Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: New fence was needed to improve Y-12 security

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Much has been made of the decision at the Y-12 National Security Complex to improve security by extending one of our security fences. As the president and general manager of B&W Y-12, the management and operating contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration, I believe it’s important that a few of the facts surrounding this change be understood.

In case you haven’t been following this matter, we moved the boundary fence (also known as the 229 boundary) closer to our main entrance. This was done in response to recent trespassing events at Y-12 in order to strengthen our security posture. The response to this decision has been overwhelmingly positive among the vast majority of the people who take interest in Y-12’s operations. We are gratified by that support. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 names Carl Strock as UPF project director

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Carl Strock

Carl Strock

Retired Lt. Gen Carl Strock has been named Uranium Processing Facility project director for B&W Y-12 at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

He reports to Jim Haynes, B&W Y-12 deputy general manager for projects.

Strock is Bechtel’s former manager of global construction. He joined Bechtel in 2007 after retiring as head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after serving in the U.S. Army for more than 36 years. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 ‘pleased’ with union contract extension

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B&W Y-12 released a short statement Saturday saying it was pleased with the contract extension approved by hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Friday.

The 14-month contract extension includes a 2.5 percent wage increase, and it was ratified by members of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council during voting at a union hall on Friday afternoon and evening. The ATLC represents 14 international unions.

“We look forward to continuing our productive relationship ensuring the missions of the National Nuclear Security Administration at Y-12,” B&W Y-12 said in the statement. [Read more…]

Y-12 union workers approve contract extension, 2.5 percent raise

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Y-12 Pipefitters and Electrical Workers at Union Contract Extension

Henry Campbell, left, of the Pipefitters Local 718, and Jim Cromwell and Tony Reach of the IBEW Local 760 at stations where they give out tickets to vote on Friday on a contract extension and wage increase for hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex have ratified a 14-month contract extension and 2.5 percent wage increase, an official said.

The extension goes into effect April 22 and lasts through June 20, 2014, said Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, which represents 14 international unions.

The contract extension applies to roughly 1,100 union members at Y-12. It will not affect ATLC members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Y-12 union workers vote Friday on contract extension, 2.5 percent raise

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Y-12 National Security Complex

About 1,200 hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, will vote Friday on a 14-month contract extension and a 2.5 percent wage increase. (Submitted photo)

Hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex will vote Friday on whether to accept a 14-month contract extension and a 2.5 percent wage increase, an official said.

There would be no changes to worker benefits, said Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council.

If approved, the 14-month contract extension would become effective April 22 and last through June 20, 2014. It would apply to roughly 1,200 union members at Y-12. It would not affect ATLC members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Y-12 to install new fence to reduce trespassing

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OREPA Protest at Y-12 National Security Complex

A new fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex would enclose this field near the entrance at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads, and the nonprofit organization that organizes demonstrations and vigils here plans to challenge the fence.

After three trespassing incidents involving five people in the past year, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced plans on Thursday to extend the boundary fence at the Y-12 National Security Complex along Scarboro Road.

The new fence will be relatively close to the road, an NNSA spokesman said. A field traditionally used for protests near the Y-12 sign at the entrance on Bear Creek Road would be behind the fence. The new fence would run along Scarboro Road from Bear Creek Road to New Hope Road, and it would also enclose New Hope Center, which is often used for public events.

The new fence, which would run along the U.S. government property line, is expected to be in place by April 4, the NNSA said.

“Events of the past several months have shown that there is a greater threat of trespassing on the site, and the costs for responding to this threat are increasing,” the NNSA said in a Thursday afternoon press release. “Y-12 is taking conservative and appropriate measures to make such illegal actions more difficult.” [Read more…]

Sequester scenarios: Y-12 officials no longer expect furloughs

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Earlier scenarios had called for possible furloughs at the Y-12 National Security Complex in response to automatic federal budget cuts that went into effect March 1—the so-called sequester—but plant officials said they no longer expect the temporary layoffs.

However, B&W Y-12, the plant’s managing and operating contractor, said it is implementing spending reductions, including in summer intern and educational assistance programs. The company is deferring employee award benefits for services, performance, and special recognition; and suspending upgrades to personal computers, wireless projects, and the information technology infrastructure. In addition, some discretionary travel, professional development training, and materials and supplies purchases will be significantly reduced, B&W Y-12 said in a statement. [Read more…]

After 13 years guarding federal facilities, WSI leaves Oak Ridge

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WSI Oak Ridge

Friday was the last day for many employees at security company WSI Oak Ridge, which lost its contracts to protect federal facilities after the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

After 13 years of protecting federal facilities, WSI Oak Ridge has left the Secret City.

Friday was the last day for many employees at WSI, and the contract ended Sunday, spokeswoman Courtney Henry said.

Formerly known as Wackenhut Services Inc., the company once provided up to 1,000 security police officers and support staff at federal facilities that included East Tennessee Technology Park, the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex.

But WSI lost its contract to guard Y-12, a National Nuclear Security Administration site, after the July 28 security breach, and it did not win a separate contract to protect local U.S. Department of Energy sites, including ETTP, ORNL, the Federal Building, and the rest of the Oak Ridge Reservation. That contract was awarded to National Strategic Protective Services LLC, or NSPS. [Read more…]

Y-12 Construction team honored for safety milestones

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B&W Y-12 Construction Awards

Tom Morris, B&W Y-12 vice president of projects, presents construction safety awards to Monica Lewis, Y-12 craft safety lead representative, and Kevin Adkisson, Knoxville Building and Construction Trades Council president.
(Submitted photos)

A B&W Y-12 construction team was recently honored for two major safety achievements: working more than one million hours without a lost-time accident and having no recordable injuries in 2012, a press release said.

The B&W Y‑12 Direct-Hire Construction team achieved the one-million-hour milestone in June 2012. By January 2013, the team had reached 1.4 million hours (more than 800 days) without a lost-time accident, the press release said. The team’s last lost workday occurred in September 2010.

Jim Haynes, B&W Y-12 senior vice president and deputy general manager for projects, called it “a superb accomplishment.

[Read more…]

Worker hours could be cut at Y-12 in response to sequestration

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Note: This story was updated at 8:05 p.m.

The work week at the Y-12 National Security Complex could occasionally be reduced to 30 hours for many employees between April and October as part of a budget-cutting plan announced Thursday.

Under the proposal, nonessential personnel could work three 10-hour days rather than four 10-hour days every third week. The plan has been proposed in response to the automatic federal spending cuts scheduled to start taking effect at midnight.

B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer said the cuts would require furloughs, or temporary layoffs, for most employees.

[Read more…]

Sequester scenarios: $100 million in funding cuts at ORNL, furloughs at Y-12

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Operating costs have already been cut by 7 percent at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and all employees are expected to report to work on Friday, even if automatic federal spending cuts go into effect at midnight.

The federal cuts could reduce lab funding by 5 percent to 8 percent, ORNL Director Thom Mason said. That could translate into $70 million to $100 million in funding cuts, depending upon how the reductions are allocated.

Meanwhile, at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the automatic spending cuts could lead to furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have said between 700 and 1,000 employees could be furloughed for up to six months.

But in a Feb. 14 message to employees, B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer did not say how many employees might be affected.

[Read more…]

Y-12 evaluation: Some excellent ratings, but unsatisfactory on security, UPF

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

Although it received excellent and very good ratings in some areas, the contractor that manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge was stung by unsatisfactory marks for its performance before and during the July 28 security breach and the redesign of the new Uranium Processing Facility.

The National Nuclear Security Administration said the UPF redesign could add $539 million to the project cost and extend its schedule by 13 months. The UPF has been estimated to cost up to $6.5 billion, and plans have called for it to start operating as early as 2023.

The NNSA also said the Y-12 security system and protective force completely failed when three anti-nuclear weapons activists penetrated a high-security Protected Area before dawn on July 28. The three protesters were able to avoid detection and cut through three fences inside Y-12 before spraying paint and splashing human blood on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

But federal officials awarded “excellent” or “very good” ratings to the contractor, Babcock and Wilcox Y-12 Technical Services LLC, or B&W Y-12, for operations in areas that include environmental and waste management activities, infrastructure improvements, risk reduction initiatives, cyber security, and stockpile and nuclear nonproliferation work.

[Read more…]