Los Alamos National Laboratory has resumed about two-thirds of work at its Plutonium Facility after operations were shut down a year ago due to criticality safety and conduct of operations issues, according to a senior laboratory official, but there is no clear timetable for a full resumption of activities. A recently released May 30 Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board site representative report suggested that a “large number” of fissile material operations were slated to be restarted before the end of June, noting that a “war room” had been established to support seven-day-a-week efforts to restart operations in the facility. In addition to the work that has been restarted, the lab official said “many more are in the normal resumption process, to include internal and external readiness assessments for activities that have been substantially improved or are undergoing significant equipment upgrades.”
The lab would not offer any more specifics about what operations remain shut down, but the official hinted that a return to full operations could come soon. “The NNSA Headquarters and Field Office criticality safety experts worked together with us to tackle the most challenging issues and are well on our way to completing all resumption activities in the near-term,” the official said. The official cautioned, however, that the lab is not operating on a timetable. “We are taking our time and we’re doing it right,” the official said. “We’re not up against a calendar.”