4,000 WORKERS AT Y-12 MAY BE FURLOUGHED NEXT WEEK

Close to 4,000 workers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant may be furloughed, beginning late next week, if some type of budget resolution isn’t reached in the next several days. That was one of the messages delivered Tuesday at B&W Y-12’s all-hands meeting, which featured talks by President and General Manager Chuck Spencer, human resources executives, and others with the NNSA contractor. The meeting was originally set up as an annual celebration of accomplishments at the Oak Ridge plant, but it unavoidably became a forum for the government budget crisis and the shutdown facing Y-12 employees. Only about 900 of the contractor’s 4,800-member workforce will be considered essential personnel and report for work once the shutdown takes effect. The last day for most would be Oct. 17.

 

The Uranium Processing Facility is particularly vulnerable. About 760 people are working on the multibillion-dollaar project, with numerous subcontractors involved in specialty tasks. Retired Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, UPF project director for B&W Y-12, said stopping and restarting the engineering and design effort would be difficult. “This isn’t like switching off the spigot and then starting the flow back on,” Strock said. Of the total UPF team, about 340 are specialists working with design subcontractors, Strock said. If the project is put on hold for very long, it’s possible that some of these talented, in-demand individuals will take other jobs, he said. “They could easily be hired away from the project,” he said. Strock said fewer than 100 people would continue work on the UPF if the budget-induced shutdown takes places.