Despite nuclear shutdown, Y-12 meets warhead refurbishment schedule

Despite a two-week shutdown in August, the Y-12 National Security Complex completed its work on a nuclear warhead refurbishment program by the end of September, the end of the federal fiscal year.

Questions were raised about the production schedule after a July 28 security breach by three anti-nuclear weapons activists, and a two-week shutdown in nuclear operations that quickly followed.

But Steven Wyatt, National Nuclear Security Administration public affairs manager at Y-12, said then that the plant still expected to meet its production milestones for the year.

Ellen Boatner, spokeswoman for managing and operating contractor B&W Y-12, confirmed on Wednesday that the work had been completed on time.

Y-12 is one of six NNSA sites that has engineers, scientists, and technicians working on the refurbishment program, the W76-1 Life Extension Program. Boatner said Y-12 refurbishes the weapons’ secondaries and is the only NNSA site that does uranium work.

The other plants involved in the work to refurbish the warhead units, which are mounted on submarine-launched ballistic missiles, are the Pantex Plant, Savannah River Site, Kansas City Plant, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories.

The NNSA announced last week that it had successfully delivered all the W76-1 warhead units it was scheduled to deliver to the U.S. Navy in FY 2012.

“As our stockpile ages, we have to put ourselves in a position where the president can be certain that it is safe, secure, and effective,” NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Don Cook said in a press release. “Our continued success with the W76-1 Life Extension Program is key to the United States’ nuclear deterrent. As we move forward with other life extension programs, we’re looking at our joint work with the Navy on the W76 as a model for the future—one where we’re on time, on budget, and delivering exactly how the American people need us to.”

The W76-1 Life Extension Program’s first production unit was achieved in September 2008, the release said.

“The program remains on track to produce and deliver the warheads to the Navy in keeping with its commitment to complete production not later than the end of FY 2021, which is consistent with the Nuclear Posture Review,” the release said.

The primary goals of the W76-1 Life Extension Program are to extend the original warhead service life from 20 to 60 years, address aging issues, and meet requirements identified by the U.S. Strategic Command.

“In addition, the goals of the program are to incorporate nuclear surety enhancements, maximize reuse of W76-0 components, minimize system certification risk in the absence of underground nuclear testing, and refurbish the system in a managed affordable manner,” the release said.

For more information, see the W76-1 Fact Sheet.