The National Nuclear Security Administration has approved Critical Decision-1 for a new emergency operations center at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The CD-1 confirmation was contained in a March 4 weekly activity report by Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board staff assigned to Y-12.
CD-1 is approval of the selection of alternatives and the cost range.
Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security has already solicited expressions of interest from firms wanting to design the EOC and reportedly received feedback from at least 12.
According to budget documents for fiscal 2017, the planned EOC has a cost range of $20.4 million to $33.6 million.
“The new facility will replace Y-12’s Plant Shift Superintendent’s Office, Technical Support Center and the Fire Department alarm room,” the DNFSB report states.
The new EOC will not replace the Y-12’s current center, which is physically located several miles away at the East Tennessee Technology Park. The emergency response capabilities that will be relocated into the new facility are currently housed in facilities that were built in the mid-1940s and do not meet modern DOE requirements for seismic performance and habitability,” according to the DNFSB report.
The report said the new EOC is scheduled to become operational in early 2021. It will be “designed to current code requirements for facilities with emergency response capabilities,” the report says.
