Y-12 Lithium Supply Could Run Dry, GAO Says
The Y-12 National Security Complex could run out of the purified lithium needed to refurbish nuclear weapons components as early as 2018 if additional actions aren’t taken to replenish the supply of top-grade material, the GAO said in a report released Monday. The GAO report criticized the National Nuclear Security Administration for perhaps focusing too much of its attention on a new lithium production facility at Y-12 – proposed to come online around 2025 – and not enough on other alternatives while developing a lithium strategy and revving up lithium capabilities for the near term.
According to the GAO report, the projected demand for lithium-6 for weapons use has tripled over the past few years, putting unanticipated pressured on the existing operations at Oak Ridge. Even though Y-12 has a large quantity of lithium in storage at Y-12, including what’s contained in yet-to-be-dismantled warhead parts, the material has to be cleaned and prepped in other ways before it can be used in warheads undergoing refurbishment.
The lithium-6 processed at Y-12 has to be certified by Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories to ensure it is “suitable” for weapons use, the GAO report stated. There are multiple challenges facing the NNSA in coming up with a lithium strategy. One is the age of old facilities at Y-12. Until 2013, Y-12 depended on a Building 9204-2 — known as Beta-2 – and its “wet chemistry equipment” to convert the existing inventory of lithium chloride to lithium usable in nuclear weapons. However, that equipment has now been declared to be “at risk of catastrophic failure” and no longer a reasonable alternative for producing the needed material.
The GAO report recalled a March 2014 incident in which a 300-pound block of concrete fellow from the corroded ceiling in Y-12’s lithium facility. Parts of plant’s lithium production system are among the highest health risks at Y-12, the report said. Because of problems with the main lithium-purification system, Y-12 has turned to an alternative method known as Direct Materials Manufacturing. But it has limitations, reportedly taking longer to qualify as weapons-ready.
Also, there is the potential for “fiscal constraints” to delay the development of a new lithium production facility at Y-12. NNSA has acknowledged that changes in dismantlement and disassembly schedules within the U.S. nuclear weapons complex could “delay or reduce the availability of lithium source material,” the GAO report states. That’s because the material obtained from retired weapons is used in the Direct Materials Manufacturing process.
DOE Maintains Several of World’s Best Supercomputers
The latest world supercomputer rankings are out, and the Department of Energy has four of the top 10. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan supercomputer, a Cray XK7 system capable of more than 17.5 petaflops (17.5 million billion calculations per second) retained its spot at No. 2 on the TOP500 List. For the fifth time in a row in the biannual rankings, China’s Tianhe-2 topped the list with a capability of more than 33 petaflops. The Tianhe-2 system was developed at China’s National University of Defense Technology.
The only new entry in the top 10 is a Cray supercomputer in Saudi Arabia — called Shaheen II — with a benchmark of about 5.5 petaflops. Four of the 10 fastest supercomputers are located at Department of Energy labs in the U.S. The other DOE supercomputers near the top of the list were: Sequoia at Lawrence Livermore (No. 3); Mira at Argonne National Lab (No. 5); and Vulcan at Lawrence Livermore (No. 10).
Marine Murders Bring Tightened Security to Y-12
The Y-12 nuclear weapons plant has already been on increased security since spring, for unspecified reasons, and a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed Thursday it had upped the security level again in the wake of Chattanooga shootings that resulted in the death of four Marines and raised additional issues about domestic terrorism. Chattanooga is about 100 miles from the Oak Ridge plant. “We are closely monitoring the situation and have heightened overall site security awareness and vigilance,” Y-12 federal spokesman Steven Wyatt said. “We cannot provide any other details on security measures at Y-12.” According to news reports, the gunman opened fire at multiple military sites in Chattanooga on Thursday and was himself killed in the process. The shooter was identified as 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez of Hixon, Tenn.
Beryllium Lab Approved by Pathologist Panel
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge beryllium laboratory, one of only three labs in the United States that’s certified to do the tests that validate whether exposed workers have been become sensitized to the lightweight metal, has been accredited by the American College of Pathologists. Sensitization to beryllium is often a pre-cursor to development of chronic beryllium disease, an incurable respiratory disease. The Oak Ridge lab is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, which announced the new credentials.
The laboratory is certified to perform the lymphocyte proliferation test — mostly for potentially exposed workers in the Department of Energy complex. Beryllium has been used at various DOE facilities, such as the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, in the production of nuclear weapons. This is the third time the testing lab has been accredited since 2009. The Oak Ridge laboratory began operations in 1992 and has processed thousands of beryllium tests. ORAU said the lab’s error rate for beryllium tests is less than 0.25 percent.
DOE IG Announces Retirement Plans
DOE Inspector General Greg Friedman, who was nominated to the post in 1998 and has served longer than any other IG at a cabinet-level federal agency, is retiring from government service. He notified President Barack Obama and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz that he plans to leave effective Oct. 3, concluding a 48-year federal career. In a July 10 letter to Obama, Friedman wrote, “Serving the people of this great Nation has been an extraordinary honor.” During his tenure at the Office of Inspector General, the organization of about 300 produced more than 1,800 reports and initiated more than 1,500 criminal investigations that resulted in nearly $700 million in fines or other settlements and more than 2,000 convictions, suspensions or other actions.
“I have had the unique opportunity to work for three Administrations and five Secretaries of Energy,” Friedman wrote to Obama. “I have been fortunate to have been in a position to closely observe the evolution of U.S. energy policy. While significant political differences existed, the Department has been led by people of distinction who shared an unquestioned commitment to the United States and to its national security and well-being.” In his memo to Moniz, he wrote, “Mr. Secretary, as a natural consequence of my responsibilities as Inspector General, I recognize that I do not always deliver welcomed or happy news. But, let me express my thanks to you for the respectful way in which you have treated me and the Office of Inspector General. You have provided enlightened leadership of the Department. I salute you for a lifetime of exemplary public service.”
