UPF OFFICIALS RESTRUCTURING WORK ON PROJECT

By ExchangeMonitor

With the National Nuclear Security Administration considering alternatives to the Uranium Processing Facility, project officials are scaling back and restructuring current work on the facility, according to a recent memo from UPF Project Director Carl Strock. The Feb. 12 memo, obtained by NS&D Monitor, suggests that project officials will focus on “high-equity activities that would likely be featured in any alternative selected.” Low-equity activities, which Strock did not describe, will be reduced or suspended, which he said would lead to suspended or reduced hiring and limits on nonessential overtime. Personnel will be shifted to “advancing high-equity design, refining alternatives, planning for the future scope, and other key activities,” Strock said. “Over the next few weeks, we will develop a recommendation on how to proceed in a way that preserves as much of the current design as possible, retains as much of our team as necessary, and puts us in position to execute the selected alternative quickly and effectively once directed by NNSA,” Strock added.

In his memo, Strock also emphasized the continued importance of the project, which has faced major questions about increasing costs. The NNSA is examining alternatives to the project after it was revealed late last year that the facility’s cost would likely exceed $6.5 billion and would not be completed by 2025, when the NNSA needs to be out of Y-12’s 9212 complex. “In spite of the challenges we face, there remains unwavering recognition that UPF is vital to our national security and the future of Y-12,” he said. “You are a highly talented team, and you have done a magnificent job in overcoming some incredibly complex technical challenges in designing a fully integrated UPF. I have full confidence that this team successfully navigate this transition.”

Comments are closed.