A National Nuclear Security Administration field office has identified need for improvement in several operational areas by the management and operations contractor for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas, according to a newly released Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board activity report.
The DNFSB document, dated March 13 and posted online this week, said that in early March the NNSA Production Office (NPO) sent Consolidated Nuclear Security a report that identified quality assurance, nuclear safety, and issues management concerns – in particular an NNSA management concern about “performance culture that is illustrated by recent events at both Y-12 and Pantex involving, for instance, comingled waste streams, hazards and controls not communicated prior to work initiation, and a procedure made effective prematurely.”
“The report indicates that collectively, these events illustrate the CNS plan for achieving performance excellence is still maturing,” the DNFSB said, noting that the contractor is required to respond to the report within 30 days. NPO spokesman Steven Wyatt said by email that “CNS will be responding” to these concerns.
The NPO did not release the document it sent to CNS or offer additional details about its findings.
“Overall, CNS is continuing to make progress on achieving an effective performance culture at both Pantex and Y-12,” NPO spokesman Steven Wyatt said by email. “Some areas will be more challenging than others. An essential element of an effective performance culture is continuous improvement.”
Wyatt said NPO’s letter to CNS “references some indicators that we identified and communicated to CNS to ensure they were addressed in their ongoing performance excellence journey.” CNS did not offer additional details about the report.
CNS – a partnership of Bechtel National, Lockheed Martin Services, ATK Launch Systems, and SOC – holds a five-year base deal to manage the Y-12 and Pantex sites through June 30, 2019, with three option terms that total another five years through the end of June 2024. The Pantex Plant is responsible for the assembly and disassembly of nuclear warheads, and Y-12 hosts nuclear security activities such as uranium processing and storage.
CNS for fiscal 2016 received 77 percent of its total award fee from the NNSA, or $30.6 million, up from 57 percent in the prior evaluation period, at which time NNSA said the contractor was failing to meet many of the expectations for quality of work.
In fiscal 2016, however, NNSA highlighted the contractor’s “[c]ontinued improvements in environment, safety, and health and security programs and notable performance in material management and housekeeping were also observed.”
