The WORC grant was established to strengthen the local workforce pool needed to support Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) missions, particularly in the Savannah River Site (SRS) region.  WORC builds on the DOE-EM funded Advancing Nuclear Skills Regionally (ANSR) Program that established new nuclear training certificate and degree programs in the Savannah River Site region from 2011 – 2016.  The WORC Program includes student scholarships, student retention strategies, student outreach and promotion of relevant education and training programs, including those developed through ANSR.

WORC I academic partners in South Carolina are Aiken Technical College, University of South Carolina Aiken and University of South Carolina Salkehatchie.  WORC I academic partners in Georgia are Augusta Technical College and Augusta University.  The SRS Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO) serves as the fiscal agent and provides coordination of regional efforts for the WORC Program.

The WORC I grant was awarded during May 2016 and was funded at $1M per year through May 2021 (5 years).  In May 2021, WORC I was renewed for another 5 year period through May 2026.  WORC I funds are used to support students training for:

• Industrial, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Welding and Computer Technology
• Radiation Protection Technology (RPT) & Nuclear Engineering Technology (NET)
• Process Engineering & Computer Science
• Environmental Remediation & Restoration Research
• Chemistry & Physics with a concentration in Nuclear Science

Citizens of the SRSCRO region received a significant boost in workforce development funding on August 10, 2020 when a formal award for $5M was made to the SRSCRO by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).  The new grant program is called WORC II and supports NNSA workforce development related to the proposed plutonium pit mission, the long-standing tritium mission, and the surplus plutonium disposition mission at SRS.  WORC II academic partners include Aiken Technical College, Augusta Technical College, University of South Carolina Aiken, Augusta University, University of South Carolina Salkehatchie and Claflin University.

The new WORC II Program does not replace the successful $5M WORC I Program already in place.  In fact, WORC I and WORC II Programs are designed to coexist with complementary features between the two.  Both programs are administered by the SRSCRO and are helping local citizens develop skills needed for local jobs.

In March 2010, the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO) and its five post-secondary education partners, in the Georgia/South Carolina region surrounding SRS, began development of a new education and training concept.  The program, named Advancing Nuclear Skills Regionally (ANSR), was designed to support long-term nuclear workforce needs in the region.  Each member of the consortium determined program plans for ANSR based on their areas of expertise and local nuclear workforce needs as defined by the 2009 SRSCRO Nuclear Workforce Survey Report.  Collaboratively, the educational institutions worked with the SRSCRO to assure that new training programs were coordinated to complement broader local workforce needs and to avoid duplication in the region.  The programs were also intended to complement the local Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Programs (NUCP).

The ANSR concept was proposed by the SRSCRO consortium and accepted by the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM). Beginning in March 2011 and ending in May 2016, the consortium was awarded a total of $4.8 million by DOE-EM to develop and begin implementation of the ANSR programs.  College and university partners invested an additional $4.6 million in the programs over the five-year period in the form of facility development, salaries and in-kind contributions to the program.  The ANSR programs have continued under a follow-on program called Workforce Opportunities in Regional Careers (WORC).

In 2018,  the Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management provided $100,000 to design and fabricate a permanent exhibit to tell the story of the Savannah River Plant’s beginnings in the Central Savannah River Area, and to establish an Ellenton Interpretive Trail at the Savannah River Site. The Savannah River Archaeological Research Program and the SRS Cold War Historic Preservation Program were instrumental in researching and preserving the history of the individuals and families relocated in the 1950s in order to build the complex, and developing content for the museum exhibit and trail signs.  The SRSCRO acted as fiscal agent for the grant.

These exhibits commemorate the Site’s significant role in the history of South Carolina and the region, and its legacy of the United States Cold War weapons production complex and space exploration.  The SRS Museum is located at 224 Laurens Street SW, Aiken, South Carolina.