Company Profile
Company Overview
The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is the applied research and development laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS). The laboratory applies state-of-the-art science to provide practical, high-value, cost-effective solutions to complex technical problems. The laboratory earns its world-class reputation because of its talented people and their unwavering commitment to safety, security and quality in the delivery of technology solutions that work.
SRNL applies this commitment to solving the complex problems of the times, such as the detection of weapons of mass destruction, the cleanup of contaminated groundwater and soils, the development of hydrogen as an energy source, the need for a viable national defense, and the safe management of hazardous materials. Building on over 50 years of technological achievement and a framework of vital core competencies, the laboratory will continue to identify, develop and deploy innovative technologies to meet the needs of a variety of customers across the nation.
Company History
The Savannah River Site was constructed to produce the basic materials necessary in the fabrication of nuclear weapons, primarily tritium and plutonium-239. Five reactors were also built in an effort to produce these materials for our nation’s defense programs. In support of these efforts, the Savannah River Laboratory was created. In August 1950, a top secret letter regarding the scope of work for the site included the directive that “new research and development facilities would be included at the main site or elsewhere to the extent required to support the work. Such facilities will be provided for the solution of process improvement and process development problems which may arise in connection with the work.” With this directive, the Savannah River Laboratory was created and soon became the second largest research facility for operator E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company.
The original Savannah River Laboratory included five main facilities: a main laboratory for process development and experimental research; the Waste Disposal Facility to handle waste created by the laboratory; the Pile Physics laboratory, which contained experimental reactors; and CMX and TNX. CMX was established to determine the treatment needed for cooling water in reactor heat exchangers and TNX was used to determine operational information for separations. The laboratory quickly expanded to include a health physics laboratory, equipment engineering laboratory, and temporary labs such as a fluid pressure bonding laboratory and a mockup of a reactor tank. Since that time, the lab changed its name to the Savannah River Technology Center and is now the Savannah River National Laboratory.
SRNL historic image
SRNL has evolved to be designated as the only national laboratory for the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and is the nation’s only complete nuclear material management facility.