Department of Energy contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security returned some piping to a subcontractor after determining it was unsuitable for installation in the main uranium processing building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee.
Mechanical contractor Hicks & Ingle, of Knoxville, Tenn., fabricated the pipes under a two-year contract awarded in 2018. A spokesperson for Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) on Wednesday declined to quantify the value of the award. Hicks & Ingle did not immediately reply to an email requesting comment on Wednesday.
Consolidated Nuclear Security confirmed that it discovered in November about 40 bad welds in 20 sections of piping provided by Hicks & Ingle. The pipes were intended for new calciner process equipment being installed in Building 9212.
The calciner, CNS said, is a rotating kiln that converts uranium-bearing liquids into solid oxide powder for stable storage. “This process helps recycle and remove the inventory of low equity uranium stock,” CNS said.
The Energy Department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration will eventually replace 9212 with the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) now being built under subcontract to Consolidated Nuclear Security by Bechtel National, which also leads the CNS team. Until then, 9212 will receive some upgrades to continue producing uranium for the secondary stages of nuclear weapons.
The Y-12 National Security Complex is now on the hook to produce secondary stages for the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, which is in the middle of a long-scheduled life-extension program. The site will soon tackle secondary stages for the W80-4 cruise-missile warhead and the W87-1 warhead: respectively, the nuclear armaments for the Pentagon’s Long-Range Standoff Weapon cruise missile, and Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile.
