The National Nuclear Security Administration plans to publish a master schedule for overhauling elements of its uranium program no sooner than Dec. 31, 2018, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
A cornerstone of that overhaul is the Uranium Production Facility (UPF) to be built at the Y-12 National Security Complex near Oak Ridge, Tenn. The facility provide enriched uranium services for the nuclear navy and nuclear weapons, and downblend uranium for U.S. nonproliferation programs.
The NNSA has said it will finish UPF in 2025, but GAO said in a Friday report the agency should go a step further and create a full cost and schedule estimate for the entire uranium program, including repairs and infrastructure upgrades outside of UPF.
“The estimated completion date for the initial coordinated program schedule is Dec. 31, 2018,” the NNSA replied in an Aug. 11 letter to the GAO’s latest report on the Uranium Production Facility (UPF).
The Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee ordered that the UPF design be 90 percent complete before construction begins. The NNSA has estimated it will hit the 90-percent mark this month.
The agency has pledged to finish UPF for under $6.5 billion, provided appropriations from Congress remain sufficient. Annual spending on the facility will peak in 2020 at about $845 million, the NNSA estimated this year in its fiscal 2018 budget request.
Bechtel is designing and building UPF under a subcontract with Y-12 prime Consolidated Nuclear Security. Bechtel is also part of the prime.
The Uranium Processing Facility will replace aging facilities at Y-12. The facility would support the nuclear navy, uranium downblending, and weapons maintenance.
