Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
4/04/2014
Consolidated Nuclear Security, the incoming contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons facilities, continues to gradually introduce its leadership team and its management plans through a series of messages to employees at the sites. Last weekend, CNS—a partnership led by Bechtel and including Lockheed Martin, ATK Launch Systems and SOC—released the organization structure that will combine the management of the two facilities 1,000 miles apart in two different states. The transition is supposed to take four months to complete, with CNS fully in charge by July 1. “As you view the organization structure, you’ll see that production operations at Pantex and Y-12 are surrounded by organizations designed to enable and support production,” CNS President and CEO Jim Haynes said in the latest message. “Mission Support and Mission Engineering provide the business functions, resources, and design elements to enable ongoing and efficient operations. Mission Assurance works across functions to integrate safety and quality, support critical operating processes, mitigate risks, and ensure that we are meeting all of our requirements.”
The winning CNS proposal promised to save the federal government more than $3 billion over the next decade by taking advantage of combined functions to eliminate costly redundancies and make efficiency gains. Among the key leaders introduced to the employees was Jim Allen, the chief operating officer for CNS. Allen has background in the Naval Reactors Program, with a 32-year career at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, and he was reportedly a key member of the consolidation of the Bettis and Knolls Power Laboratories. Allens hold a degree in nuclear engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He also is a graduate of the Naval Nuclear Power School.
Other Leaders Unveiled
The other managers included:
- Ken Freeman, senior vice president for safeguards, security and emergency services. He was general manager of the Los Alamos protective force since 2004. His background includes a 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force, including the position of deputy director of security forces;
- Darrel Graddy, senior vice president, mission support. He has served as a vice president of Lockheed Martin Systems & Global Solutions. Since 1998, he was executive manager of information systems and global solutions, providing IT solutions to federal and government customers in Australia and the United Kingdom. Other roles included director of operations in Lockheed Martin Advanced Environmental Systems. His background includes a business degree from Florida Southern College; and
- Rick Glass, senior vice president, mission assurance. Glass is a senior nuclear engineer, with a background on the NNSA and contractor roles. As Albuquerque Operations Office Manager, he was in charge of 1,000 federal employees and was the contracting officer for management and operating contractors with thousands of employees. More recently, he has held a number of roles aimed at improving operations at Y-12, including effort to improve the integration of production and engineering organizations. He holds degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
Held Thanks B&W For Dropping Protest
During a House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing April 3, acting NNSA Administrator said the agency was eager to complete transition after the procurement was delayed last year by three protests from a Babcock & Wilcox-led team. B&W decided last month not to continue challenging the award. “I was very, very appreciative of the B&W people, that they did not challenge it again and extend the uncertainty even further,” Held said. “I think that was a great service. And we have a long-term relationship with the people at B&W, so I’m appreciative of that.”
Pressed by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) about the impacts of the long procurement on the workforce at Y-12, Held said he was mindful of the uncertainty employees had been through. “We need to get on with the transition,” he said. “And I will be keeping a very close pulse on that to make sure that we don’t put that community under more stress than it already is. That’s a deep, personal concern.”
