The Department of Energy (DOE) has outlined improvements to the Pantex Plant’s emergency management program it plans to make by next June on staffing, infrastructure, training, and drills, according to a June 16 letter from Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Chairman Joyce Connery.
The implementation plan for emergency preparedness and response at the nuclear warhead assembly and disassembly facility addresses three areas of concern identified by the DNFSB last year: weaknesses in the plant’s drill and exercise programs, its ability to deliver timely information to the public on radiological concerns beyond the plant’s property, and inadequate decision-making tools.
Last December, the DNFSB noted in a letter to Moniz that certain accident scenarios such as tornados, floods, or earthquakes could cause disperse radioactive material from the site into public lands. In May, Moniz asked the DNFSB for a 45-day extension to finish a draft implementation plan to address these issues at the plant.
The resulting implementation plan highlights several underlying causes for program weaknesses, including insufficient staffing of the Pantex Emergency Management Department during the DNFSB review period; inconsistent adherence to the documented drill program; aging infrastructure of alarm systems, which causes false alarms; lack of proper management attention to the problem; and inconsistent contractor and federal oversight of the program.
The plant’s training and drill process was enhanced in fiscal 2015 and procedures have been uniformly developed for consistency across the NNSA enterprise, the plan says. It notes that key emergency services management positions have been filled, including the role of senior director of enterprise emergency services, whose responsibilities involve integrating emergency management across both of sites managed by contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security – Pantex and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee.