Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
7/25/2014
With new Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security in place, the Uranium Processing Facility is revamping its management structure and bringing in a senior project management official from Los Alamos National Laboratory to serve as deputy project director. Project Director Brian Reilly said in a recent message to the UPF project team, obtained by NS&D Monitor, that Los Alamos Deputy Principal Associate Director for Capital Projects Matt Nuckols would be joining the project as its deputy project director. Nuckols, who served on the Red Team that recommended a scaled back version of the project, will take over the position Sept. 1.
Reilly said Nuckols will ensure the project has the “proper focus” on its interface with plant management. “One of the key interfaces our project has is with the end user of the facility we are designing and building, the Y-12 plant,” he said. “In order to facilitate that relationship we have established an integrated project team concept that interacts with our organization through my office.”
Project Divided Into Execution, Services
Reilly also said that the project was being divided into two parts, execution and services, with Mike Pratt serving as the project manager for execution and Bechtel Principal Vice President Doris Heim taking over as the project manager for services. Pratt will oversee engineering, procurement, construction, start up, project controls, maintenance and production, while Heim will be responsible for prime contract administration, human resources, information systems and technology, facilities, Six Sigma, office and administrative services, training, communications and special projects.
Reilly said Pratt’s “40 years of experience designing, building and managing major projects around the globe provides the project with a tremendous wealth of knowledge and skill upon which to draw as we move forward in these critical project functions.” Reilly also said UPF transition manager Rick Bradford joined the project full time July 7 as deputy project manager for execution.
Reilly noted that Heim has extensive experience across the weapons complex, previously serving as the associate director for business services at Los Alamos, manager of Bechtel’s Oak Ridge office, and managing Bechtel Systems and Infrastructure’s procurement organization. She was also the business systems manager during the first two years that Bechtel and B&W teamed to run Y-12 starting in 2000. She most recently served as the commercial manager for Bechtel’s operations in the United Kingdom.
CNS, Feds Sign Partnering Agreement on UPF
CNS and the NNSA’s Uranium Processing Facility Project Office also recently signed a partnering agreement designed to “create a cohesive and effective team united in accomplishment” of the UPF mission. A statement from the NNSA said the agreement “emphasizes a collaborative approach to problem-solving and issue resolution focused on early identification and rapid communication.” It was signed by 25 federal and contractor leaders on the project.
The NNSA noted that partnering is an approach often utilized by the Army Corps of Engineers, but had never previously been used by the agency on a project. “The UPF partnering agreement is an important step to ensure our team carries out its mission to deliver a new UPF, a key infrastructure investment for our country, with Building 9212 capabilities, for not more than $6.5 billion by 2025,” UPF Federal Project Director John Eschenberg said in a statement. In a separate statement, Reilly said the agreement is “joint acknowledgement that there is one UPF team comprised of contractor and federal staff, and that we will only succeed by working together.”
