Helene complicated EM’s final days as Savannah River landlord

Hurricane Helene gave the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management one last emergency to deal with at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina before turning over control of the property to the National Nuclear Security Administration, a cleanup manager said Monday.

Hurricane Helene “made for an interesting final weekend” before the cleanup office turned over control of the 310-square-mile property to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Environmental Management’s field boss Michael Budney told the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Wednesday in Augusta, Ga.

While Helene was downgraded to a Tropical Storm by the time it hit Aiken County, S.C., where the site is located, the storm still did plenty of damage, Budney said. Heavy winds took down trees and power lines in the area and many Savannah River Site employees had trouble getting out of their driveways to reach the site, Budney.

Emergency generators worked as planned at Savannah River facilities and one of the biggest issues was feeding employees who ended up stuck at the site longer than expected, Budney said.

Environmental Management turned over landlord responsibility for the site to NNSA with the start of fiscal 2025 on Oct. 1 and normal operations resumed within a week, Budney said. 

NNSA now spends more at Savannah River than the Environmental Management office, a trend expected to continue as the site moves toward plutonium pit production some time next decade, DOE has said. Environmental Management is now a tenant at the site.