DOE IG: VIGILANCE NEEDED AT LANL LIQUID WASTE FACILITY REPLACEMENT

Though Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Nuclear Security Administration have improved management of a replacement liquid waste processing capability, the project has experienced numerous issues since it was launched in 2004, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General report released yesterday. LANL is looking to replace its aging Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, which processes low-level and transuranic liquid waste, and current plans call for two facilities to be completed in 2017 and 2020. “While NNSA has recently taken action to address RLWTF replacement project issues, we observed that the NNSA and Los Alamos had not effectively managed the project over most of its lifecycle,” the IG report states.

The project has experienced cost increases and delays, in part due to shortcomings including lack of a risk management plan, reliable cost estimates, and application of applied value engineering principles. NNSA settled on a two-facility approach in 2006. Since then, “despite more than 7 years of effort, and the expenditure of $56 million, design work for the TRU facility has not been completed and the project’s completion date is 11 years behind schedule. Furthermore, the total estimated cost for the replacement project has increased from $86 million to as much as $214 million, a 149 percent increase,” the IG report states.  

NNSA has made project management, including corrective actions to improve project cost estimating, documenting plans for risk mitigation processes and minimization measures that would reduce the volume of waste that needs to be treated. However, given past issues, the IG recommended that LANL “ensure continuous monitoring of the RLWTF design and construction activities including Los Alamos’ use of Value Engineering principles and the technical performance of the project,” and also “optimize opportunities to mitigate risks and reduce costs throughout the project to completion.”