The Engineering Department records are divided into eight subseries which all document the design and construction of the Savannah River Project (SRP). Subseries A contains Atomic Energy Division (AED) letters (1956-1968) which include memoranda and correspondence on project design, process section, and construction personnel working on the design and construction of the reactors. Much of this material documents work on the separations area (200 area buildings). In addition, there are minutes of project design status meetings, engineering designs and drawings, and correspondence relating to the 1950 site survey and early reactor studies. Additional topics in subseries A include safety, security, personnel issues, and waste disposal projects.

Subseries B contains administrative files that document design and procurement procedures, records management policies, and guidelines for the use of subcontractors. Also included are SRP weekly activity reports and monthly progress reports (1956-1962) and reports of the Field Design Group (1957-1962). Correspondence in this subseries addresses reactor fabrication and operations, instrumentation, and safety. There are also letters concerning operations at Hanford and Oak Ridge. Files labeled "political correspondence" largely consist of requests for employment forwarded from members of the South Carolina Congressional delegation.

Subseries C contains congressional investigation and labor relations records which document the 1951 hearings before the House Appropriations Committee and the Joint House and Senate Committee on Atomic Energy. These hearings, which investigated issues of personnel administration and radioactive waste disposal, were convened when Representative W. M. Wheeler of South Carolina charged that the DuPont Company had a corrupt relationship with "labor union racketeers," which inflated the costs of the SRP. Congress and the General Accounting Office investigated these charges, which were found to lack merit.

Subseries D contains DPE Reports (1957-1978), the serially numbered reports generated by the DuPont Company's Engineering Department describing work at SRP. These reports document the design of the power component reactor, the heavy-water test reactors, metallurgical research and development, and various problems associated with environmental protection and radioactive waste disposal.

Subseries E contains site reports which document the process of site selection. Included are records generated by the Army Corps of Engineers during the 1950-1952 investigations of the Savannah River site. These materials analyzed soil foundations, water flow, erosion problems, and road construction. Also included is a hydrographic study of the Savannah River and related geologic engineering investigations.

Subseries F contains the Construction Division records. These records include memoranda and correspondence relating to the Atomic Energy Commission contract and related subcontracts. These files document the DuPont Company's relationships with consultant architects, engineers, and the blue- and white-collar workforce. There are materials describing efforts to comply with the Davis-Bacon and Walsh-Healy Acts. Also included are monthly reports from subcontractors and AEC procedural memoranda relating to design and procurement. Construction Administrative records describe safety procedures and efforts at cost reduction. They contain statistical abstracts prepared by R. M. Waddell, which detail manpower involved in the various construction-job categories at Savannah River.

Subseries G contains the Engineering Service Division/Power Equipment Acceptance Testing records. These records contain correspondence, memoranda, and reports relating to the creation and implementation of the power equipment testing program at SRP (1952-1954).

Finally, subseries H contains project files that are arranged chronologically and by project number. They describe engineering, design, and construction work at SRP, Dana, and the Wabash River Ordnance Works (1942-1952). There are also records relating to the Heat Exchanger Fabrication Program, the Heavy Water Test Reactor, and the New York Shipbuilding Corporation subcontract. Also included are reactor studies, documents relating to the Bedrock Waste storage program (1972-1973), reports on the Effluent Stream study (1959-1960), and the Defense Waste Processing Facility (1972-1984).