Consolidated Nuclear Security, the government’s managing contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons site in Tennessee, has apparently come up with some new fixes to help address problems with Stack 110 – a key ventilation area for the old 9212 uranium-processing complex.
Earlier this year, a number of issues were identified, including an accumulation of water in a “discharge tube” near the stack’s dust collector and – more recently – a surprising collection of enriched uranium particles in the filters associated with Stack 110 and intended to prevent the escape of uranium particles. The load of uranium dust, in turn, had raised questions and scrutiny about potential criticality safety issues.
As noted in a late March report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the situation had required more frequent measurements of the dust levels, as well as the more frequent changing of filters in the area.
In response to questions this week, National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman Steven Wyatt said CNS had also reviewed the upstream “pre-filters” installed in the uranium process areas. Those areas are supported by the Stack 110 ventilation system, and the contractor’s “identified improvements” have been incorporated there to help alleviate the concerns.
“This has restored the accumulation rates in the dust collector to historical and anticipated rates,” Wyatt said via email. “Additional filter designs are being pursued to enable the system to operate for an extended period [of] time.”
Stack 110 is a significant point for uranium emissions at the Y-12 facility. A few years ago, a couple emission stacks were combined at the point to help reduce uranium risks there. But a number of complicating issues have required continued attention at the old site.
At this point, 9212 is still the plant’s main facility for processing highly enriched uranium, but the government’s plan is to relocate operations to other facilities over the next decade and eventually halt production at 9212 and remove its inventory of bomb-grade uranium.
