Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
9/25/2015
The National Nuclear Security Administration has acknowledged that a July shipment of an excess amount of special nuclear material from the Y-12 site to a commercial facility was uranium, but a spokesman refused to specify the enrichment level or other details of the substance.
“We can confirm it was uranium,” said Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for NNSA’s Production Office. “We are not specifying the type of special nuclear material.”
He also confirmed that the shipment to an unidentified private facility licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated some Department of Transportation regulations for transporting hazardous materials.
“The shipment was not compliant with some of DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety and Hazardous Material regulations,” Wyatt said in an email response to questions. “Y-12 representatives have been in contact with DOE and are cooperating with their findings.”
He said the facility was authorized to receive such nuclear material, but he would not name the commercial facility or its location.
After the mistake in the July shipment was discovered, specialists from Oak Ridge reportedly went to the site and secured the material for return to Y-12, but the federal agency has not provided details of the timing.
The amount of uranium involved also remains a mystery. Any shipments of special nuclear materials have strict protocols and security requirements.
“We are not disclosing how much nuclear material was shipped,” Wyatt said. “While the amount was small, the weight of the material exceeded the amount that should have been shipped.”
Wyatt said an investigation into the incident has been completed and some corrective actions have been put into place.
He noted: “Upon a thorough investigation, it has been concluded that the direct cause of the event was human error. Personnel mistakenly placed more material into containers than intended.” It is still not clear if the material was weighed at Y-12 before being shipped to the site.
Wyatt would not comment on whether any Y-12 workers were disciplined as a result of the incident.
He said the uranium was shipped commercially via a “certified transportation service.” He would not name the service.
A spokeswoman with the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General would not confirm or deny if the IG was investigating the incident.
Wyatt said there was never a risk to employees, the public, or the environment.
In a statement provided by his staff, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said, “An incident like this, even if there was never a threat to public health and safety, must be taken very seriously by Y-12 and the National Nuclear Security Administration.” Alexander chairs the Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee.
Tyler Threadgill, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), whose district includes Oak Ridge, said the Republican congressman was “pleased Y-12 officials took quick and thorough action.”
