One Guard Involved in 2013 Machine Gun Accidental Discharge Back at Work
NS&D Monitor
11/14/2014
The National Nuclear Security Administration has remained mum about fallout from the July 28, 2013 security incident in which a machine gun was accidentally discharged inside a hardened patrol vehicle at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, but a union official confirmed that two of the plant’s security police officers were terminated in the aftermath and one of them has since been reinstated due to an arbitrator’s ruling.
In response to questions, Shannon Gray, president of the International Guards Union of America, Local 3, said the guards were initially suspended with pay following the incident. About a month later, their status was changed to suspension without pay, and they were fired in October 2013, he said. The union filed grievances on behalf of both guards, and the case went to arbitration in April 2014, Gray said. The arbitrator ruled in late July or early August, and the reinstated guard returned to work in early September, he said.
Guards Unnamed
Gray declined to name the individuals involved because of the negativity associated with the incident, and Consolidated Nuclear Security—now the managing contractor at Y-12—declined to comment on the matter. The incident drew much scrutiny inside and outside of Y-12 because it occurred on the one-year anniversary of an even bigger incident, the break-in by peace protesters on July 28, 2012. “We don’t comment on employment status or disciplinary actions,” spokeswoman Ellen Boatner said in response to a request for comment.
Gray said it seemed that the arbitrator’s different rulings for the two guards were based largely on their direct involvement in the discharge of the weapon. The government’s contractor argued that the security police officers were not forthcoming or withheld information following the incident and accused them of not telling the truth, he said. The case for firing the two officers appeared to be basely solely on the recommendation from former B&W Y-Y-12 security chief Rod Johnson. “And his position was that he didn’t feel that he could trust them moving forward,” Gray said. “But what’s ironic is that he never talked to either one of them, never took part in the investigation.” At the time of the incident, shortly after midnight, the Bearcat security vehicle was inside Y-12’s high-security Protected Area.
NNSA Raises Concerns About Safety Culture at Y-12, Pantex
NS&D Monitor
11/14/2014
The honeymoon, if it ever existed, is over for the new Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC. A Quarterly Issues Management Meeting report issued in October by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, which oversees the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons facility and its sister plant at Pantex, reportedly spells out a number of concerns with the contractor’s safety culture at both plants.
According to an Oct. 10 weekly report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the report documents a series of problems at Y-12 and Pantex, but most of them are centered at Y-12—such as a worker breaking a leg in an operation at the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility and breakdowns in safety rules in the 9212 uranium-processing facility. Not only are the issues indicative of concerns with discipline of operations, but they also “indicate a broader safety culture issues in which managers and works are collectively tolerating an unacceptable level of risk at the floor level,” the DNFSB memo stated.
NNSA Won’t Release Report
The quarterly report also cited “an emerging issue” related to less-than-acceptable performance in the Y-12 technology development area. Among other things, a worker at Building 9202—one of the facilities associated with development—was found to have radioactive contamination on her head as she emerged from the building. She was later successfully decontaminated, the report stated. There also were issues associated with lock out/tag out procedures in the tech development area of the Oak Ridge plant, according to the report from the federal safety board.
Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the NNSA’s Production Office, said the federal agency would not release the report detailing the issues with the contractor’s safety culture. “The Quarterly Issues Management Meeting report is a tool that we use to communicate to the contractor our concerns, with a focus on improving safety,” Wyatt said. “This particular report identifies our concern with the level of disciplined operations as indicated by recent incidents involving personal injuries, contamination events, and procedural violations at both sites. CNS management is aware of our concerns and is taking steps to improve operations and the overall safety culture. We will continue to work with CNS and will monitor their efforts to improve operations and safety culture at both sites.” CNS did not respond to requests for its response to the report’s concerns.
Benefits Changes at Y-12, Pantex Creating Concern
NS&D Monitor
11/14/2014
Benefits changes invoked by Consolidated Nuclear Security for Y-12 retirees and active employees have been met with disappointment—if not disdain—by many of the affected, and the retirees have been the most vocal, speaking out last week about their concerns. “We retired knowing what our costs were approximately going to be for health care insurance knowing the premiums would rise, but never thinking we would have to pay these staggering co-pays and deductibles,” Betty Hatmaker, a Y-12 retiree, wrote to officials. “We were given a benefit package when we retired and it is unethical to strip that away.”
Dave Mason, outgoing president of the Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees, recently said that benefit changes have already taken place for retirees at ORNL and Y-12, and he said they are likely to be forthcoming for retirees under the contracts of UCOR (cleanup manager) and National Strategic Protective Services (security contractor at the lab) in Oak Ridge. New health care packages were also announced for the salaried workers at Y-12 and the pre-65 retirees. Those, too, have created concerns because they largely shift more of the cost burden on health-care premiums to employees.
Lawmakers Don’t Pick Sides
Elected officials have offered statements that are supportive but noncommittal. “The employee benefits of our contractor workforce are extremely important to them, their families and our community,” Tyler Threadgill, a spokesman for Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), said. “While this was ultimately a decision made by the Department of Energy, Congressman Fleischmann has personally advocated for the retirees at the highest levels of the Department and will continue to do so. The Congressman has also been working with CORRE on a regular basis and looks forward to a continued partnership during these difficult financial times.”
Brian Reisinger, a spokesman for the Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said. “The recent changes to benefits for Y-12 workers and retirees were decided through negotiations between the Department of Energy and the new management contractor to help bring benefits into compliance with Department of Energy policy. Senator Alexander believes employees at Oak Ridge facilities perform jobs that are crucial to the country, which is why he is continually working on issues that Congress deals with, such as supporting Y-12’s missions and ensuring the long-term health of retirees’ pensions.”
CNS: Changes Necessary for Compliance
Consolidated Nuclear Security spokesman Jason Bohne said some of the changes were necessary for the contractor to achieve compliance with Department of Energy rules for spending levels on benefits. He said CNS is not benefiting financially from the change in the health benefit packages. “We recognize that there are many changes in motion, and that the impact of these changes occur at a personal level for our employees and retirees,” Bohne said in a response to questions.
He said many face-to-face meetings with employees have been conducted. “Our intent has been to be compliant and competitive with a plan that also continues to serve our retirees well and provides benefits that meet the needs of our employees and our families—all while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “The new plan is different from the current benefits program. We redesigned our benefits program to provide an attractive package for current and future employees, while remaining in compliance with DOE requirements.”
He added: “DOE Order 350.1 requires contractors to evaluate their benefits program against comparative organizations (those with similar types of work, and employees of similar educational and skill levels) every few years and maintain the program at 105% or less than the average of the comparators. Because of the contract competition and subsequent protests, that evaluation hadn’t occurred at Y-12 or Pantex for several years. It was overdue. Our new benefits design is intended to return our benefits package into compliance. CNS earns no fee for cost savings related to benefits changes—we did that intentionally to avoid any conflict of interest. Our new plan remains among the top benefits packages among our comparators. We are making every effort to be competitive with the industries in which we compete for talent.”
