October 15, 2014

Plans for New Pantex Storage Bunker Moving Forward

By ExchangeMonitor

Plans for a new pit storage facility to replace an aging storage bunker at the Pantex Plant are again moving forward. The NNSA Production Office last month requested Critical Decision-0 approval for a new Material Staging Facility at the plant, according to a recently released memo from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The DNFSB did not say whether the CD-0 document, establishing a mission need for the facility and triggering work to analyze alternatives, was approved, and the NNSA and Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security did not respond to a request for comment. A project to overhaul Pantex’s pit storage facilities has long been proposed at the Pantex Plant, but the NNSA site officials denied CD-0 approval for a project in 2012.

In its Sept. 5 memo, the DNFSB said that the new CD-0 approval request was revised to include new cost information. “The mission need estimates the projected work load will require increased staging capacity of nuclear weapons and up to 20,000 nuclear components,” the DNFSB said. The project would replace existing facilities in Pantex’s Zone 4, where currently 18 modified Richmond magazines and 42 steel-arch construction magazines are between 45 and 65 years old. The DNFSB did not identify any cost estimates for the project, but it said CNS estimated that the project would hit a “break-even point” after between seven and 12 years compared with maintaining the Zone 4 facility. Money would be saved because a Perimeter Intrusion Detection Assessment System for Zone 4 would not be needed, nor would transportation between Zone 4 and Zone 12, the site’s other pit storage area.

Comments are closed.