Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 33 No. 38
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Weapons Complex Monitor
Article 8 of 9
October 07, 2022

Demand boom predicted for glove boxes in coming years

By ExchangeMonitor

KNOXVILLE, TENN. —The Department of Energy’s planned expansion of plutonium pit production at sites in New Mexico and South Carolina and other missions figure to drive a big jump in demand for glove box facilities in the near future, two speakers told the Energy Technology & Environmental Business Association conference here Thursday.

Between 2022 and 2025 monthly glove box fabrication will need to grow to more than 350 from the historic capacity of less than 100, Tony Wampler, senior business development director at Merrick & Co., Greenwood Village, Colo., said during a panel discussion on nuclear industry hot topics. He cited a demand analysis from the Energy Facility Contractors Group.

The major drivers will be construction of a plutonium pit fabrication facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and expansion of plutonium pit production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Wampler said.

Wampler said the DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration should prioritize the market and collaborate with the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and other entities.

This summer, the DOE sought information from potential vendors who might be able to help the agency forestall, or at least minimize, potential glovebox supply chain disruptions.

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NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.



by @BenjaminSWeiss, confirming today's reports with warrant from Las Vegas Metro PD.

Waste has been Emplaced! 🚮

We have finally begun emplacing defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste in Panel 8 of #WIPP.

Read more about the waste emplacement here: https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20221123-2.asp

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