NEVADA CRITICALITY FACILITY STRUGGLING WITH PU CAPABILITY, IG FINDS

The National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Nevada National Security Site has not fully restored its ability to perform plutonium-based criticality experiments, the Department of Energy Inspector General said in a report released Friday. Officials moved four criticality machines from Los Alamos National Laboratory Technical Area-18 to Nevada’s Device Assembly Facility due to security concerns, but the completion of the move was delayed at least a year in some cases due to various issues, and officials are still running into problems, the IG said. According to the report, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board raised questions about whether some of the criticality equipment complied with the facility’s safety basis, leading Nevada officials to prohibit plutonium operations on machines named Godiva and Flat-Top. Complications with the facility’s fire suppression system also led to plutonium restrictions on two other machines, Comet and Planet. The IG said at the time the report was drafted, restricted plutonium operations could be performed on two of the four machines. “Without being able to perform plutonium operations, the National Criticality Safety Program will be less likely to attract a volume of work from other programs and agencies to NCERC comparable to what it performed at Technical Area-18, work which could help offset some of NNSA’s operating costs,” the IG said.

The IG attributed the delays, in part, to weaknesses in federal oversight. “NNSA had not ensured that contractors adequately resolved concerns related to start of operations at NCERC or that safety basis documentation was consistent with facility conditions. In addition, delays occurred after authorization of facility start-up because NNSA did not ensure that safety equipment met standards cited in the safety basis or that the work of multiple contractors was fully integrated,” the IG said. The NNSA said it was developing corrective actions to deal with issues raised by the IG.