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.