July 01, 2015

Y-12 Contractor Institutionalizes MAR Reduction Limits

By ExchangeMonitor

Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), the contractor that manages the Y-12 National Security Complex, has incorporated Material-at-Risk (MAR) reductions into the Safety Analysis Report and Technical Safety Requirements for the site’s aging uranium processing facility Building 9212, according to a site representative report from last month released by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) this week. The MAR reductions are part of a Uranium Infrastructure Strategy that will aid in transitioning out of the building, as its capabilities are set to be replaced by the Uranium Processing Facility.

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office (NPO) previously instructed CNS to reduce enriched uranium MAR in the building, the report says. Last November, the contractor reduced MAR limits by 40 percent and has now “institutionalized those changes” by including the limits in the building’s safety reporting and requirements documentation, it says. An evaluation of the new MAR limits led to modifications in radiological consequence estimates, particularly a “reduction in off-site dose from the postulated events,” according to the report. The report also notes that CNS is in the process of conducting MAR reductions in two other buildings. The contractor issued a standing order in February to reduce MAR by 88 percent in Building 9215, and the latest site rep report says that Building 9204-2E will undergo a similar reduction by the end of Fiscal Year 2016.

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