Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
3/13/2015
The National Nuclear Security Administration wants Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security to double the rate of purified metal production in Building 9212 in an effort to reduce the Material at Risk (MAR) in the aging facility. Eventually, Building 9212’s capabilities will be replaced as part of the Uranium Processing Facility or shifted to other facilities at Y-12, but officials are also seeking to reduce the MAR in the facility as part of a comprehensive uranium infrastructure strategy, according to a recently released Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report. The Feb. 6 memo reveals that CNS recently finalized the strategy after a yearlong effort, and said the NNSA Production Office and Uranium Program Manager Tim Driscoll had directed CNS to increase the rate of purified metal production in 9212 to 1,000 kilograms a year. “This change would aid MAR reduction efforts by increasing the rate at which EU is processed into forms suitable for transfer from Building 9212,” the DNFSB said.
MAR reduction is one of four parts of the first phase of the three-phase uranium strategy along with process reinvestments, infrastructure upgrades and UPF. The DNFSB said Building 9212 enriched uranium MAR limits were reduced by 40 percent in November, and last month, CNS issued an order to reduce the enriched uranium MAR in Building 9215 by 88 percent. Buildings 9212 and 9999 will be replaced with a new facility in phase two of the strategy, and phase three includes work to sustain Building 9204-E (or Beta 2E). The DNSFB said the plan calls for the replacement of Beta 2E with a new building after 2040. CNS and the NNSA did not respond to a request for comment.
The strategy was first requested by NNSA a year ago by NNSA weapons program chief Don Cook, and previous Y-12 contractor B&W Y-12 completed a draft strategy in the spring. The DNFSB said the Red Team report on alternatives to UPF, feedback from the Uranium Program Manager, and the transition to a new contractor delayed completion of the document. The DNFSB said last year that the strategy was “intended to reduce safety and operational risk by identifying an approach to improve the Y-12 infrastructure during the next decade. The memorandum mandates that the strategy evaluate several factors, such as the use of existing infrastructure as a bridging strategy until replacement facilities are available, and opportunities for exemptions or different interpretations to regulatory drivers.”
