Oak Ridge Today

Y-12 Construction hits one million hour mark without lost-time injury

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Y-12 Construction Safety Milestone

Jim Haynes, deputy general manager of projects at Y-12 National Security Complex, congratulates construction workers during a celebration luncheon Thursday. (Photo submitted by B&W Y-12)

B&W Y-12 announced last week that its direct-hire construction team has worked one million hours without a lost-time injury.

A press release said some 285 people—including building trade crafts, non-manual staff, and escorts—worked without a lost-time accident during the 633-day period. The construction team’s last lost workday was in September 2010.

Senior leaders from the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office, or NPO, and B&W Y‑12 congratulated the workers during a celebration Thursday.

[Read more…]

Bauer named head of Y-12 Facilities, Infrastructure, and Services

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Linda Bauer

Linda Bauer

B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer has named Linda Bauer as vice president of Facilities, Infrastructure, and Services, or FI&S.

Bauer most recently served as senior vice president with Los Alamos Technical Associates Inc., helping direct large-scale government and private endeavors, such as the Portsmouth Environmental Restoration Project and the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Project.

[Read more…]

Officials cancel plan to cut guards at Y-12

Posted at
By 1 Comment

A plan to cut up to 34 guard positions at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been canceled, a federal spokesman said Tuesday.

WSI Oak Ridge, which provides security at Y-12, no longer has the authority to restructure its staff since it is now a subcontractor reporting to B&W Y-12, rather than the National Nuclear Security Administration, said Steven Wyatt, public affairs manager for the NNSA Production Office in Oak Ridge. That change in reporting authority followed an unprecedented July 28 security breach at the plant, the nation’s main production facility for many nuclear weapons components.

The WSI plan had called for cutting a total of up to 52 jobs at Y-12 and the East Tennessee Technology Park. Employees were to be offered voluntary separations, and today was supposed to be the last work day for those who were accepted.

[Read more…]

Federal official says Y-12 security breach demands swift, strong action

Posted at
By 1 Comment

A rapid response was required after the unprecedented security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex last month, a federal official said this week.

And the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration have both taken aggressive steps to restore and enhance security at the plant, the nation’s main production facility for many nuclear weapons components, the official said.

“Secretary Chu has made clear that the security of our nation’s nuclear material is the department’s most important responsibility, and he has no tolerance for federal or contractor personnel who cannot or will not do their jobs,” DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said. “As the secretary has made clear, the recent incident at Y-12 was a completely unacceptable breach of security and an important wake-up call for our entire complex. The severity of the failure of leadership at Y-12 demands swift, strong, and decisive action by the department.”

[Read more…]

Nuclear operations resume at Y-12 under greater federal oversight

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

After a two-week “stand down,” nuclear operations resumed Wednesday at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

But there will now be more federal oversight of contractor operations, a National Nuclear Security Administration press release said. B&W Y-12 operates Y-12 for the NNSA.

“The authorization to resume operations was made possible through the completion of numerous improvements in security at Y-12 and completion of security training,” the press release said.

[Read more…]

Y-12 cameras weren’t working, guards failed to react, federal letter says

Posted at
By 6 Comments

Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above sneaked into a high-security area at the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 and triggered a security crisis that has led to personnel changes, a temporary halt in nuclear operations, and a potential termination of a federal contract with B&W Y-12. From left to right, the three protesters are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

Note: This story was last updated at 9:32 a.m. Aug. 15.

Many security cameras weren’t working when three anti-nuclear weapons activists sneaked into the Y-12 National Security Complex early in the morning on Saturday, July 28, a federal official said in a critical letter released Tuesday evening.

One of those cameras was near a fence penetrated by the protesters, who allegedly used bolt-cutters to slice through three fences before they walked to a high-security building known as the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

The intruders, who allegedly spray-painted slogans and splashed human blood on the HEUMF, set off many alarms in a “multi-layered sensor system” in a fence line, but the Y-12 protective force failed to react, the official said.

When guards alerted by the alarms responded with a vehicle patrol, it took them too long to arrive at the scene, and once there, they “failed to take appropriate steps to take control of the situation,” said the official, National Nuclear Security Administration Contracting Officer Jill Y. Albaugh. She said a responding supervisor finally took control and removed the protesters.

Written Friday, Albaugh’s letter gives Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, the plant’s managing and operating contractor, 30 days to show why the federal government should not proceed to terminate its contract.

[Read more…]

Kohlhorst, Klemm retire from Y-12; new manager starts

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Note: This story was updated at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 12.

Two weeks after an unprecedented security breach, two top executives have retired from the company that manages the Y-12 National Security Complex, and one of them has been replaced.

In a press release, The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced that Charles “Chuck” G. Spencer is now acting president and general manager for Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12 LLC, the contractor that manages the plant for the National Nuclear Security Administration. He replaces Darrel P. Kohlhorst, who has retired.

William R. Klemm

William R. Klemm

It said William R. Klemm, deputy general manager of operations, has also retired.

The statement didn’t say whether the staff changes were related to the highly publicized July 28 intrusion by three anti-nuclear weapons activists, and it didn’t say who would replace Klemm.

[Read more…]

B&W Y-12 executive takes leadership job at USEC

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The former vice president of environmental management at B&W Y-12 in Oak Ridge has taken a leadership job at USEC.

Robert Warther has been named deputy program manager for the American Centrifuge research, development, and demonstration, or RD&D, program, a press release said.

[Read more…]

Y-12 protesters plead not guilty to new charge, face more jail time

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Megan Rice and Michael R. Walli

Anti-nuclear weapons activists Megan Rice, left, and Michael R. Walli leave U.S. District Court in Knoxville after pleading not guilty Thursday morning to three counts of trespassing, property depredation, and property destruction at the Y-12 National Security Complex. A third protester, Greg Boertje-Obed, remains jailed in Blount County.

Note: This story was last updated at 1:51 a.m. Aug. 10.

KNOXVILLE—A new felony property depredation charge and the possibility of more jail time have been added to two earlier charges filed against three anti-nuclear weapons activists arrested in July near a uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The defendants—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael R. Walli—are accused of sneaking into Y-12 before dawn July 28, cutting through three fences, and setting off alarms before spraying paint and splashing blood on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

The new charge, contained in a three-count grand jury indictment filed Tuesday, carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. The three activists pleaded not guilty to all three counts during a Thursday morning arraignment in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.

[Read more…]

Nuclear operations halted at Y-12 National Security Complex

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

All nuclear operations have been halted at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, a federal spokesman said Wednesday.

The unprecedented security “stand down” occurred after three activists breached the plant’s high-security area on Saturday and after an internal review by B&W Y-12 and the National Nuclear Security Administration found procedural violations, NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt said.

“Once we found those, B&W decided it was prudent to stand down operations,” Wyatt said. B&W Y-12 manages and operates Y-12 for the NNSA.

[Read more…]

Security ‘stand down’ starts at Y-12 National Security Complex

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Federal officials on Wednesday afternoon announced a security “stand down” at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

It’s a result of the the ongoing internal review of Y-12 security operations, according to a press release from the National Nuclear Security Administration.

During the “stand down,” all special nuclear materials will be moved to vault-type facilities on site, all nuclear operations will be halted, and contractor security personnel will undergo training and refresher instruction, the release said.

[Read more…]

B&W Y-12 donates to STEM Academy lab

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

B&W Y-12 and STEM Academy

B&W Y-12 Senior Vice President and Deputy General Manager Bill Klemm, center, speaks to Knox County School Superintendent Jim McIntyre, left, and Tennessee Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 17 at the L&N STEM Academy in downtown Knoxville.

B&W Y-12 recently donated the second $100,000 of a $400,000 commitment to support the B&W Y-12 Chemistry Laboratory. The laboratory, which has been named after B&W Y-12, is located at the L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville.

This donation is meant to help address the growing demand for technical skills and is to be used to set up the school’s lab.

[Read more…]