Consolidated Nuclear Security is in the early stages of returning a facility at the NNSA’s Pantex Plant in Texas to active explosive testing.
In October, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board noted the effort to reclaim the facility after 30 years of inactivity following a contamination event. Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) spokesman Jason Bohne confirmed the effort to return the cell to operation. CNS is the prime contractor for the Pantex Plant in Texas and Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
“In an effort to advance arms control capabilities at Pantex, we are in the early stages of exploring the use of an existing Pantex facility as a potential testbed for scientists to conduct nuclear verification research in a realistic operational environment,” CNS spokesperson Jason Bohne said in an emailed statement.
CNS is eyeing one of Pantex’s operations cells that was treated and closed following a radiological incident that occurred more than 30 years ago. All the necessary work to reopen the cell, where nuclear explosive systems are serviced, has been completed, and “no further reclamation is required following clean-up efforts conducted in response to the incident,” Bohne said. “This effort is in the early stages, and we are developing estimates for NNSA review and approval.”
Bohne did not say how the facility was contaminated or with what substance other than that it was a “radiological event.” The DNFSB said the cell was contaminated more than 30 years ago, is now decontaminated and is “currently a non-nuclear facility.”
The reclaimed facility will not be used for nuclear weapons production, CNS said.
Editor’s note, Dec. 21, 2022, 10:01 a.m. Eastern time. The story was corrected to show that the cell will not be used for weapons production.
