The Department of Energy’s Enterprise Assessments (EA) office will investigate Consolidated Nuclear Security for “nuclear criticality control weaknesses” at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s main uranium-handling site in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The internal DOE oversight body informed Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) of the impending investigation on Nov. 13, according to a notice posted on the agency’s website. The agency is stepping in to check out nuclear criticality control weaknesses identified between May 2017 and May 2018 at the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to a letter from Kevin Dressman, acting director of the EA Office of Enforcement, to Morgan Smith, CNS president and CEO.
The company self-reported concerns at Y-12 to the agency, Dressman wrote in his letter. It does not address details of the weaknesses. Nuclear criticality is a sustained fission reaction.
The investigation will encompass an on-site visit and interviews with contractor employees, according to Dressman.
“Since the self-discovery and reporting of legacy issues with Y-12’s nuclear criticality controls, affected operations at Y-12 were temporarily paused and actions were taken to review and improve procedures,” a CNS spokesperson wrote in an email to Weapons Complex Morning Briefing. “Y-12 will support the investigation, which is planned for January 2019.”
Consolidated Nuclear Security is led by Bechtel National, with industry partners Leidos, Northrop Grumman, and SOC and subcontractor with Booz Allen Hamilton. The company manages both Y-12 and the Pantex nuclear weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, under a single contract awarded in 2014 by the National Nuclear Security Administration.
