Plutonium Pit Production

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/11/2015 The nation’s planned MOX method of plutonium disposition is vulnerable to annual funding constraints, while a downblending approach is lower in both cost and associated risks, according to Aerospace Corp. The company conducted a congressionally mandated study on alternatives to the costly MOX project, which includes ongoing construction of the […]

The nation’s planned MOX method of plutonium disposition is vulnerable to annual funding constraints, while a downblending approach is lower in both cost and associated risks, according to Aerospace Corp. The company conducted a congressionally mandated study on alternatives to the costly MOX project, which includes ongoing construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility […]

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) and the Department of Energy plan to ramp up production of plutonium oxide feed to support the nation’s MOX method of plutonium disposition. The feedstock, which will be produced using the Savannah River Site’s H Canyon and HB-Line facilities, is a diluted version of plutonium and would be used to […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/4/2015 Congress is pushing for an updated cost assessment of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility following a congressionally mandated independent review this summer that priced the project’s life-cycle expense at $51 billion. Despite controversial hearings in Congress and indications from the Department of Energy that the project is too expensive, […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 The mission need Critical Decision (CD)-0 for the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) modular approach to plutonium manufacturing has been approved, according to Department of Energy documents shared with NS&D Monitor. The plutonium modular approach (PMA) project will provide the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) with “high-hazard, high-security laboratory space” […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 12/4/2015 Congress is pushing for an updated cost assessment of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility following a congressionally mandated independent review this summer that priced the project’s life-cycle expense at $51 billion. Despite controversial hearings in Congress and indications from the Department of Energy that the project is too expensive, […]

Congress is pushing for an updated cost assessment of the MOX project following a congressionally mandated independent review this summer that priced the project’s life-cycle expense at $51 billion. Despite controversial hearings in Congress and indications from the Department of Energy that the project is too expensive, President Barack Obama on Nov. 25 signed the […]

The mission need Critical Decision (CD)-0 for the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) modular approach to plutonium manufacturing has been approved, according to Department of Energy documents shared with NS&D Monitor. The plutonium modular approach (PMA) project will provide the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) with “high-hazard, high-security laboratory space” for LANL’s plutonium operations, according […]

National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz and colleagues were at the Savannah River Site on Nov. 19, where they among other things participated in a mockup of a dilution process for nuclear material at the site’s K-Area. This was in preparation for the possibility that 34 tons of U.S. weapon-grade plutonium will be diluted […]

An article published in the Nov. 19 Weapons Complex Morning Briefing misidentified the location within the Savannah River Site of a plutonium storage error. The incident occurred in the site’s HB Line.

Staff Reports WC Monitor 11/20/2015 The improper storage of plutonium by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) employees resulted from a willful procedure violation by the SRNS work team, according to the Department of Energy. SRNS discovered on Sept. 3 that a group of three operators and a first-line manager stored a sample size of plutonium […]

The improper storage of plutonium by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) employees resulted from a willful procedure violation by the SRNS work team, according to the Department of Energy. SRNS discovered on Sept. 3 that a group of three operators and a first-line manager stored a sample size of plutonium in a container that was […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 11/13/2015 Safety issues continue to be reported at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant as employees conduct work on three high-hazard projects at once. Incidents of workers being contaminated with small amounts of radioactive material were first reported this summer in the weekly site reports from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety […]

Safety issues continue to be reported at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant as employees conduct work on three high-hazard projects at once. Incidents of workers being contaminated with small amounts of radioactive material were first reported this summer in the weekly site reports from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. In August, CH2M Hill […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 The Savannah River Site’s H Canyon is expected to enter deliberate operations next week, and HB Line should start deliberate ops by the end of November, SRS announced on Wednesday. Site contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions entered a company-wide operational pause of all nonessential nuclear and non-nuclear operations on Sept. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 10/16/2015 The modular approach to house Los Alamos National Laboratory plutonium manufacturing activities is set to reach Critical Decision 0 (approve mission need) in the imminent future, as the CD document now awaits final signature by Energy Department leadership, National Nuclear Security Administration and industry officials confirmed this week. “We have […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 9/25/2015 The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) should use alternative storage locations at its Plutonium Facility (PF-4) to facilitate nuclear material-at-risk (MAR) minimization and protection from hazards associated with earthquakes or fires, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) letter sent to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and […]

Alissa Tabirian NS&D Monitor 8/28/2015 Some operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Plutonium Facility have resumed following approval from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Field Office last month, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) site representative report released last week. “Nuclear operations associated with the T Base II machining activity” were […]

Some operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Plutonium Facility have resumed following approval from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Field Office last month, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) site representative report released last week. “Nuclear operations associated with the T Base II machining activity” were restarted at the facility, according […]

The safety significant and safety class ventilation and confinement systems used at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Technical Area 55 (TA-55) plutonium facility to mitigate the risk of accidental radioactive material release are generally reliable but exhibit some shortcomings in internal procedures and management, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Enterprise […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/24/2015 Los Alamos National Laboratory is working to restart Plutonium Facility operations by the end of fiscal 2016 after an already two-year hiatus, according to a letter, released Tuesday, from National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz to the Energy Department Inspector General’s Office. Managing contractor Los Alamos National Security “has […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory has received federal approval to move forward with the first phase for restarting Plutonium Facility operations and contractors hope to start the second phase of the restart by the end of Fiscal Year 2015, Weapons Complex Morning Briefing has learned. The federal government has approved LANL’s June 5-submitted request for federal […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 7/10/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration has not decided on a path forward for the third phase of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility Reinvestment Project—referred to as TA-55—after a decision was expected by July 5. “The NNSA continues to evaluate options for the TA-55 Reinvestment Project Phase III (TRP III); […]

Advocacy group Los Alamos Study Group (LASG) yesterday said it was “appalled” by the possibility that the National Nuclear Security Administration might not complete the alternative seismic analysis for Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility after the agency told the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board that it expected to complete the review in March 2015. […]

Los Alamos National Laboratory management hopes to accelerate the start of the contractor readiness assessment for the Plutonium Facility (PF-4) to late July, as part of its effort to restart operations at the facility, according to a recently released letter from LANL site representatives to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Dated May 29, the […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 5/22/2015 A “package of options” must be assembled to meet the Congressionally mandated goal of producing 80 plutonium pits per year at Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to a Congressional Research Service report recently released publically. The National Nuclear Security Administration is moving forward with a new plutonium strategy that involves […]

No single option for plutonium pit production would be able to meet the Administration’s goal of 80 pits per year, and therefore a “package of options” must be evaluated, according to a Congressional Research Service report released Friday. The National Nuclear Security Administration is moving forward with a new plutonium strategy that involves building modular […]

Worker OK After Puncture Wound at Tritium Facilities; SRNS Re-examining Work Areas for Hazards NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is re-examining all radiological work areas at the Savannah River Site’s Tritium Facilities for potential hazards after an employee received a puncture wound to their hand after a glovebox slip-up. According to SRNS spokeswoman […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told House appropriators this week that about $200 million in additional funding would be needed in Fiscal Year 2016 and beyond above the President’s budget request for optimal construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility. Testifying before the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Feb. […]

NNSA to Complete Seismic Review of Los Alamos PF-4 by Mid-March NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The National Nuclear Security Administration expects to complete its review of the seismic vulnerabilities of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4) by mid-March, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said in a Feb. 13 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The review […]