The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is raising a number of seismic safety issues at two Y-12 production facilities—Beta-2E and Building 9215—that have become integral to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s revised strategy for scaling back the scope of the Uranium Processing Facility and getting out of the decrepit 9212 complex as soon as possible. In order to make the revised UPF strategy work, NNSA is proposing to extend the life of Beta-2E and Building 9215 and possibly add missions to their current activities, and the safety board is pointing out a number of potential pitfalls—especially the structural concerns in the event of a major earthquake. “Building 9204-2E (Beta-2E) and the 9215 Complex have known structural performance deficiencies and do not meet modern structural design requirements,” DNFSB Vice Chairman Jessie Roberson said in a
Feb. 4 letter to NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart. “These deficiencies result in an increased potential for structural collapse and release of radiological material following certain seismic events.”
According to a new DNFSB review of Beta-2E and 9215, the remaining operational life of the two buildings under the new UPF strategy is now approaching the life assumed for new designs. Therefore, the DNFSB is recommending NNSA consider an updated analysis of the buildings using more accurate modeling techniques. “The current evaluations of the 9215 Complex and Building 9204-2E do not consider the large extension of their operational lifespans and fail to explicitly acknowledge the impact of the lack of structural ductility on each building’s design margin, particularly for the 9215 Complex,” the DNFSB said in a report accompanying Roberson’s letter.
