DOE PLEDGES INCREASED COOPERATION WITH DNFSB ON PF-4 UPGRADES

The National Nuclear Security Administration will take another approach to evaluating the ability of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility (PF-4) to withstand an earthquake, Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman said in a recent letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board that pledged to increase cooperation with the Board on the much scrutinized effort to upgrade the facility. Poneman said he was directing the agency to undertake a “modal loading analysis” that would complement an almost-complete “static nonlinear pushover analysis.” The Board had raised questions about the analysis, suggesting that it was proceeding “without adequate definition and technical justification” in a July letter to Poneman. Previous seismic studies have recognized vulnerabilities at PF-4, but the current analysis is important to determine the extent of upgrades needed at PF-4 to protect the facility from collapse in a massive earthquake. In his letter, Poneman said DOE and NNSA are “working to ensure that our analytical methods are validated and our results are technically correct. It is crucial that the decisions we make regarding this vital facility be of the highest quality and take into account the views” of the DNFSB. Poneman promised to discuss any planned structural upgrades with the Board. “I suggest that our staff continue to work together to ensure that we all clearly understand the work and results that have been completed as well as the path forward to complete the remaining planned analysis and testing,” he said.