cleanup contracts.
NNSA has been playing a larger role at Savannah River in recent times, a trend that figures to continue with planned plutonium pit production at the DOE site near Aiken, S.C., DOE officials have said.
