April 23, 2009

Aiken, SC – The Department of Energy announced today that the first 50 employees hired with the Savannah River Site’s Recovery Act funding began work this week. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, SRS will continue to add staff over the coming months to accelerate the decommissioning of facilities and cleanup of contaminated areas throughout the Site.

The new arrivals have completed General Employee Training and medical examinations and are reporting to their jobs sites. These 50 union employees include carpenters, electricians and iron workers, who will be working at locations across SRS. Work will include removing asbestos from the former administrative building 703-A ahead of demolition, and beginning reactor deactivation activities in R-Area.

Workers involved in the removal of asbestos from SRS buildings will receive special training prior to starting to ensure they are appropriately trained and protected against the hazards posed by asbestos removal.

SRS estimates that up to 3,000 jobs will be created or retained at the Site during the 30-month project.