Project Also Moves to Again Cut Size of UPF Project Team
Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
5/30/2014
The Uranium Processing Facility project planned for the Y-12 National Security Complex is undergoing a major management shakeup with about a month left before Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security takes over management of the site. CNS said late this week that UPF Project Director Carl Strock—a key member of the CNS management team—is retiring and will be replaced by Brian Reilly, a 34-year veteran of the commercial nuclear sector. UPF Senior Project Manager Mark Seely, who headed up the completion of the UPF design and construction readiness efforts, is also being replaced by UPF Deputy Project Director Mike Pratt, CNS spokesman Jason Bohne said. At the same time, current Y-12 contractor B&W Y-12 moved to again cut the size of the UPF project team, mostly from the design and engineering contractors that are part of four Basic Ordering Agreements utilized by the project.
Both decisions reflect the evolving nature of the project, which is expected to be scaled back because of cost and schedule concerns. A Red Team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason last month recommended using existing facilities at Y-12 and building smaller modular facilities to help the National Nuclear Security Administration get out of Building 9212 by 2025, and Bohne said the change in leadership on the project reflects the fact that in the next few years there will be more emphasis on design and implementing commercial nuclear practices as the project changes tack. "It’s really about aligning the skills of the manager with the scope going forward," Bohne said.
Reilly to Take Over June 9
Reilly has 34 years of commercial nuclear engineering, procurement and construction experience, having since 2013 led the expansion of Bechtel’s nuclear decommissioning and environmental management services around the world. For the previous six years, he served as the Manager of Operations for Bechtel Nuclear Power. "The Uranium Processing Facility is critical to national security and must be delivered safely, securely, and efficiently," CNS CEO Jim Haynes said in a statement. "Brian’s experience, industry leadership, technical expertise, and dedication to continuous improvement will be important factors in working with our customer to analyze alternative approaches and then execute the chosen design." Though CNS officially takes over as the new Y-12/Pantex contractor July 1, Reilly will take over effective June 9. The idea, Bohne said, is to quickly get Reilly in place so that he is "helping make decisions he’ll own as the project director."
Strock, a retired lieutenant general who headed up the Army Corps of Engineers before joining Bechtel, took over as the UPF project director in April 2013, and Bohne said his skills suit a major construction endeavor. Strock put off retirement to head up the effort, Bohne added. "The design was close to done and the thought was that we would be in heavy construction pretty soon," Bohne said. "That’s right in Carl’s wheelhouse." Because of the project’s likely change in scope, Bohne said the NNSA signed off on the management change.
Scope of New Cuts Unclear
While the project was making changes to its management structure, it also was issuing more guidance to its project team to reduce the size of its workforce. As of about a month ago, about 800 employees were working on the project, many of them subcontractors. This week, B&W Y-12 directed subcontractors to cut the size of its workforce again, though the scope of the cuts are unclear. Additional cuts were directed at B&W Y-12’s own staff on the project, officials with knowledge of the cuts told NS&D Monitor. "Resources are being aligned and some staff will return to their parent companies for reassignment," B&W Y-12 spokeswoman Bridget Waller said in a statement. No other details were released by the contractor.
The cuts to the project team are the second major workforce trimming in two months. In early April, B&W Y-12 confirmed that more than 100 members of the project team were released over the previous month, a reduction of about 11 percent. Some of the cuts came from B&W staff assigned to UPF, but most came from the companies that comprise the four Basic Order Agreement teams that are carrying out the design tasks on the big project.
Merrick & Company, working with URS, Ares Corp., and Innovative Design Inc, is heading up the Special Mechanical Design, including 3D mechanical equipment models and gloveboxes. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is handling Utility Design with URS, MS Technology Inc., Concentric Management Group Inc., American Defense Services, and LRS Federal. CH2M Hill Inc. is heading the Architectural/Structural Tasks & Drafting Support group with MS Technology, Degenkolb Engineers, and Spectra Tech Inc., while URS is heading the Process and Instrumentation Design Support and 3D Mechanical Design group with Merrick, Jacobs, Navarro Research & Engineering Inc., MS Technology, and Tetra Tech Inc.
