The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management program at the Savannah River Site announced the acquisition of a new security expansion.

This expansion will help support the program's mission of down-blending additional surplus plutonium for permanent disposal and removing it from South Carolina, according to a May 2 news release. The security inspectors operation area recently arrives at the K area complex nuclear material management facility.

“Entering and exiting through controlled entry is necessary for safety and security, but it is cumbersome and takes some time,” Leeanna Biery, of the K Area Complex Program and Project Integration, said in the release. “The new entry control facility will be much more efficient and greatly increase the throughput of personnel required to perform downblend activities in both the existing glovebox as well as the new glovebox rooms to be installed.”

The security inspectors operation area building will be part of a larger entry control facility, allowing for remote inspection of employees by security officers, the release reported. These upgrades are part of a significant infrastructure enhancement project to enable the site to carry out its increased plutonium down-blending operations.

The Office of Environmental Management and the National Nuclear Security Administration collaborated earlier this year to complete the first shipment of downblended surplus plutonium from K Area at the Savannah River Site for permanent disposal at EM's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to the release. This shipment represented a significant achievement after years of work to remove plutonium from South Carolina. 

EM is now getting ready to enhance the K Area facility by adding three gloveboxes, which are enclosed structures equipped with gloves that enable workers to safely handle radioactive materials, the release said.

This new entry control facility is expected to be completed and operational by the summer of 2024, the release said.