Oak Ridge Today

Teresa Robbins named NNSA Production Office field office manager

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Teresa Robbins

NPO serves as the federal oversight organization for the Pantex Plant and Y-12 National Security Complex

The National Nuclear Security Administration has named Teresa M. Robbins as field office manager for the NNSA Production Office, or NPO. NPO serves as the federal oversight organization for the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 

Robbins served as NPO deputy manager for the past six years, and she has more than 29 years of experience in nuclear facility operations, engineering, safety analysis, maintenance, and risk analysis at U.S. Department of Energy sites.

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New fire station, emergency operations center being built at Y-12

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A new fire station is being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Above, NNSA, Consolidated Nuclear Security, and Y-12 Fire Station leaders toss the first shovels of dirt for the new fire station on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. (Photo by Y-12)

A new fire station and emergency operations center are being built at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

They are pilot projects designed to streamline the efficiency and delivery of specific construction projects under $50 million, the National Nuclear Security Administration said in a press release.

The NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, and Y-12 managing and operating contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security had a groundbreaking ceremony for the fire station on Tuesday. A few blocks away, the emergency operations center (EOC) is already under construction.

The fire station replaces one built in 1947, and the EOC will be the home of the site’s operations center, which is currently located in a World War II-era building. “Together, these new facilities will replace two outdated buildings and enhance our emergency response capabilities,” said Gene Sievers, Y-12 site manager.

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NNSA has virtual hiring event on March 31

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration will have a virtual hiring event on Wednesday, March 31, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Registration for the event is now open. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, a press release said, although candidates will have the opportunity to register and submit resumes up until the day of the event.

Registration is available here.

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NNSA has virtual job fair, including for Y-12

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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. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has a virtual job fair for its laboratories and production sites on Wednesday, January 27.

The NNSA said it wants to hire about 2,000 new employees in 2021.

The virtual job fair is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. It will include hiring officials from NNSA and its national laboratories, plants, and sites, a press release said. Those include:

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Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

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AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX (DOE/EA-2145)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Draft Environmental Assessment (EA), which analyzes the potential impacts of constructing and operating the Lithium Processing Facility (LPF) to process and supply the lithium material and components that are needed to support the National Security Enterprise. The LPF would be located at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) on a proposed site that is currently occupied by the former Biology Complex.

NNSA invites the public to review and submit comments on the Draft EA. Copies of the document are available for public review on the NNSA NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) and/or the DOE NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nepa/public-comment-opportunities). Public comments on the Draft EA should be submitted no later than January 8, 2021. Comments may be submitted via regular mail to NNSA NEPA Document Manager, Attn: LPF Draft EA, P.O. Box 2050, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; or by email: NEPA.Comments@npo.doe.gov. Comments will not be accepted over the telephone.

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of the ORETTC Final Environmental Assessment (EA), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings.

The Final EA analyzes the potential impacts of constructing and operating the ORETTC to train first responders and other experts in nuclear operations, safeguards, and emergency response.

The proposed site for the ORETTC is on the Oak Ridge Reservation, approximately 5 miles west of the Y-12 National Security Site, across from the Horizon Center Industrial Park on the Oak Ridge Turnpike, and approximately 1.5 mile east of the State Route (SR) 95—SR 58 interchange. Copies of the documents are available on the NNSA NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) and/or the DOE NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doe-environmental-assessments).

NNSA administrator resigns

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Lisa Gordon-Hagerty

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, resigned Friday.

The NNSA oversees the work at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and other nuclear weapons sites across the nation. The NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains nuclear warheads, produces fuel for the nuclear navy, and works on nuclear nonproliferation, among other activities.

Gordon-Hagerty, who was also under secretary of energy for nuclear security, became the first woman to lead the NNSA in February 2018.

It’s not clear why she resigned Friday or whether her resignation was voluntary.

Defense News reported that the resignation was driven by almost a year of clashes between Gordon-Hagerty’s office and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, including over budgets.

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Public notice: Draft environmental assessment available for Technology and Training Center

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AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OAK RIDGE ENHANCED TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING CENTER (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Draft Environmental Assessment (EA), which analyzes the potential impacts of constructing and operating the ORETTC to train first responders and other experts in nuclear operations, safeguards, and emergency response.

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Y-12 employee dies of health issues related to COVID-19

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William Mark Easterly

A project controls manager at the Y-12 National Security Complex has died of health issues related to COVID-19, the nuclear weapons production plant said Tuesday.

The Daily Times has identified the employee as Mark Easterly of Maryville. The newspaper said Easterly was employed by Bechtel for almost 30 years, and he began working at Y-12 as a project controls manager in March.

His death is the first death due to COVID-19 at a National Nuclear Security Administration site. Y-12 is an NNSA site. The NNSA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Daily Times reported that Easterly’s wife, Brandee, is principal of John Sevier Elementary School in Maryville.

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Japanese supercomputer displaces ORNL’s Summit as world’s most powerful

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A Japanese supercomputer has displaced the Summit supercomputer, pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as the world’s most powerful. Summit is a 200-petaflop IBM system. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)

Note: This story was last updated at 3 p.m. June 24.

A Japanese supercomputer has displaced the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as the world’s most powerful and bumped other U.S. and Chinese machines down one spot on a semiannual list of the fastest systems.

Summit had been ranked the world’s most powerful supercomputer on the semiannual TOP500 list since June 2018. It was bumped to number two when the new TOP500 list was released Monday.

The new top system is installed in Kobe, Japan, and it is named Fugaku. In a high-performance test, it performed at 415.5 petaflops. A petaflop is a quadrillion floating-point operations per second.

Fugaku’s performance was 2.8 times better than Summit’s, according to TOP500. Summit delivered 148.8 petaflops on the high-performance test.

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UCOR cleanup contract extended

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The East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site), which is pictured above, is being cleaned up by UCOR for the U.S. Department of Energy. (Photo by UCOR)

The UCOR contract to clean up federal sites in Oak Ridge has been extended one year to July 31, 2021, and the consideration of a new cleanup contract won’t be considered until November 2020 at the earliest.

The UCOR contract could be extended one additional year, to July 31, 2022, using two six-month options, depending upon contractor performance and progress.

Before the extension, UCOR’s contract had been scheduled to expire July 31, 2020.

UCOR works on cleanup projects for the U.S. Department of Energy at the East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex. The work includes the demolition of old, contaminated buildings that are no longer used. The cleanup work is called environmental management, or EM.

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For members: CNS violated nuclear safety requirements at Y-12, NNSA says

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Y-12 Building 9212
A low-level aerial shot of Building 9212 at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

A federal contractor violated nuclear safety requirements at the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The violations are associated with the accumulations of uranium-235 in a glovebox, furnace, and casting line in Building 9212 at Y-12. The equipment is used to recover and process uranium-235, a fissile material that can be used in nuclear weapons and reactors.

Y-12 Building 9212

A low-level aerial shot of Building 9212 at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

A federal contractor violated nuclear safety requirements at the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The violations are associated with the accumulations of uranium-235 in a glovebox, furnace, and casting line in Building 9212 at Y-12. The equipment is used to recover and process uranium-235, a fissile material that can be used in nuclear weapons and reactors.

The buildup of enriched uranium, discovered after hydraulic lines leaked in a glovebox, exceeded limits established by a safety program meant to help prevent a nuclear chain reaction.

An investigation of the uranium accumulations found weaknesses in five areas, according to the NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy and overseas nuclear weapons work at sites like Y-12. Among the deficiencies were procedural compliances, evaluations of process changes, the analyses of causes, the establishment of roles and responsibilities, and the implementation of a program meant to prevent inadvertent accumulations.

“The National Nuclear Security Administration considers these deficiencies to be of high safety significance,” Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty wrote in an April 6 letter. “Although there were no actual consequences to the public, workers, or the environment, these deficiencies eroded the barriers preventing a nuclear criticality and could, if left uncorrected, adversely impact nuclear and worker safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex.”

The letter was sent to Morgan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security. CNS manages and operates Y-12, as well as the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, for the NNSA.

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