1. Continuing A Heritage
A 2009
Progress
Through
Report
On
The
RECOVERY
RECOVERY ACT
SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

2. Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
A Shared Recovery
page one
Voices of Recovery
page two
Outreach for Recovery
page four
Road to Recovery
page six
Focus on Recovery
page eight
Work on Recovery
page ten
TRU and Future Recovery
page twelve
Small Business Benefit
from Recovery Act
page fourteen
Faces of Recovery
page sixteen
On cover: In preparation for deactivation and decommissioning activities
at SRS’ P Reactor, an employee cuts through a shield door. Closing P and R
Reactors, which were formerly used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons
during the Cold War, are accelerated cleanup projects funded by the Recovery Act
that will reduce the Site’s operational footprint by more than 50 percent,
freeing space for future projects.
SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

3. A Shared
RECOVERY
The Savannah River Site (SRS) has served as a major cornerstone of
America’s national defense for nearly six decades. In 2009, another
important mission emerged with the creation of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act and the allocation of $1.6 billion dollars to help create new
jobs and remove Cold War legacy materials from SRS.
While the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) has been negatively
impacted by the recession, the Recovery Act at SRS has offered opportunities
for new jobs and numerous contracts to small businesses in the region.
To date, more than $96 million in local contracts has been awarded through
economic stimulus legislation, with most to local small businesses. Recovery
Act funds are supporting a more than 50 percent reduction in the operational
footprint of the198,344-acre Site located near Aiken, South Carolina.
In 2009, more than 2,200 individuals found viable work at SRS. Environmental
cleanup has been accelerated, with some projects as much as 40 years
ahead of schedule, spurring economic recovery in the CSRA.
As in everything we do, safety is our primary concern and our management
team has redoubled our commitment to strive to be the safest Site in the
DOE Complex. I’m proud to report that our workforce has achieved
significant new milestones in recent months as the Recovery Act Project
has gained momentum.
Garry Flowers
President and Chief Executive Officer
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
On behalf of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) and our parent
companies, I congratulate our workforce on the progress they’ve achieved,
and I’m proud to submit the enclosed progress report.
Garry Flowers
President and Chief Executive Officer
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
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1

4. 2
SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

5. Voices
of
RECOVERY
DR. SUSAN WINSOR
President, Aiken Technical College
DR. CLINT WOLFE
Executive Director, Citizens for Nuclear
Technology Awareness (CNTA)
“The initiative
is a great way
to kick off what
we see as the
nuclear renaissance in the
Southeast. It starts the process
of workers getting the skill sets
that will hopefully get them jobs
in the future.”
“One of the
opportunities,
the Recovery
Act is to provide individuals
with training in
the technical field. Even if those
individuals are not retained, they
will be better trained for another
position in the technical industry.”
JAMES K. HUSSEY, JR.
Regional Representative, East Georgia,
Office of U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss
“I think they are
using the taxpayers’ money
wisely. I think it
is going to pay
off. They have a
mission, recovery, transparency.”
Aiken Standard
April 24, 2009
Aiken Standard
Dec. 29, 2009
Aiken Standard
April 24, 2009
The Augusta Chronicle
April 24, 2009
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3

6. About the Aiken Job Fair, July 7, 2009
“I don’t use adjectives lightly, but it is kind of
magnificent when you look at the total outpouring
in the community.”
Roger W. Eshleman,
executive vice president of operations, SRNS
Aiken Standard, July 8, 2009
Augusta Job Fair, July 20, 2009
About the Columbia Job Fair, June 1, 2009
“The job fair itself seemed to
exceed the expectations of
all involved. Several of the
agencies reported being
shocked at the high volume of
individuals who turned out and
the difficulty of turning away
qualified candidates.”
Aiken Standard, June 2, 2009
Barnwell Job Fair, June 17, 2009
About the Augusta Job Fair, July 20, 2009
“More than 2,500 resume-carrying hopefuls packed
the James Brown Auditorium in Augusta.”
Aiken Standard, July 21, 2009
Augusta Job Fair, July 20, 2009
4

7. Outreach
for
RECOVERY
Barnwell Job Fair, June 17, 2009
The Recovery Act Project’s outreach to the communities surrounding SRS,
areas hit hard by the recession, was not only met, but also was
overwhelmingly received by thousands of South Carolinians and
Georgians looking for jobs during the nation’s economic downturn.
Time and time again during June and July – first in Columbia, then
in Barnwell, Allendale, Aiken and Augusta – job-seekers seized the
opportunity to apply for one of the nearly 2,500 positions on cleanup
projects throughout the Site. In total, more than 13,500 people
participated in the five regional job fairs Savannah River Nuclear
Solutions LLC (SRNS) offered to the community.
“I have a lump in my throat when I see the number of people
looking for jobs at these events,” said Jeffrey Allison, the DOESavannah River manager.
Jeffrey Allison, DOE-SR manager, explains the SRS
Recovery Act Project to attendees at the Columbia
Job Fair.
While the jobs are not permanent, the more than $1.6 billion authorized
by Congress for SRS has helped retain or create more than 2,500 jobs,
providing real relief to those who were unemployed or in danger of being
laid off from their jobs at the Site.
Small-business procurement officials were also at the job fairs to meet with
business representatives and help them apply for the nearly $100 million
awarded thus far to local small businesses.
Augusta Job Fair, July 2, 2009
SAVANNAH RIVER SITE
5

8. From left, Jeffrey Baumgartner, James Makin and David Linder announce the arrival of the Road To Recovery; displaced or under-employed workers took advantage of the
Road To Recovery stop; James Makin helps a Sylvania man with job-hunting resources.
S o u t h C a r o l i n a a n d G e o r g i a R oa d T o R E C O V E R Y s t o p s a n d t h e i r c o u n t i e s ’
August 2009 unemployment rates
Allendale, 21.8 percent; Bamberg, 17.5 percent; Hampton, 15.7 percent;
Ridgeland, 10.4 percent; Saluda, 9.5 percent; Batesburg, 8.2 percent;
Santee, 17.1 percent; Orangeburg, 17.1 percent; St. Matthews, 12.1
percent; Sumter, 13.4 percent; Manning, 15.8 percent; Bishopville,
15.6 percent; Kingstree, 15.5 percent; Summerville, 14.1 percent;
Beaufort, 8.8 percent; Walterboro, 14.1 percent; Georgetown,
12.1
percent;
Florence,
11.5
percent;
Marion,
20.9
percent;
Waynesboro, Ga., 12.3 percent; Millen, Ga., 20.7 percent; Sylvania, Ga.,
14.4 percent; Denmark, 17.5 percent; Springfield, 17.0 percent;
Barnwell, 18.6 percent; Blackville, 18.6 percent; Aiken, 9.4 percent;
Augusta,
Ga., 11.8 percent; North
Charleston, 9.1 percent;
Bamberg, 17.5 percent; Edgefield, 10.7 percent; McCormick, 15.9 percent
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SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

9. Road
to
RECOVERY
Jason Crane provides
one-on-one assistance
at the Sylvania
tour stop.
Opportunity knocked 37 times on doors in mostly rural South
Carolina and Georgia towns that were hit hard by the economic
downturn. The Road To Recovery (RTR) Tour, SRNS’ informationproviding and outreach component of the SRS’ Recovery Act
Project, brought life-changing help to the hometowns of the
region’s unemployed.
The Road To Recovery crew helped more than
120 workers recently laid off from Sylvania Yarn
Systems Inc.
From September through November, the tour, consisting of a van equipped
with computers and job-hunting literature and manned by seven professionals, visited small communities in the counties hardest hit by the recession.
The first of 37 stops was Allendale County, where August unemployment
figures had reached 21.8 percent – the highest in South Carolina. Other
early stops were in Bamberg County (17.5 percent unemployment) and
Hampton County (15.7 percent unemployment). The tour ended in
McCormick County, where unemployment was 16.1 percent.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ investment in local communities made
a tremendous impact on the personal level. The tour traveled 6,100
miles and helped 1,406 people develop their resumes and become
familiar with job-posting web sites on the Internet. Tour personnel found that
many of the unemployed workers had a long history at their last position.
That meant they had to learn new computer-based skills to adapt to an
electronic job-hunting environment.
For many, the new knowledge they acquired from the tour revealed available
jobs fitting their qualifications within driving distance of their homes.
Participants also met with South Carolina and Georgia Workforce Investment
Act representatives, who helped attendees apply for educational, professional
training and other benefits they might qualify for but were not aware of. The
tour partnered with state-run One Stop Centers to aid their clients in taking
advantage of additional job-hunting resources.
DeMetrice Allen helps a woman in Sylvania prepare
for her job search.
Perhaps the tour’s biggest impact was in Sylvania, Ga., where Sylvania Yarn
Systems Inc., a major employer, had just announced that it would be closing
its doors after 50 years. The timing of the devastating news coincided with
the already-scheduled Oct. 28 tour stop. Road To Recovery workers were able
to assist more than 120 people in formulating a path toward a new career.
John Elliott listens to a Road To
Recovery tour attendee.
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7

10. Recover y of Historic Proportions
Built in the early 1950s, SRS played an important role in America’s nuclear
defense. The scientists, engineers and workers of the massive 310-squaremile government complex were vital in staving off the Soviet Union’s
progress during the nuclear arms race of the Cold War. The Recovery Act
has fueled a second race, this time toward the completion of massive
cleanup projects inside a short 45-month time frame that ends in
December 2012.
Recovery Act Portfolio Vice President Rich Slocum
(right) talks with a DOE employee in R Area.
8
Recovery Act initiatives at the Site, which covers a landmass that is roughly
the size of New York City, will eliminate legacy wastes and old nuclear
production facilities to free more than 50 percent of the operational footprint
for new missions. Thus, the Recover y Act will reduce the Site’s
environmental legacy footprint by 207 square miles…more
than three times the area of Washington, D.C.
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11. Focus
on
RECOVERY
Recover y on a Massive Scale
Foresight helped to bring a tremendous influx of funds to SRS to resolve
environmental issues on a massive scale. Because the Site had shovelready projects ready to implement when Congress authorized the $787
billion economic stimulus, American taxpayers and the CSRA are now
reaping the benefits. More jobs, new small-businesses contracts and key
cleanup projects are now underway as much as four decades ahead of
schedule.
Assuring that the work is performed safely and expertly is the job of
the Site’s major contractors and the team of professionals of the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Savannah River (DOE-SR) Operations Office.
The work to be completed before the December 2012 deadline offers
some statistics of amazing scale:
The Big Top shelters inspections of TRU shipments
from inclement weather.
Facts provided by
5,000 cubic meters of transuranic
waste disposed or staged for shipment
– the equivalent of 440 dump truck loads
69 waste units r emediated – an area that
is the size of 630 football fields set end to
end, or 43 miles
Jeffrey Allison,
DOE-SR manager
Per manent closure of two plutonium
production reactors and the Heavy Water
Components Te s t Re a c t o r ( H WC T R ) –
requiring enough cement to fill four Home
Depot stores to the ceiling
Drillers from Boart Longyear
use a rotosonic drill rig to
extract a soil core at
the M-Area Chemical
Oxidation Project.
Employees pour crush and run at the Heavy Water Components
Test Reactor, known as “Hector.”
SAVANNAH RIVER SITE
9

12. For more than half a century, P and R Reactors served as cornerstones of
SRS’ role in the nation’s defense. These relics now stand at attention, ready
for deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) in a precedent-setting end state
fitting for two structures that led the nation to a Cold War victory.
Known as the safest reactor in the world, P Reactor boasted a record
of never having a lost-time injury from the time it reached criticality in
February 1954 until it was shut down in 1988. R Reactor, the first fully
functioning reactor at the Site, became operational in December 1953.
It was shut down in 1964 when it was no longer needed for national defense.
Recovery Act funds are being used to D&D P and R Reactors and to perform
area soil and groundwater remediation. Slated for in situ decommissioning,
the reactor buildings will be sealed and left intact, as they are expected to
remain in their present state for 1,400 years. The underground areas will be
grouted in place with an estimated 260,000 cubic yards of concrete grout.
Recovery funds have also made possible the closure of the Heavy Water
Components Test Reactor (HWCTR), an aging structure that has been an
icon for more than 50 years. Known as “Hector” to SRS employees, it began
as a test reactor in 1959 for experimental fuel assemblies for commercial
heavy-water power reactors. It was active until 1964, when the government
pursued other reactor designs for commercial electrical power generation.
In 1965, fuel assemblies were removed; systems that contained heavy
water were drained; fluid piping systems were drained; de-energized and
disconnected; and the spent fuel basin was drained and dried. The doors
of the reactor were shut for 30 years, until decommissioning plans were
considered and ultimately postponed due to budget constraints.
Heavy Water Components Test Reactor
(HWCTR)
The Recovery Act Project will consist of removing the reactor vessel and
steam generators, demolishing the 75-foot dome, grouting the remaining
structure in place and installing a concrete cover over the reactor’s footprint
by 2011.
Heavy water draining in support of final closure of
both P and R Reactors
Grouting preparations in R Area
10
,

13. Work
on
RECOVERY
Under the Recovery Act, SRNS will be accelerating the off-site disposal of
legacy waste including transuranic waste, plutonium-uranium extraction
solvent (PUREX), tritiated oil containing mercury, depleted uranium and
lead recycling. This multifaceted program is explained below.
Transuranic (TRU) Waste: The TRU program is actively excavating,
characterizing, remediating and shipping for final disposition its inventory
of legacy waste dating to the beginning of Site operations in the early 1950s.
The Recovery Act has aided this program in shipping the waste off-site for
disposal or having the waste ready for shipment by September 2012 – a full
six years ahead of schedule.
PUREX: This solvent was used to separate uranium and plutonium from
Closure Project and Waste Management
Director Jyh-Dong Chiou discusses plans with
Garry Flowers, president and CEO of SRNS;
Adam Bourgoin, Flowers’ staff coordinator;
and Dennis Carr, deputy project director of the
Recovery Act Portfolio.
fission products during the operation of the Site’s F and H Canyons. The
resulting waste was containerized and stored at the Site in its original liquid
state. In late 2007, SRS began transporting the waste to an off-site facility,
where it was stabilized and prepared for permanent disposition and then sent
back to the Site. Recovery Act funding made it possible to ship the PUREX
waste to an off-site facility, where it was placed in a mixed-waste disposal
cell and buried permanently.
Tritium- and Mercur y-Contaminated Oil: The Recovery Act has
allowed off-site shipping of tritium- and mercury-contaminated oil, a project
originally scheduled for 2053. The mixed waste had been slated to decay
for 10-50 years, and then be shipped off-site. Now, the legacy oil is shipped
in 55-gallon drums to an off-site facility. The associated contaminated
equipment is shipped to another off-site facility for treatment and
repackaging before final disposition.
Depleted Uranium Oxide (DUO): The nuclear weapons program at
SRS left the Site with a large inventory of DUO: 35,800 drums packaged in
55-gallon drums, including several thousand overpacked in 85-gallon drums.
Since 2003, nearly 20,000 of these drums of low-level waste have been
dispositioned. The remaining 15,606 drums are awaiting disposal through
Recovery Act funding. Shipments by rail and truck are planned to be
completed by late spring 2010.
Lead Recycling: Recovery Act funds were used to ship a total of
205,000 pounds of nuclear lead, the equivalent weight of a space shuttle,
to an off-site processing facility for commercial recycling. The Site uses
lead to shield workers from radiation exposure in high-radiation areas.
This project is more than process waste reduction; the material is reused,
thus reducing the high cost associated with waste disposal while also
ensuring that the most environmentally friendly
option is exercised. In addition, lead recycling
is safer because it cuts out the higher-risk
activities of handing and repackaging. The
latest shipment in November consisted of
51,600 pounds of lead and saved
approximately $175,000.
SRS legacy PUREX waste left the Site on Sept. 10, destined for the Nevada Test
Site. In all, 21 shipments were made to the burial site, marking a tremendous
milestone in waste reduction in SRS’ N Area.
SAVANNAH RIVER SITE
11

14. Legacy Waste Leaving SRS Earlier Than
Planned with Recover y Act Funding
With the TRU program in full swing at SRS, legacy waste is living up to
its name and becoming a thing of the past.
The Recovery Act is making possible an accelerated program for SRNS
to ship all of the Site’s stored TRU waste off-site by the end of December
2012 – a full six years ahead of schedule.
Transuranic waste comprises mainly job-control items such as gloves,
clothing, rags, residues, debris and tools that are contaminated with trace
amounts of plutonium. The waste had been generated since the beginning
of Site operations in the 1950s.
The SRNS TRU waste program under Solid Waste Management (SWM)
consists of the excavation of inventory buried under dirt mounds, characterization of the drums, and remediation of those that X-ray technology has
determined contain items preventing them from being shipped and disposed
of off-site.
Culverts containing drums of TRU waste are
unearthed.
The Site began shipping its TRU waste inventory in 2001. Since that time,
more than 1,000 shipments – involving 28,760 drums – have left the Site.
Since the Site began operations, more than 50,000 drums and 3,000 nondrum containers of TRU waste have accumulated across the Site, including
those buried on concrete pads. All but 1,000 of these drums have been
retrieved. Excavation is underway to retrieve the remaining 1,000 drums,
which are contained in concrete culverts 7 feet tall by 7 feet wide. Each of
the culverts may hold up to 14 55-gallon drums or 24 30-gallon drums.
To aid the shipping process, Solid Waste Management has constructed a
huge vinyl tent with a metal frame measuring 160 feet long, 24 feet wide
and 20 feet high to use in the Site’s E Area to shelter trucks awaiting
inspection before they carry the TRU waste off-site. The Big Top, which
is a brand name for the structure, keeps the truck, containers of TRU
waste, and drivers and inspectors dry during inclement weather.
The result is a quicker, more efficient inspection and, in the long run,
a timely delivery.
Recovery Act employees extract drums from the
concrete culverts.
The Recovery Act made 100 TRU shipments possible.
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SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

15. TRU
and
Future
RECOVERY
Look i n g A hea d to 2 0 1 0
• Shipment and disposal of low l e v e l , m i x e d a n d T R U w a s t e ;
legacy waste disposal
• In situ decommissioning of
R Reactor
• R Area completion, including
remediation of 16 waste units
Core sampling is part of the extensive R-Area
completion project.
• P - A r e a D i s a s s e m b l y B a s i n
Evaporator operation
• In situ decommissioning of
P R e a c t o r
• P A r e a c o m p l e t i o n , i n c l u d i n g
r e m e d i a t i o n o f 1 7 w a s t e u n i t s
and 3 miles of underground
process sewer lines
Ten dump trucks have been leased to haul fill dirt
to P and R Areas to support closure activities.
• HWCTR decommissioning
• S m a l l A r m s Tr a i n i n g A r e a ( S ATA )
a n d A d v a n c e d Te ch n i c a l Tr a i n i n g
A r e a ( A T T A ) c o n s o l i d a t i o n a n d
S ATA r e m e d i at i o n
Small Arms Training Area (SATA) and Advanced
Technical Training Area (ATTA)
,
Recovery Act employees perform remediation work for the P-Area Cask Car Railroad
Project.
13

16. Nearly 600 people attended the
Small-Business Forum for pointers on
how to qualify for a Recovery Act contract.
The Recover y Act is far-reaching, providing economic relief to area businesses as
well as the people who call the CSRA home. Individually owned small businesses are the backbone of
the community, offering jobs, paychecks and a rewarding way of life to business owners and employees
and an array of unique services and products to the community.
A majority of the $96 million in Recovery Act contracts awarded to businesses has been to local small
businesses from a cross section of American life, with owners representing minorities, women, servicedisabled veterans and veterans.
In order to foster these relationships, SRNS in November hosted a small-business forum in downtown
Augusta. Nearly 600 small-business owners and representatives gathered, enthusiastic and hopeful, to
get pointers on how to qualify for a contract with the Recovery Act Project at SRS. The forum’s success
was largely due to the innovative opportunity it gave small-business representatives to meet face-toface with procurement specialists from the Site. These “matchmaking” sessions, each 10 minutes long,
offered businesses a chance to present their companies to Recovery Act Project procurement buyers
and obtain the information they needed to qualify for a Recovery Act contract.
Speakers, including Dr. Vince Adams, DOE-Savannah River Recovery Act Portfolio manager;
Garry Flowers, SRNS president and CEO; Jim French, president and project manager of Savannah
River Remediation LLC; and Ralph Holland, assistant director of Environmental Management
Consolidated Business Center, Office of Contracting, DOE, told the attendees that their success at SRS
would hinge on three things: 1. Safety as a top priority. 2. Funding based on performance. 3. Hiring
local talent and establishing an office in a nearby county.
SRS is meeting or exceeding all goals to engage minority-owned and
small, disadvantaged businesses.
Performance
Contracts Let
Dollars Committed Goals
Percent Achieved
Total Recovery Act Contracts
Competitive Profile
2,020
1,289
$206,243,628
$185,863,974
79%
0.0%
90.1%
Small Business
Certified Small,
Disadvantaged Business
1,629
$151,787,744
50%
73.6%
668
$70,334,468
13%
34.1%
Small, Woman-Owned
Business
881
$72,728,470
11.4%
35.3%
Small, Minority-Owned
Business 8(a) Set-Aside
206
$19,131,273
5%
9.3%
Small Business in Historically
Underutilized Communities (HUBZone)
197
$5,380,407
3.1%
4.5%
1,118
51
$96,269,343
$2,240,480
25%
1.3%
46.7%
1.1%
107
$14,441,833
1.3%
7.0%
Local Area
Service Disabled Veteran-Owned
Veteran-Owned
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SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

17. Small
Business
Peters Machine and
Welding
Beech Island, S.C.
Benefit
from
RECOVERY
Act
Last year was a bad year for Larry and Kevin Peters of Peters Machine
and Welding in Beech Island, S.C. They had to borrow money to stay afloat
and were hoping that someone or some company would need their particular
machining abilities soon. Toward the end of the year, business was picking
up, and then a tornado hit the shop and removed 90 percent of the shingles
and ripped the façade from the building, tossing bricks deep inside of the
shop.
As the Recovery Act reached SRS in April 2009, the work orders came
rolling in. SRS has found a need for the Peters brothers’ tools, which are
essentially extension rods with gripping capabilities, adaptable to a variety
of tasks. Gerald L. Peters, Larry and Kevin’s
father, designed and patented the first of
these “grippers” and started the company.
The Recovery Act funding saved one small
local business and two jobs – the Peters
brothers not only own the business,
but they are also its only two employees.
Larry and Kevin Peters thank the Recovery Act for
helping preserve their business.
The Site adapts extension rods with gripping
capabilities to a variety of tasks.
Carolina Fresh Far ms
Neeses, S.C.
What started as a side business in the early 1990s to help a sodding
company through the cold months of winter is, almost 20 years later,
helping it weather the lean months of the recession.
The 3,000-acre Carolina Fresh Farms is headquartered in Neeses, S.C.,
and was awarded a Recovery Act Project contract by SRNS to supply 20
8- by 24-foot-long enclosed cargo trailers. Carolina Fresh Farms is also
providing sprayable erosion-control materials at the P-Area Reactor
Seepage Basins.
Owner John Fogle, who started the business in 1954 selling coastal hay
and farming row crops at his 50-acre farm in Orangeburg County, found
that providing trailers could help offset a decrease in revenue during the
cold months when home landscaping companies and commercial
businesses were not buying or laying sod.
Richard Moore has supplied additional trailers to the
Site’s Portable Equipment Commodity Management
Center.
“When the Recovery Act money started to be awarded, the Site needed
more trailers,” said Richard Moore, the company’s commercial sales
manager. That’s when Fogle jumped on the opportunity.
The trailers will be used for the Site’s Portable Equipment Commodity
Management Center (PECMC) to house tools, protective equipment,
flashlights, bottled water, earplugs, hardhats, gloves and other materials
at locations undergoing cleanup that are part of the SRS Area Closure
Project (ACP).
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15

18. The essence of the Recover y Act at SRS – putting Americans back to
work on impor tant cleanup projects – is evident in the faces and voices of
the people who received jobs. Each one of these people has a story that is unique,
but at the same time bound by a common thread: a strong desire to work, stymied
by the lack of a job.
Many of the Recovery Act workers live in rural communities in South Carolina and
Georgia, where unemployment reached 23 percent at the start of the Recovery Act
and closing manufacturing plants dimmed all prospects for hometown employment.
For the tight-knit residents of small towns, leaving an extended family, a family home,
a way of life and a heritage that they helped to create was something they could not do.
The Recovery Act came just in time to preserve this lifestyle – so rich in commitment
– for those in the communities surrounding SRS. The nearly 2,500 new or retained
jobs at SRS have offered real relief to families, saved family homes, retained college
funds and allowed this hardy group to do what they do best: work and provide.
Kera Woods
Aiken, S.C.
Superfund Job Training Initiative graduate
Kera Woods is a participant of an innovative program showcased at SRS.
The Superfund Job Training Initiative (Super JTI) at SRS is the only one in
the DOE Complex. It was initiated by the Environmental Protection Agency
to provide disadvantaged adults with the job skills necessary to work at a
Superfund location. These locations are typically abandoned hazardous
waste sites or sites in need of specialized remediation.
Candidates recruited for the program are residents of economically depressed
rural areas neighboring the Site. These communities currently suffer from
the nation’s highest unemployment rates. Many recruits were additionally
challenged by a lack of role models engaged in technical or professional fields.
“The Super JTI program gave us a lot of great advice and skills that I am putting
to use,” Woods said.
She sees the opportunity the Super JTI program gave her and the job she
subsequently earned as one of the biggest opportunities in the CSRA. “The
door was open; the group had to take it seriously,” she said. “The advancement
opportunities out here are incredible. As long as I do my job, there is no excuse
why I can’t make advancements.”
James Hall
North Augusta, S.C.
P Reactor decommissioning
“If it weren’t for the stimulus plan, I would be forced to take jobs across the
country,” said James Hall, who is working to decommission P Reactor. Hall,
a sheet metal worker, had been unemployed for four months before his union
told him about the Recovery Act position at SRS.
Hall was accustomed to working on jobs across the country for extended
periods of time in order to support his family. “The money being invested at
SRS affords me an opportunity to be with my family and provide them with
benefits.
“The stimulus plan is a win-win for the Site and its workers. The Site gets to
accelerate the necessary closure of Cold War facilities, while preparing for
future missions, and I get to earn a paycheck for my skills and expertise.
“I am excited that I’ve been given an opportunity to be a part of history.”
16

19. Faces
of
RECOVERY
Sandra Holman
Blackville, S.C.
pipefitter
“I was out of work for almost a year, and during that time participated in the training my
union offered me, such as hazardous materials and hazardous waste operations and
emergency response training, but I was mainly hoping and waiting for them to call with
a job for me,” she said.
“As a child I enjoyed helping my father, who was a jack-of-all-trades. I thought, ‘I enjoyed
helping him with this, and I was pretty good at it, so why not?’” Holman was able to use
her skills to land a Recovery Act job.
Bobby Jones
Islandton, S.C.
deactivation and decommissioning, P Area
The Recovery Act came just in time for Bobby Jones, who was facing a layoff
at SRS, where he worked for 27 years. He figured he would have to travel
away from his family and Hampton County home to make a living.
“I would have had to likely travel hundreds of miles away to find construction
work,” he said. Other jobs before he came to SRS have taken him to
Tennessee, North Carolina and all over South Carolina for six- to eightmonth stretches of time. Thanks to the Recovery Act, the Islandton resident
was able to stay put and work on the deactivation and decommissioning
effort in P Area, part of the Recovery Act plan to reduce the Site’s
operational footprint by more than 50 percent by the close of the project
in September 2011.
Bill Blake
Augusta, Ga.
Area Completion Projects and Solid Waste Management
Despite two master’s degrees, a long military career and a job with a global corporation,
the recession found Bill Blake of Augusta. The Recovery Act helped rescue him from
unemployment, and he’s thankful.
“Recession affects everyone; it knows no boundaries,” said Blake. “From the richest of
the rich to the poorest of the poor, recession hits everyone where it hurts – right in the
pocket.”
Blake now supports the ACP and SWM teams at SRS.In this position, he is responsible
for filling staffing requirements and providing and managing resources, from office
supplies to vehicles to specialized equipment for onsite projects. His contract is for two
and a half years, but is renewable each year. After his contract is complete, Blake
would like to become a permanent employee at SRS.
Mildred Stallingss
Barnwell, S.C.
a s b e s t o s r e m ove r, P Re a c t o r
Mildred Stallings is proud of her work in asbestos removal; she feels it is
challenging and rewarding because she knows she’s making SRS safer for
future generations. As a mother of three sons, ages 25, 21 and 9, she is
conscious of how her work now will affect their futures.
“I’ve lived in Barnwell for the past 35 years. My older sons have their own
careers and their own lives. I’m very proud of them. My youngest son is
going to grow up in the same area, and I want him to be safe. I feel that I’m
helping to keep him safe by removing this potentially hazardous material,”
Starlings said. “The goal for SRS is to have everyone leave here in the
same condition in which they arrived, and there are procedures in place
to make sure that happens.”
17

20. Savannah River Site
Aiken, SC 29808
Recovery at Work – Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
Employment
Contracts
the Recovery Act has retained 798 jobs
and created 1,414 new jobs at SRS
(through Dec. 24).
Approximate total value of Savannah
River Nuclear Solutions contracts placed
to support the Recovery Act. 77 percent
of this amount has been awarded to small
businesses (through Dec. 31).
2,212 Jobs. Thus far,
Local
$266,429,784 $115,100,184
Approximate total value of Recovery Act
contracts Savannah River Nuclear
Solutions awarded to local businesses.
48 percent of this amount has been
awarded to local small businesses
(through Dec. 31).
SAVANNAH RIVER SITE