The Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) site is located at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in New York State. SPRU is an inactive pilot plant that was used to research and develop chemical processes to separate plutonium from other radioactive material. As a result of operations, contamination occurred at two buildings and interconnecting pipe tunnels, as well as approximately 30 acres of land where waste containers were managed.

Cleanup activities at SPRU to date have resulted in removal of the nuclear facilities (including the sub-grade building foundations and tank vaults), remediation of land areas, shipment of the resulting waste to the appropriate off-site disposal facilities, and transfer of the areas back to the Office of Naval Reactors. All site physical work finished in summer 2019. A storage facility containing 24 containers of TRU waste remains at the site. This waste was generated from removal of sediments in building sumps and some of the SPRU processing equipment.

News Releases

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DOE Successfully Transfers the Former SPRU Site to the Office of Naval Reactors, Achieving EM 2020 Priority
DOE officials approved the transfer of the former Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) areas to the Office of Naval Reactors (NR) on Dec. 16, capping a successful remediation and completing an EM 2020 priority.
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SPRU Marks Major Milestone With Completion of Field Work, Site Restoration - August 2019
EM recently completed deactivation, decontamination, demolition, and site restoration at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) nuclear facilities at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.
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SPRU Project Update - January 2019
The SPRU process buildings have been removed and backfilling of the excavations is nearly completed. Regrading and seeding of the SPRU areas are expected to be completed by the summer of 2019.
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Project Update - June 2018
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has completed the last phase of building demolition at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU), located at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.
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SPRU Nears Completion of Building Demolition
Workers have begun the last phase of building demolition at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU).
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Demolition Alters SPRU Skyline
EM's demolition of above-ground portions of Building G2 at the Separations Process Research Unit was completed on Nov. 18, a milestone in the ongoing cleanup at the former research site.
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EM Begins Demolition of Building G2 at Separations Process Research Unit
EM’s cleanup contractor at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) nuclear facility completed preparations allowing for the open-air demolition of Building G2, which has begun.
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EM Celebrates Milestone with Removal of Last Waste Tank at Separations Process Research Unit
EM recently marked a notable milestone at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) when workers removed the last of seven large waste storage tanks from a vault and shipped it to an offsite low-level radioactive waste disposal facility.
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Research Unit (SPRU) Disposition Project Removes High-Risk Radioactive Waste, Reaches Safety Milestone
The Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) Disposition Project completed a significant waste-treatment campaign today that involved the solidification of approximately 9,700 gallons of contaminated sludge, and 14 shipments of the waste off-site for perm
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EM Marks Milestone At Separations Process Research Unit
The Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) is an inactive facility located at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) in Niskayuna, New York.
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On March 31, 2009 Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $6 billion in new funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate environmental cleanup work and create thousands of jobs across 12 states. Projects identified for funding will focus on accelerating cleanup of soil and groundwater, transportation and disposal of waste, and cleaning and demolishing former weapons complex facilities.

Please visit the following web sites for additional information on the Office of Environmental Management's projects and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: /recovery-act

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