NNSA Preparing Supplement Analysis Linked to New UPF Plans
NS&D Monitor
3/6/2015
The National Nuclear Security Administration has confirmed it is “in the process” of preparing a Supplement Analysis to determine if the agency needs to revise Y-12’s site-wide environmental impact statement because of changing plans for the Uranium Processing Facility. Steven Wyatt, a spokesman at the NNSA’s Production Office, responded to questions about compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act after two activist groups—the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and Nuclear Watch New Mexico—announced they were jointly filing a Freedom Of Information Act request to force the release of more information on the plans for the multibillion-dollar UPF. “The Supplement Analysis will provide the information and analysis to determine whether a supplement to an EIS is necessary to meet NEPA requirements for the UPF project,” Wyatt said in an email statement. “As stated previously, NNSA has not made a decision regarding the Site Wide EIS. Once the UPF project has finalized the new conceptual design and develops sufficient engineering information, we should have enough information to make decisions on what is required to ensure that we are in compliance with NEPA on this project.”
After the analysis is completed, the results will be posted on the DOE NEPA website, Wyatt said. The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and Nuclear Watch applauded NNSA’s decision to validate the NEPA compliance. The groups said they’d been told earlier that the NNSA would proceed forward with UPF plans without re-doing the environmental analyses. If DOE failed to prepare a Supplement Analysis, the federal agency could be “legally vulnerable,” the long-time activist groups said.
Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of OREPA, said the public deserves to know what’s going on with the big project. “We are the ones placed at risk when people in Washington make decisions to keep building nuclear bombs in buildings that do not meet safety codes or even weakened seismic standards,” he said. “At the very least, we deserve an explanation.”
Maintenance Issues Partly to Blame for Y-12 Purification Facility Spill
NS&D Monitor
3/6/2015
Consolidated Nuclear Security has completed its investigation of a Dec. 16 chemical spill at the Y-12 National Security Complex and, according to a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office, “maintenance issues” were at least partly to blame for the incident. Steven Wyatt, the public affairs chief at the Production Office, said he could not release the investigation report, citing classification restrictions, but he released a general statement regarding the cause of the spill of acetonitrile—a highly flammable solvent—at Y-12’s Purification Facility. “Significant contributors to the event were maintenance issue and system status awareness,” Wyatt said in an email response to questions.
He declined to elaborate on the statement or say if the equipment was improperly maintained, as suggested in the statement, or whether the production system at the facility was not monitored as required by procedure. The Purification Facility is used to produce Fogbank, a classified material that’s used in some nuclear weapons, including the W76 or Trident warheads. “CNS is completing preparations and modifications to safely resume operations, which should resume in the near future,” Wyatt said.
The mid-December spill forced the evacuation of the Purification Facility, which has only a few full-time staffers. No one was reported to be injured in the spill, and workers at the site were praised for their timely response in limiting the impacts of the accident.
Investigation Took Longer Than Expected
The investigation apparently took longer than expected. In an interview two days after the Dec. 16 spill, CNS President Jim Haynes said Y-12 workers “responded brilliantly” to the situation and said he expected restart of the Purification Facility within a matter of days. “I think we’re talking about days, not weeks or months or something like that,” Haynes said.
The NNSA has confirmed that the Purification Facility is used to produce Fogbank, but Wyatt would not comment on whether Fogbank processing is the only operation that takes place inside the facility. “We will not elaborate further on this facility or the material produced,” he said.