This collection contains photographs, glass plate negatives, lantern slides, negatives, transparencies and 16mm films that document the construction and development of the Savannah River Plant complex between 1951 and 1982, with a bulk of the materials created between 1951 and 1972.

The collection is organized into seven series: Construction and progress; Technical photographs; Project photographs; Voorhees Walker Foley & Smith architectural renderings; Speeches and presentation lantern slides; Transparencies; and Films.

The Construction and progress series consist of exterior construction views, mostly long-shots, with a few mid-range and close-up views. Some images include workers and equipment. The images document construction and work progress in the 100 area, Par Pond, 241-F tanks, and the Heavy Water Components Test Reactor. There are also a set of images of sprengel pumps being assembled (1958) and another set of images of different sprengel pumps being installed in a pond (1962). There are four aerial views of the surrounding area taken from a very high distance. Materials in this series date from 1951 to 1962, and are arranged chronologically.

The Technical photographs series are comprised of two different types of images, photographs of models or close-ups of machinery. The images of models are all of the Heavy Water Component Test Reactor (HWCTR). There are images of HWCTR surface cracks, a diagram of the structure, and close-ups of parts. Photographs of machinery from 100, 200, 300, and 700 areas includes a decanning machine, dissolver charger, precision camera, automatic radio-graphic fixture, pin spreader, underwater cut-off saw, component tilting fixture, junior cave manipulator, and composite billet welding machine, among others. There are also images of H-1 furnace coils, a railroad car framework for birdcages, and two men operating a machine.

The Project photographs series is made up of photographs that document construction of specific projects, the materials are separate from the Construction and progress series to reflect the filing methods of the Savannah River Plant. There are images of the Central Control Room panels in building 774-U of the HWCTR and a series of exterior construction views of 200 F and 200 H areas. There are a set of images of a model for building 221F and then another set of images of instruments, panels, and other machinery in building 221F. Additionally there are a few images of powerlines related to building 241 H.

The Voorhees Walker Foley & Smith architectural renderings series are glass plate negatives which contain architectural renderings for various buildings at the Savannah River Plant. These images are mostly exteriors, with a few interior designs. The numbers of the original envelopes have been retained. Envelopes 24, 25 and 26 were labeled "color studies" but were empty. Envelopes 1, 2, 5, 11, 33, and 34 were not included.

The Speeches and presentation lantern slides series are sets of images related to a cost reduction speech which was given bi-annually by the construction division between 1954 and 1958. There were different versions of the speech which highlighted various topics such as the company organization or employee wage and safety, but the majority of the presentations were fairly similar. Many of the sets are incomplete, and there are spare slides for some presentations. Most of the slides for the cost reduction speech are numbered and these numbers have been maintained. The Mason project managers meeting slides are perhaps a presentation given by Robert K. Mason, who was the Savannah River Plants field project manager. Additionally, there are a large amount of slides labeled “FPM meeting”, which presumably stands for “field project managers” meeting. These slides were not numbered and the original order of the slides has been lost, this set of slides has been arranged alphabetically for convenience but this does not reflect the order (nor a presumption of order) used for the presentation. The images on the slides are mainly of charts or graphics, especially in the earlier years. Some of the later slide presentations include photographic images, and the “FPM meeting” slides is almost entirely photographic images. There is one typescript copy of the speech itself which was given in July of 1956.

The Transparencies series includes two sets of transparencies. One set is a presentation about the selection for an architect/engineer for bedrock waste storage. The slides go over proposals from various firms and the criteria for selection. There are also some typescript pages which include some more details about proposals from various firms. The second set of transparencies are close-up images of tank surface specimens. There are photographic prints of most of the transparency images.

The Films series dates from 1952 to the 1980s and mainly consists of films about the construction and operation of the Savannah River Plant. There are several complete films about the plant, such as “The Atomic Energy Commission’s Story of the Savannah River Plant”, the “Savannah River Laboratory” and “Builders of Tomorrow”, all of which include reels of outtakes as well. There are several safety films about proper equipment and procedures, fire safety and reducing exposure to radiation. Also contained in the collection are DuPont Company films on management training and an explanation of the company’s pension plan. Many of the films were produced by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Two sets of films, “Power for Progress Unlimited” and “Savannah River Story” contain several cans of film each (and shot lists) but no complete film for either is in the collection. Some of the films have accompanying shot or scene lists. Also included are “Galileo: A Mission to Jupiter”, an animation about a space mission to Jupiter and “Miracle in Paradise Valley” a narrative about farm safety campaigns. Of note are films documenting the large area where the plant was built, near Augusta, Georgia and Aiken, South Carolina. These include shots of people, churches, schools and residences around the area of the plant. Many of the films in this collection have multiple splices. See individual titles for more information. This series was arranged alphabetically.