NNSA RELEASES B&W PANTEX REPORT CARD FOR FY2011

Fiscal Year 2011 Performance Evaluation Reviews are continuing to trickle out of the National Nuclear Security Administration. After releasing the annual report cards for six of its contractors early last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by NW&M Monitor and other media outlet and organizations, the agency released the FY2011 PER for Pantex Plant contractor B&W Pantex late Friday. B&W Pantex received its highest rating from the NNSA in FY2011, earning 95.9 percent of the at-risk fee in its contract ($33.5 million out of $34.9 million available), and the 79-page report card provides more detail than has ever been previously released about the contractor’s performance. According to the document, the company “substantially exceeded planned weapon deliverables by aggressively overcoming schedule obstacles including technical issues, late receipt of critical components and equipment issues.” 

B&W Pantex met 112 percent of all baseline deliverables in FY2011, including 109 percent of deliverables for the W76 life extension program, 120 percent of scheduled dismantlements, and 99 percent of surveillance units—the report revealed that three base surveillance units were “missed due to technical or delivery issues beyond the control of the M&O contractor,” and three additional “D&Is” (dismantlement and inspection) were completed for the B61, W88 and W80 weapons systems. The report also noted several areas of improvement, noting that “focused attention should be placed on increasing operational discipline and personal reliability to enable error-free operations,” human resources operations should be shored up, improvements were needed in relation to the Fair Labor Standards Act and Equal Employment Opportunity, and the contractor should rely more on in-house legal services. B&W Pantex’s review is available with six other NNSA reviews by clicking here. The Agency has not released the FY2011 PER for Sandia National Laboratories.