Eliminating Heat Risks in Nuclear Cleanup: A DOE Contractor’s High-Tech Blueprint

[Marlin]

Eliminating Heat Risks in Nuclear Cleanup: A DOE Contractor's High-Tech Blueprint

https://www.ans.org/news/2026-10-02/article-8457/

[Core Content]

Savannah River Mission Completion deployed wearable physiological monitors for its liquid waste cleanup workforce. The devices track metrics like heart rate and core temperature in real time. Safety personnel used the technology during summer operations to prevent heat illness among workers wearing heavy personal protective equipment.

Traditional heat stress management relied on scheduled breaks and visual observations. The new system replaces these reactive measures with continuous data streams and automated alerts for supervisors. Expanding wearable technology deployment helps nuclear facilities protect personnel from environmental hazards without halting critical operational tasks.

For organizations like the Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), a liquid waste contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina, the summer season poses significant challenges for their workforce. In 2025, safety leaders sought to expand the current...

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), occupational heat stress is prevalent for millions of workers, and every year thousands fall ill from heat exposure, with some cases being fatal. At SRMC, with so many workers donning heavy PPE and performing moderate labor, heat exhaustion is a major concern that safety personnel have been focused on eradicating.

Read the full article at ans.org:
https://www.ans.org/news/2026-10-02/article-8457/