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Volume 1 NARRATIVE and PHOTOGRAPHY SAVANNAH RIVER SITE COLD WAR HISTORIC PROPERTY DOCUMENTATION Volume 1 NARRATIVE AND PHOTOGRAPHY Aiken and Barnwell Counties , South Carolina SAVANNAH RIVER SITE COLD WAR HISTORIC PROPERTY DOCUMENTATION BRINGING IT TO FORM A THEMATIC STUDY OF SAVANNAH RIVER SITES’S SEPARATIONS PROCESSES, F AND H AREAS Aiken and Barnwell Counties, South Carolina Report submitted to: Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC • Aiken, South Carolina 29808 Report prepared by: New South Associates • 6150 East Ponce de Leon Avenue • Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083 Principal Investigator: Mary Beth Reed Historians and Authors: Mark T. Swanson Jackie Tyson Terri DeLoach Gillett July 29, 2013 • FINAL New South Associates Technical Report No. 2202 BRINGING IT TO FORM i ABSTRACT This documentation was prepared in accordance with the SRS Cold War Historic Property Cultural Resources Management Plan (2004) in response to the proposed deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) of historic properties identified in the Site’s F and H areas. Both areas were historically associated with the Site’s separation processes. The plan outlined a thematic approach to capturing the history of each historic process at the site through the creation of a historic narrative, collection of oral histories, and photographic documentation. This guidance was used in producing this two-volume study of the Separations processes used at SRS during the Cold War. New South Associates completed the research, prepared the narrative, and compiled the documentation, while Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) completed the photographic documentation. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BRINGING IT TO FORM iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the many individuals who made a contribution to this effort. Paul Sauerborn, our technical contact at the Site, has helped coordinate the project and has been unstinting in his knowledge of the Site’s history. Denny Vanover of Document Control provided access to the engineering drawings and maps pertinent to the project. The SRS Archives were made available by Carmen Hall and Maxine White, who helped identify needed historic files. Many thanks to SRS Separations employees Paul Carroll, Bill Dallis, Ken Fuller, Kevin Gallahue, Mike Holland, Mike Lewczyk, and Dennis McCaskill for conducting tours of F and H Areas, providing access to research materials, as well as their invaluable knowledge about the separations process. SRS Photography personnel, Tom Kotti, Steve Ashe, and Bruce Boulineau, are always a privilege to work with, exuding professionalism and providing great photographic support. Caroline Bradford, Cold War curator at SRS, was also a great help, arranging tours, identifying historic views and artifacts associated with separations. Terri Gillett worked hard compiling the document and designing it. The following individuals were interviewed to help us better learn what occurred in F and H areas: Edward Albenesius, Charles Goergen, Perry Holcomb, John Porter, Albert Kishbaugh, Mal McKibben, Vince Minardi, Don Orth, William Poe, William Prout, Bob Romine, Major Thompson. Each of these individuals enriched the document, telling a story about the one process at SRS that seems the most mysterious, completed in remote cells and involving equipment and specially designed facilities that were to a great extent remotely controlled. Many interviewees noted that reactors have always held the limelight at Savannah River with separations getting short shrift despite its importance in delivering nuclear materials to the complex. Mal McKibben, now retired, delivered this assessment: “the reactor people were just hot-feed prep to us [in Separations]!” Dr. Don Orth described it succinctly: “the reactors and the reactor people make a big bunch of radioactive materials that can’t be used. We bring it to form…the product comes out of Separations.” We thank Dr. Orth for his words which became the title of this document and all interviewees who provided their histories so we can better understand the role separations played in nuclear materials production and how their contribution to our nation’s defense during the Cold War. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS BRINGING IT TO FORM v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ iii ACRONYM LIST............................................................................................................................. xi I. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1 DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION ...........................................................................................17 II. SAVANNAH RIVER SITE COLD WAR CONTEXT ...........................................................................19 COLD WAR DEFENSE MISSION .........................................................................................19 THE MANHATTAN PROJECT ..................................................................................19 ONSET OF THE COLD WAR ...................................................................................22 SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT AS PART OF THE BIG PICTURE ..........................................24 SAVANNAH RIVER PROJECT, 1950-1955 ............................................................................25 DU PONT SIGNS ON ............................................................................................25 SITE SELECTION ....................................................................................................27 ANNOUNCEMENT ...............................................................................................29 SITE DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................31 SITE LAYOUT .........................................................................................................32 SUBCONTRACTORS ..............................................................................................35 UNFOLDING SCOPE OF WORK AND FLEXIBLE DESIGN ...........................................37 SRP OPERATIONS, 1955 - 1989 ............................................................................37 HEAVY WATER PRODUCTION AND REWORK .........................................................38 FUEL AND TARGET FABRICATION ...........................................................................40 REACTOR OPERATIONS ........................................................................................41 SEPARATIONS .......................................................................................................42 WASTE MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................43 RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND TESTING .............................................................43 DEVELOPMENT OF PEACEFUL USE OF ATOMIC ENERGY, AND ITS IMPACT ON SRP ..............45 ENVIRONMENTALISM, EXPANSION, AND CHANGE AT SAVANNAH RIVER ..........................47 RISE OF ENVIRONMENTALISM ...............................................................................48 REACTOR UPGRADES, L-RESTART, 700 AREA EXPANSION, AND CLOSE OF HEAVY WATER FACILITIES ............................................................49 DEFENSE WASTE PROCESSING FACILITY (DWPF) AND NAVAL FUELS PROGRAM .......51 REACTOR SHUTDOWNS AND DU PONT’S DEPARTURE ...........................................52 END OF COLD WAR .............................................................................................53 III. CONSTRUCTION ....................................................................................................................55 SRS CONSTRUCTION PARAMETERS ...................................................................................56 FUNCTIONAL DESIGN ..........................................................................................56 BLAST PROOF CONSTRUCTION .............................................................................58 STANDARDIZED CONSTRUCTION IN A UNIQUE INDUSTRIAL CONTEXT ...................59 THE CONSTRUCTION ERA IN SEPARATIONS, 1951-1955 ...................................................59 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS IV. SEPARATIONS AREAS: DESIGN, LAYOUT, AND OPERATION, 1951-1956 ...................................63 BASIC 221-F BUILDING LAYOUT .........................................................................................70 SOUTH END SERVICE ENTRANCES ........................................................................73 PERSONNEL ENTRANCES AND GENERAL AREAS ...................................................74 FACILITIES AND CONTROL ROOMS .......................................................................75 SECTIONS AND MODULES ....................................................................................79 PIPING .................................................................................................................84 STEAM JETS ..........................................................................................................85 ELECTRICAL WIRING .............................................................................................86 CANYON EQUIPMENT .........................................................................................87 INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL ......................................................................99
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