NNSA CONFIRMS IT’S LOOKING INTO OPTIONS TO SCALE BACK UPF

The National Nuclear Security Administration has begun to take the first steps toward scaling back its plans for the Uranium Processing Facility, saying yesterday that it is developing “alternative mission delivery scenarios” that focus on replacing the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Building 9212 complex. In a statement, NNSA spokesman Keri Fulton said the agency would continue to develop a “credible cost and schedule estimate” for the Uranium Processing Facility as it had planned, but the alternative scenario being developed would address the “highest mission risk” at Y-12, replacing 9212’s enriched uranium capabilities. Late last year, the Department of Defense’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation group estimated that the facility could cost as much as $19 billion, forcing the NNSA to reconsider its plans, and language in the omnibus appropriations bill released this week referenced DOE’s “recent decision to consider additional alternatives to meet the uranium infrastructure needs at Y-12 that might save costs and lead to a replacement facility for Building 9212 in a shorter period of time.”