Oak Ridge Today

Mission need approved for lithium production facility at Y-12, but cost, schedule not determined

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Scarboro Road on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The mission need has been approved for a new lithium production facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex and various alternatives have been reviewed, but the cost and schedule have not yet been determined, a federal official said this month.

“Y-12 is working to ensure that its lithium production capability is maintained for current and future defense program missions,” said Steven Wyatt, public affairs manager for the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office. “This is a challenge as this work is performed in 9204-2, a building that was constructed during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. Ultimately, our goal is to replace 9204-2 with a modern facility, but until that has been achieved, we will continue to make improvements as needed.”

Building 9204-2 produces non-nuclear materials associated with stockpile stewardship missions, Wyatt said.

“We are not at liberty to provide any further details on this work,” he said. [Read more…]

Federal funding of $28 million recommended for Y-12 fire station

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A fire engine is parked in front of the existing fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

A fire engine is parked in front of the existing fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

The Trump administration and congressional appropriations committees have agreed that $28 million in federal funding should be provided for a new fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The current fire station at Y-12 was built in the 1940s, and it is located within the most highly protected area of the nuclear weapons plant and close to the most hazardous operations, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. Y-12 is an NNSA site.

“Seismic, tornado, hazardous material release, and security events could render the fire station inaccessible,” the NNSA said in a budget request submitted to Congress for fiscal year 2018, which starts October 1. (See page 271 here.)

Emergency planning assessments show that many hazardous materials releases would “have a very short travel time” before affecting the fire station, the NNSA said. Also, it’s critical to allow off-duty personnel to access the fire station since they augment the on-duty staff, the NNSA said.

The new fire station would be a single-story building of about 35,000 square feet. It would be located on the east end of Y-12, said Steven Wyatt, spokesperson for the NNSA Production Office in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

NNSA: Y-12 funding would be up 25 percent under president’s budget request

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Y-12 Aerial Photo June 2012

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above in June 2012. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:20 p.m.

Funding for the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge would be up about 25 percent under the budget request submitted to Congress in May, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The total funding for Y-12 would be $1.64 billion, the NNSA said. That’s an increase of 25.4 percent over fiscal year 2016.

The budget request for fiscal year 2018, which starts October 1, was submitted by President Donald Trump to Congress on Tuesday, May 23. The NNSA request of $13.9 billion would increase funding by 7.8 percent compared to fiscal year 2017, Administrator Frank G. Klotz said during a teleconference with reporters on May 23.

Trump’s budget request has not yet been approved by Congress, where there has been bipartisan opposition, particularly to the proposed cuts. In Oak Ridge, sites and programs that could be cut include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which would have a funding reduction of $206 million over two years, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE.

But Y-12, a National Nuclear Security Administration site, could benefit if the president’s budget request were approved by Congress. A House spending bill introduced last week for federal energy and water departments appears to include proposed spending levels for the NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency within DOE, that are similar to what the Trump administration has proposed. [Read more…]

Site prep could start this year for mercury treatment plant at Y-12

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Y-12 Mercury Treatment Facility

The Mercury Treatment Facility that will be at the east end of Y-12 National Security Complex could start operating in 2022. (Image by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m.

Site preparation could start later this year for the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex as the U.S. Department of Energy prepares for demolition and cleanup work at the nuclear weapons plant.

DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, expects to complete demolition and cleanup work at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in 2020. It will then focus on the large-scale demolition work at Y-12.

Among the Y-12 buildings that could be demolished are Alpha 4, Alpha 5, and Beta 4, all large buildings where mercury, a toxic metal, was once used. The buildings used mercury to separate lithium for nuclear weapons. The lithium separation operations started in 1955 and ended in 1963.

But before that cleanup work can begin, OREM needs the Mercury Treatment Facility. The plant was first announced at a press conference featuring U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, about four years ago, in May 2013.

“This water treatment plant is a major step in addressing one of the biggest problems we have from the Cold War era—mercury once used to make nuclear weapons getting into our waterways,” Alexander said at the time. [Read more…]

Photo: Concrete Batch Plant for UPF at Y-12

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uranium-processing-facility-concrete-batch-plant-september-2016

Construction is almost complete on a batch plant that will provide concrete for the Uranium Processing Facility, or UPF, at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The components for the batch plant arrived at Y-12 in 41 trucks and the plant was assembled onsite. The batch plant will provide concrete for the construction of UPF, a first-of-its-kind facility for enriched uranium operations in support of Y-12 missions. (Photo by Y-12 National Security Complex)

 

Construction is almost complete on a batch plant that will provide concrete for the Uranium Processing Facility, or UPF, at Y-12 National Security Complex.

The components for the concrete batch plant arrived at the Y-12 National Security Complex in 41 trucks, and the plant was assembled onsite. The batch plant will provide concrete for the construction of UPF, a first-of-its-kind facility for enriched uranium operations in support of Y-12 National Security Complex missions. [Read more…]

Demonstrator arrested after annual march to Y-12

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OREPA-Rosdatter-Y-12-ORPD-Aug-6-2016-3

Beth Rosdatter of Lexington, Kentucky, in white T-shirt, was arrested on a state misdemeanor charge of obstructing a highway after she walked up to the federal “blue line” and sat on the pavement in front of it at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on East Bear Creek Road on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:45 p.m. Aug. 7.

A Kentucky woman was arrested on a state misdemeanor charge after she walked up to the federal “blue line” at the front entrance of the Y-12 National Security Complex on East Bear Creek Road on Saturday afternoon and sat down on the pavement at the main entrance to the nuclear weapons plant.

Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, said Rosdatter, a 55-year-old mother who has a doctorate in philosophy, did not cross the blue line. Crossing it can result in federal charges.

In an apparent act of civil disobedience, Rosdatter sat in the roadway, on the hot asphalt near the blue line. She appeared to be questioned by Y-12 security officers and the Oak Ridge Police Department and then detained by the ORPD.

Also Saturday, Michael Walli, one of three protesters who broke into Y-12 on July 28, 2012, and splashed blood and sprayed graffiti on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility as part of an effort to protest nuclear weapons, helped lead a two-mile nuclear disarmament march to Y-12 from Alvin K. Bissell Park in central Oak Ridge. Rosdatter’s arrest followed that march.

Walli was released from prison along with his two fellow protesters, Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed, on May 16, 2015, eight days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned their more serious felony sabotage convictions. [Read more…]

Y-12 finishes W69 warhead dismantlement work

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Short-Range-Attack-Missile-B-1B-Bomber-1987

Members of the 96th Munitions Maintenance Squadron use a weapons loader to move an inert AGM-69A Short Range Attack Missile, or SRAM, from underneath a B-1B bomber aircraft in 1987. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

Dismantlement of W69 canned subassemblies has been completed at the Y-12 National Security Complex, officials said Friday.

The W69 was the warhead for the short-range attack missile, or SRAM, and it was retired from the U.S. nuclear stockpile in 1992. The last W69 weapon was dismantled in 1999. The Y-12 site originally assembled the W69 canned subassemblies, or CSAs, in the 1970s and began disassembly in 2012.

“These weapons components have come full circle, considering Y-12 has been responsible for the assembly and disassembly of every secondary in the nation’s nuclear stockpile,” manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office Geoff Beausoleil said, “With this successful dismantlement, we now can turn our focus to other systems to further modernize the stockpile.”

“The employees of Consolidated Nuclear Security are proud to have an integral role in accomplishing the NNSA’s nuclear weapon mission,” Consolidated Nuclear Security President and CEO Morgan Smith said. “The work done at Y-12 on the W69 is yet another example of the important role we play in supporting our nation and making the world a safer place.” [Read more…]

Construction on Y-12 mercury treatment plant could start in 2018, cost $146 million

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Y-12 Process Buildings and Mercury Use Area

Note: This story was last updated at 3:30 p.m.

Construction on a mercury treatment plant at the Y-12 National Security Complex could start in 2018 and cost $146 million, a federal official said Wednesday.

The plant would treat mercury contamination that originates in the West End Mercury Area at Y-12, flows through storm drains, and enters Upper East Fork Poplar Creek at a point known as Outfall 200. East Fork Poplar Creek flows through Oak Ridge.

The U.S. Department of Energy has evaluated several alternatives for treating the mercury, including doing nothing. But DOE prefers an option that would treat 3,000 gallons of contaminated water per minute and store two million gallons of stormwater. It could reduce the flow of mercury, a toxic metal, by an estimated 84 percent. [Read more…]

Officials celebrate new bridge, road relocation, haul road for UPF at Y-12

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Bear Creek Road Extension and Bridge

Pictured above is the new Bear Creek Road extension and bridge on the west side of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

They called it their first major milestone: the completion of site readiness work, delivered on time and under budget. The work included the relocation of Bear Creek Road, a new bridge, and construction of a haul road.

It’s part of the project to build a Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. UPF could replace World War II-era buildings at Y-12. The project has been capped at $6.5 billion, and it’s expected to be completed by 2025.

Federal officials and contractors celebrated the completion of the site readiness subproject in a Friday morning ceremony at Y-12. [Read more…]

NNSA finishes upgrades at Y-12 enriched uranium buildings ahead of schedule, under budget

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Y-12 Building 9212 Stack 110

At Building 9212, Stacks 110 and 43 were combined, which eliminated use of one exhaust stack. Further improvements on the project at the Y-12 National Security Complex included the old bag filtration system being replaced with a new cartridge dust collector, shown here. (Photos courtesy NNSA)

 

Project provides critical infrastructure upgrades in Building 9212

The National Nuclear Security Administration has completed a major capital improvement project that has resulted in critical infrastructure upgrades to two key production buildings at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The $75.7 million project was completed nearly 11 months ahead of the construction completion schedule and approximately $5.6 million under budget.

The Nuclear Facilities Risk Reduction, or NFRR, project included upgrades to mechanical, electrical, ventilation, and heating/cooling systems for enriched uranium operations in Buildings 9212 and 9204-2E. The project began in 2008, when 10 tasks were identified and undertaken to make those facilities safer for operations. The project was originally scheduled for completion in 2016.

Improvements include major portions of a 40‑year‑old ventilation system being replaced, and 11 steam stations being consolidated into seven with improved function and maintainability. Several upgrades, replacements, and modifications have been made to electrical switchgear and motor control center systems, and a Kathabar system was replaced with a more environmentally friendly brine chiller. [Read more…]

CNS helps provide housing to homeless veterans

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Helen Ross McNabb Veterans Housing Project

This eight-unit apartment building on Coster Road in Knoxville was built to house homeless veterans who have mental illness or a behavioral health disability. The first four veterans moved into their new apartments before Christmas. By springtime, the Helen Ross McNabb Veterans Housing Project will provide permanent apartment homes to 23 veterans, who will also receive ongoing case management. (Photo provided by Helen Ross McNabb Center)

 

Donation contributes to new housing and care through Helen Ross McNabb Center

Consolidated Nuclear Security’s donation of $25,000 to the Helen Ross McNabb Center’s Veterans Housing Project served as one of the final building blocks in the $1.83-million effort to provide permanent housing to homeless veterans who have mental illnesses. On December 15, the ribbon was cut on the first apartment building, and the first four homeless veterans moved into their new homes in time to celebrate Christmas.

The CNS donation helped fund the newly constructed Cedar Crossing apartment building on Coster Road in Knoxville, which provides eight one-bedroom units. The second phase of the project is rehabilitating a former apartment complex off Washington Pike that will provide another 15 apartment homes. The three-building Washington Oaks renovation is expected to be completed by March 2015. [Read more…]

Y-12 honors past plant manager and building’s namesake, Jack Case

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Michelle Hurst, Linda Fellers, and Patrick Case

Jack Case’s granddaughter Michelle Hurst points out to her mother Linda Fellers and uncle Patrick Case that the artist who created the bust of her grandfather “pretty well nailed it on the likeness.” The family loaned a number of Case’s personal articles, including the bust given to him as a birthday present by a friend’s wife who was a ceramics artist. Other Y-12 historical artifacts of Case’s were included in the Jack Case Center lobby display as a way of educating visitors and residents about the building’s namesake. (Photos courtesy CNS)

 

Family members of former Y-12 Plant Manager Jack Case (1967-1982) recently stopped by the Jack Case Center to check out a new display of a few of his items, some donated by them and others brought out of the Y-12 historical archives. Brothers Larry and Patrick, along with sister Linda Fellers, donated the artifacts and some valuable historic information about their father to help the keepers of Y-12’s history share the legacy of the building’s namesake.

“Most people that work at Y-12 today don’t remember my dad,” said Patrick Case, the youngest of the siblings. “If I worked in this building, I’d want to know who in the world Jack Case is. This display is not only a great tribute to him, but it’s a good way for people coming in and out of this building to quickly get a sense of why they named a building after him.” [Read more…]