NNSA APM OFFICE TO MANAGE LANL PLUTONIUM MODERNIZATION EFFORTS

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Acquisition and Project Management will manage efforts to modernize Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plutonium capabilities, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in a recently released memo. According to the April 11 DNFSB site representative weekly report, released last week, laboratory and Los Alamos Field Office personnel have begun to establish integrated project teams and APM will provide an execution plan by June 30 for the three-phase strategy, which involves outfitting space in the existing Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building and repurpose space in the existing Plutonium Facility to make up for the deferral of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility project.

The DNFSB also said that a March 27 memo from acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held “included a reaffirmation of the commitment to cease programmatic operation in the CMR building by the end of calendar year 2019 and notes that all 3 phases of the plutonium strategy will be executed in a manner fully compliant with DOE Order 413.3B, Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets.” Los Alamos referred questions to the NNSA, and the NNSA did not respond to a request for comment.