Some of the most innovative and cutting-edge work is now being done outside the gates of Savannah River Site
The latest example is the Rapid Prototyping Facility, which is located on Atomic Road just a few miles from the main entrance to the nuclear complex. It was unveiled by Savannah River Mission Completion on Oct. 22 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
SRMC, the liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site, showed off its latest technology to community leaders, elected officials and representatives from the Aiken Chamber of Commerce.
Flanked by robotic canines, an example of what the facility is capable of, Dr. Thomas Burns of SRMC said it was an exciting day for his company and the Savannah River Site.
“We are opening a facility built around a simple idea: that you can develop, test, refine solutions more quickly, we can move our mission forward more quickly,” said Burns, SRMC’s president and program manager. “The challenges we work on are complex, they demand careful engineering, strong safety and sound judgment.
“But they also demand the ability to turn a promising idea into something we can evaluate and put to work quickly. That’s what this facility is about. The Rapid Prototyping Facility gives our people and partners a place to do that.”
The Rapid Prototyping Facility can expand 3D-printing capabilities used in the tank closure work at the site, the company said. SRMC engineers can reduce the time it takes to inspect and sample high-level waste tanks by using the rapid prototyping technology, which in turn creates faster, safer and more cost-effective operations.
Tim Walsh, the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for the Office of Environmental Management, discussed how Savannah River Site continues to evolve with its missions.
“In 1989, when the Cold War ended under President Reagan’s leadership, we started a new era which was cleaning up these legacy, Manhattan-era projects and then making them available for economic development for the people who worked so hard to ensure our peace and national security,” he said.
Now the goal is to turn these “liabilities into assets for the American people,” he said.
“What you’re going to see behind me is an example of where they’ve really grabbed the reins and it’s stuff that our national lab has developed using high-performance computers and 3D printing and bringing it together … so that we can accelerate missions across the complex,” he said.
Wilson noted the location of the facility in a shopping center next to a Chinese restaurant and a sandwich shop.
“A former Dollar General site made into a jobs center,” Wilson said. “You can’t do any better than that.”
Wilson, who likes to point out he’s the only member of Congress who has worked at Savannah River Site, said he couldn’t have envisioned working outside the gates when he was employed there.
“No way. Who would have imagined the technology?” he said. “As soon as they began with the robotics, Secretary Walsh was surprised. I came to see the 3D capability, which I think is just incredible. We know the drone capability, what that can mean for health and safety.
“This is before we get to artificial intelligence or super intelligence. You put it all together, and what remarkable opportunities we have.”
Inside the secured facility, workers demonstrated the available technology that included robotics, 3D-printing and drones.
Burns said the current workers are honoring the site’s legacy by “bringing the same urgency and creativity to the work in front of us in this cleanup mission.”
“That history isn’t a call to cut corners. It’s a reminder of what focused purpose, skilled people and what bold engineering can achieve,” he said.
“It will help us move from concept to prototype with greater speed and give us a stronger foundation for advancing the important work entrusted at the Savannah River Site.
