Y-12 repairs roll-up door that failed to close during fire alarm at HEUMF

Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (Photo courtesy of NNSA/B&W Y-12)

Workers have repaired a roll-up door that failed to close when a fire alarm system was activated at a high-security uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in May.

“The fire alarms were activated due to smoke from a belt of a fan with a failed bearing, but there was no fire,” the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a May 24 report. “The signal to the door closure device should cause a cable to release, allowing the door to close, but this did not occur because permanent deformation (kinks) in the cable caused it to knot when tension was released.”

The incident at the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility occurred while four DNFSB board and staff members were visiting Y-12 to discuss the proposed Uranium Processing Facility and tour other buildings. The DNFSB said the roll-up door is part of a safety-significant Secondary Confinement System.

On Wednesday, Y-12 spokeswoman Ellen Boatner said engineers have checked the cable to make sure it no longer tangles and examined other doors at the plant to ensure there are no problems elsewhere.

“They’re fixing it so it won’t happen again,” Boatner said.

She said HEUMF, which stores most of the nation’s highly enriched uranium, has an extensive fire suppression system, but the plant wants to avoid creating any problems at the building.