Surplus land within the Savannah River National Lab site will be turned into an energy park. The DOE is exploring the potential of energy parks (PDF) as one option for revitalization of its assets at sites such as SRNL.
The energy park concept has been under discussion for several years as a way to find new missions for the 310-square-mile site.
The SRS Community Reuse Organization, an economic development consortium, has proposed leasing 2,700 acres for a park that would accommodate private ventures in biofuels, nuclear waste processing, energy research, commercial nuclear power and a host of other potential activities.
It seems obvious that the strongest focus will be on nuclear energy. Thomas Sanders, who is heading the project, is the past president of the American Nuclear Society. Most recently he was employed as manager of Sandia’s Small Modular Reactor Initiative, where his responsibilities included development of partnerships, evaluation of reactor designs and development of fuel cycle safety and security.
Just last month SRNL and Hyperion Power Generation announced a partnership to bring a refrigerator-sized modular nuclear reactor to the site and jump-start the development of a future energy park.