AIKEN - More than 800 Savannah River Site employees celebrated the deactivation of a former plutonium production site by chowing down on barbecue and pudding Monday.

"This means 'mission accomplished,'" Don Yarid, a 16-year SRS engineer, said about the celebration.

The deactivation of the 835-foot-long F Area marked the final step in changing the area from a Cold War-era nuclear production site to a stabilization site.

"It's hard to go from trying to keep equipment running to tearing things up and tearing things down," said Scott Wallace, a 15-year SRS engineer.

The F Area includes the F Canyon, which stabilized, packed and shipped more than 2,000 plutonium items. The F Canyon received its name because of its long, narrow size in the F Area.

When the stabilization and deactivation of nuclear material began, SRS had no experience to draw from. Years later, the process finished three months ahead of schedule.

Jeff Allison, the Energy Department's top official at SRS, said the site saved about $730 million with the deactivation process.

Bob Pedde, the Washington Savannah River Co. president, said the money would stay in the Energy Department but not necessarily go to SRS.

"There's a lot of great work to still be done," Mr. Pedde said of the Energy Department initiatives.

About 1,000 SRS employees originally worked at the F Area. That number will drop to about 80 from the current 800 when work is complete.

Those employees will be shifted to other areas at SRS.

"The (F Area) site could be utilized depending on need in future years," Mr. Pedde said.

He said there are no current plans for F Area use, though, unless the Energy Department requests it.

The F Canyon was originally one of two chemical separation areas for plutonium-239 and uranium-238, which supported nuclear weapons stockpiles.

The F Area produced one-third of the nation's weapons-grade plutonium, beginning in the mid-1950s.

Since March 2002, the FB Line had stabilized and packaged nuclear materials for long-term storage at the site.