Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
10/30/2015
The National Nuclear Security Administration has not commented on whether it has taken punitive actions against Consolidated Nuclear Security, the management and operations contractor at the Y-12 site, for a significant shipping error in July in which the wrong amount of highly enriched uranium was sent to a private company in New York.
However, Steven Wyatt, a spokesman in the NNSA’s Production Office, said the matter will be addressed in the contractor’s annual performance evaluation for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
“All aspects of CNS’s performance will be reflected in the annual performance evaluation,” Wyatt said in an email response to questions. “The shipping issue will be addressed through that process.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation has already fined CNS $33,620 for multiple violations for the shipment of highly enriched uranium metal, which was 10 times greater than the intended shipping amount.
As soon as recipient Mirion Technologies discovered the error, a team from Y-12 was dispatched to New York to make sure the fissile uranium was safely packaged and returned to Oak Ridge.
Wyatt confirmed that the correct amount of HEU – 100 grams — was later shipped to Mirion, although he declined to provide the dates for that shipment. Seth Rosen, executive vice president and general counsel for Mirion, said the radiation detection technology specialist planned to use the material from Y-12 at nuclear power plants.
According to Rosen, “We incorporate uranium in small amounts into our neutron sensors used in commercial nuclear power plants.”
Wyatt, when asked if DOE’s Office of Enforcement, was investigating the July incident, said, “We cannot comment for the Office of Enforcement.”
