May 29, 2014

UPF RED TEAM DELIVERS REPORT TO NNSA

By ExchangeMonitor

Acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held confirmed that he received the Red Team’s alternative-to-UPF report yesterday, but it’s not clear when—or if—the partially classified report will be released or how the NNSA plans to proceed with the findings. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason, who headed the Red Team review of Y-12’s uranium missions, apparently forwarded an electronic copy of the report late yesterday—the deadline for the quick-and-intense review. “I think we were able to respond to the charge and come up with a possible alternative for the NNSA to consider,” Mason said. “I learned a lot and I think everybody on the team did, and that’s always gratifying when you can spend some time digging into something and hopefully contribute.”

He would not discuss details of the proposed alternative. “We’re delivering it to the acting administrator, and it’ll be up to them [NNSA] to respond. They’ll have to decide how they want to share the result,” Mason said. The ORNL chief said he was providing an electronic copy of the report to Held and expected to follow that up with briefings in the days ahead. Retired Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz was recently confirmed by the Senate as administrator of the NNSA, but has not yet been sworn in. Mason said he likely would do a later briefing with Klotz. Earlier this month, Mason confirmed that the members of the Red Team had reached a “strong consensus” on a potential alternative to the all-inclusive UPF model. The goal was to come up with a plan that allows Y-12 to get out of its 9212 uranium complex by 2025 and complete the necessary upgrades within acceptable risks by spending no more than the project’s stated cost rank of $4.2 billion to $6.5 billion.

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