AIKEN, S.C. – Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE) recently achieved a major milestone with the successful removal of a 42,000-pound equipment hatch used as an access point for lifting oversized equipment into and out of Tritium’s H Area New Manufacturing (HANM) production facility. The removal of the hatch allowed for the replacement of critical components involved in the facility’s hot and cold nitrogen system that supports Tritium’s mission needs and production directives.
Last removed in 2001, the pull required an extensive amount of planning and coordination from various working groups across the Tritium complex. This included extensive ventilation testing in an operating nuclear facility. In addition, workers assembled a 165-ton crane on-site and then brought it into the area to remove and install the equipment in the underground facility. Replacement equipment included chillers, compressors and various other components stored at the Savannah River Site A Area and N Area, transported by rigging and construction workers.
“This was an amazing effort by everyone involved. The team performed detailed planning for over two years to prepare for this critical evolution,” said Tritium Operations and CY25 Project Owner Chris Garnett. “During the lift, personnel worked around the clock to perform the pull and to return the facility to normal operational status a week ahead of schedule.”
The lift was conducted in support of SRTE’s Calendar Year 2025 (CY25) Outage requiring the HANM facility to undergo a major equipment recapitalization ensuring Tritium efficiently continues its mission of producing high quality tritium products. The facility is expected to exit the outage and return to normal operations in December 2025.
“Thanks to the unwavering dedication and efforts involved, we were able to successfully lift the hatch — an evolution that has not been done in 23 years,” said SRTE Senior Vice President, National Nuclear Security Administration Tritium Operations and Programs J.C. Epting. “This was a critical step in meeting our milestones set for the CY25 outage. The teams did an amazing job on executing the task safely, securely and ahead of schedule.”
Operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions for the National Nuclear Security Administration, SRTE prepares the nation’s only tritium supply and HANM is critical to this enduring mission.
Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile; works to reduce the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and militarily effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, a Fluor and HII partnership company, is responsible for the management and operations of the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, South Carolina.
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