The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) approved Critical Decision-4, or the completion of the final stage of construction, for the Process Support Facilities subproject for the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at Y-12 National Security Complex.
“With the completion of the Process Support Facilities [PSF] at UPF, the team is one step closer to delivering this critical project for the nation,” Nicole Nelson-Jean, NNSA Associate Administrator for the Office of Infrastructure, said in NNSA’s press release Nov. 25.
The PSF is a non-nuclear facility, and the subproject included the construction of the building, installing equipment and testing systems. It is the fifth of seven subprojects for UPF at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee. The remaining two subprojects are the Main Process Building and the Salvage and Accountability Building, the press release said. The Salvage and Accountability Building was connected to the power grid at Y-12 as of June.
UPF is NNSA’s next-generation factory for nuclear-weapons secondary stages. Once construction is complete, UPF will replace facilities from World War II.
In October 2024, Brian Zieroth, the project manager for UPF with Bechtel National, told the Exchange Monitor the estimate for UPF was $10.3 billion for total cost, and he forecasted completed construction by late 2027 with transition to operations in late 2031.