Five new-to-the-organization faces will join the new Los Alamos directorate in charge of turning the lab into the first national center for plutonium pit production since Rocky Flats ceased production in 1989.
Three of these five managers were to be on the job Monday, with two colleagues to follow later this month and next, according to an announcement seen by Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor.
They are:
Carolyn Zerkle, senior director for project execution, effective Aug. 9. Zerkle, a longtime Los Alamos hand with 30 years at the lab, will be responsible for the entire portfolio of pit construction projects at Los Alamos, which in fiscal year 2022 alone have an estimated budget of more than $1 billion.
Thomas Bratvold, senior director for the Los Alamos Plutonium Pit Production (LAP4) Project, effective Sept. 13. LAP4 are the upgrades to Los Alamos’ PF-4 Plutonium Facility, where starting in 2024 the lab plans to cast multiple new war-reserve pits, initially for W87-1 intercontinental ballistic missile warheads. Last week, senior nuclear-weapons managers differed about how soon the lab would begin making multiple war-usable pits, the triggers of nuclear-weapon primary stages. Bratvold was most recently a vice president at the Hanford Site’s central plateau, one of the largest solid-waste cleanup projects in DOE’s old weapons complex.
Paul Gretsky, senior director for the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility Project, effective Aug. 23. These facilities will handle analytical chemistry work necessary to ensure that new pits are properly made. Gretsky was most recently senior director of operations at Aptim, which includes the spun-off assets of the former CB&I Shaw. Gretsky came up with the Shaw side of the business, which CB&I acquired in 2013.
Chris James, senior director for Balance of Plant and Major Item of Equipment Projects, effective Aug. 9. Among other things, James will handle utilities and safety systems for the new and upgraded plutonium production buildings. He was most recently division leader for nuclear process infrastructure in the Weapons Production Directorate.
Brian McIlvaine, functional integration manager, effective Aug. 9. McIlvaine, a retired Navy captain, has for the past two years been deputy division leader for operational readiness implementation at the lab’s Weapons Production Directorate. McIlvaine joined Los Alamos in 2019 and in his new role will quarterback personnel interactions between the new plutonium infrastructure directorate and other lab directorates.
Los Alamos officially organized its Plutonium Infrastructure Directorate in late June. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) leadership has said that the lab’s plutonium factory should be ready to make 30 pits annually by 2026. The NNSA has a legal mandate to make 80 pits a year by 2030 but said this spring it would probably miss that mark because a larger pit factory planned for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina probably will not start casting until 2032 or 2035.
