Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
9/19/2014
The National Nuclear Security Administration appears to be moving forward with plans to implement the Red Team recommendation on an alternative strategy to the all-in-one and too-expensive Uranium Processing Facility. According to a newly released staff memo by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, NNSA Uranium Program Manager Tim Driscoll has sent out a number of letters to “various stakeholders” involved in the modernization of the uranium-processing infrastructure at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
The memo from safety board site reps Rory Rauch and William Linzau to DNFSB headquarters in Washington was dated Aug. 15. It said the letters contained “several noteworthy actions” in terms of the modernization efforts at Y-12, apparently referencing the change in plans based on recommendations from the Red Team headed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason.
De-Inventorying Building 9212 Given High Priority
According to the DNFSB memo, Driscoll said NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart and Y-12 staff are supposed to give high priority to de-inventorying the aged 9212 and other key production facilities in the Oak Ridge plant’s so-called “Area 5.” That would mean removing as much of the highly enriched uranium as possible from the processing operations and instituting a “just in time” minimum, providing just enough of the strategic nuclear material to carry out the missions in the old facilities.
Driscoll said another top priority is to complete the design and installation of “an electrorefiner and calciner” to support the phased shutdown of enriched uranium operations at 9212. This was part of the Red Team strategy for easing the production pressures on 9212 and moving some of the processing activities to another Y-12 facility, apparently Building 9215. According to the DNFSB memo, Y-12 is being challenged to complete the add-on production capabilities “within three years of CD-0 approval.”
Project to Recommend Upgrades for 9212, Beta-2E and 9215
Erhart will also work with the Uranium Program Manager to “develop, refine and prioritize other projects necessary to continue to reduce the mission and safety risks associated with uranium programs,” according to the DNFSB memo. The projects would outline the recommended upgrades at Buildings 9212, Beta-2E and 9215. The Uranium Program manager is also to coordinate with other program offices to help identify more resources for the “key enriched uranium modernization initiatives,” and a Uranium Mission Working Group will be established to provide “matrix support” for a “cohesive, results-oriented” uranium program. The members of this group have not yet been identified.
Technical exchanges between Y-12, the NNSA national labs (Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia), the Atomic Weapons Establishment in the United Kingdom and the Uranium Program Office are also set to begin soon. “A technical exchange on electrorefining is to meet as soon as practical,” the memo stated. Details of some actions have not yet been made public, and the NNSA and its Y-12 contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security, have not provided much information about the UPF or its alternatives in recent months.
As for the move toward some additional processing capabilities, some of the technologies being identified in the Driscoll letters apparently match up with some of the same one previously to be included in the all-inclusive UPF. According to Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the NNSA Production Office, electro-refining “refers to a process that removes impurities from uranium metal.” He added, “It’s essentially ‘metal in—metal out’ process.” The “calciner” identified in some of the plans “is intended to convert ‘low-equity’ liquids containing uranium to an oxide.” Wyatt noted, “It is a system to convert low-equity material to a safer form that can be disposed of as waste or used in other processes.”
Y-12 to Lean on HEUMF More
Under the new plans, more and more of the special nuclear materials at Y-12 apparently would be housed in the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility until it’s necessary to do processing to complete missions. This reportedly would minimize the hazards from working in old buildings that are not up to modern safety standards.
Another technology that’s been discussed in terms of moving work out of 9212 is “direct electrolytic reduction.” According to Wyatt, DER “is a process that is intended to convert uranium oxide to metal.” He said the technology would replace multiple existing processes, but it is planned for “long-range future use.” The federal spokesman added: “The primary focus currently at Y-12 is on the deployment of electrorefining and the calciner.” But, he added, “decisions on their deployment have not been completed.”
Some Subcontracts for UPF Work Being Carried Out, but Details Are Scant
Meanwhile, there are open questions about some of the activities taking place regarding the Uranium Processing Facility. Jason Bohne, a spokesman for Consolidated Nuclear Security, confirmed that some subcontracts related to the UPF work are being carried out but he refused to release details or confirm actual contract awards and their values. “We are proceeding with subcontracts to support ongoing approved and baselined construction work on Bear Creek Road as well as continuing design and technology development,” Bohne said.
Bohne said more than 600 people are currently working on the Uranium Processing Facility project. He would not comment on earlier reports that some of the UPF design work would be removed to Bechtel facilities in Reston, Va. No UPF work is currently being done at Reston, he said.
