The Savannah River Site’s K Area Complex nuclear material management facility recently saw the arrival of an important piece of a new and larger Entry
Control Facility.

Major infrastructure work and upgrades are ongoing to support existing and expanded
plutonium downblending operations as K Area prepares for the installation of three new Surplus
Plutonium Disposition project gloveboxes and the additional personnel who will operate them.
One part of these upgrades includes a new Entry Control Facility into a part of the larger K Area
Complex facility known as the Material Access Area, which contains existing material storage
and the facility’s current downblending glovebox. This area will also house the new gloveboxes
installed as part of the larger Surplus Plutonium Disposition (SPD) project to accelerate removal
of plutonium from the State of South Carolina.

Currently, personnel have to process through a much smaller, single-lane entry facility. The new
facility will have four lanes that consist of Enterprise Standard Booths, which are constructed
using glass panels and are used across the DOE Complex. The Entry Control Facility will
include Special Nuclear Material monitors, the recently acquired Security Inspectors Operations
Area and a corridor to the existing Material Access Area boundary.

“Entering and exiting through controlled entry is necessary for safety and security, but it is
cumbersome and takes some time,” said Leeanna Biery of K Area Complex Program and
Project Integration. “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 K Area Interim Surveillance glovebox as well as the new glovebox rooms to be
installed.”

The Security Inspector’s Operation Area will be used for remote inspection of employees and
entry control operations by physical protection department security personnel.

“The delivery and installation of this vital piece is the first visible sign to operations and security
personnel that this area is being transformed into the new Entry Control Facility,” Biery said.  
After a new boundary is established to the Material Access Area, and through the end of SPD
construction, the new Material Access Area Entry Control Facility is estimated to process double
the personnel currently entering the boundary. Once SPD moves from the construction to pre-
operational phase, security access through is estimated to more than triple the number of
personnel entering today. “This demonstrates how critical the new Entry Control Facility is to
streamlining access for SPD construction personnel, while supporting existing and continued
operations inside of the Material Access Area,” said Biery.

The new Material Access Area Entry Control Facility is scheduled to be operational early summer of 2024.