Uranium Processing Facility (2020 DOE transition)

Book 2 - Issue Papers
Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020

Success on Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is contingent upon stable funding by the Administration and Congress and sufficient material and labor supply chains.

Summary

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is managing the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) project at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. UPF is essential to NNSA’s Nuclear Security Enterprise improvement efforts. Success on this project has been built upon stable and predictable funding profiles and Congressional support of the President’s Budget Requests. The project receives significant attention from Congress and DOE as the largest single NNSA project underway. Congress requires a yearly certification that the project is on cost and schedule.

Issue(s)

The project is on budget; however, delays in material delivery and craft labor hiring are challenging schedule performance.

Status

Construction of UPF continued unabated during the COVID-19 emergency. UPF has been on budget and schedule for seven years due to strong Congressional support of the budget request. Timely delivery of glove boxes, process skids, and equipment from vendors and the ability to attract and retain craft workers are key to maintaining the schedule. Sustained financial support for UPF is critical to ensure project execution as the project reaches peak nuclear construction in FY 2021. The Y-12/Pantex management and operating (M&O) contract is being recompeted with an expected transition date of Oct 1, 2021. This contract transition will have to be carefully managed to avoid a negative impact on cost and schedule performance for transition and start-up of the new facility.

Background

The $6.5 billion UPF project consists of two nuclear buildings, three industrial buildings, and supporting infrastructure. Budgeted at over $750 million, it is a major system acquisition approved by the Deputy Secretary. It relocates processing capabilities from the 75-year-old Building 9212 to ensure the longterm viability, safety, and security of the Enriched Uranium (EU) capability at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The UPF project modernizes EU processing capabilities at Y-12 to reduce program and safety risk. The project has successfully completed the first three of seven subprojects under budget and on schedule.

The goals and objectives of the UPF project are to support the following modernization strategy:

• Provide new floor space for the high-hazard, high-security operations to ensure the long term capability and improve the reliability of EU operations.
• Relocate EU processing capabilities into UPF to reduce dependency on deteriorating, end-of-life buildings and move operations into a modern manufacturing facility.
• Significantly improve the health and safety posture for workers and the public by replacing administrative controls with engineered controls to manage the risks related to worker safety, criticality safety, fire protection, and environmental compliance

Next Major Decision/Event/Milestone (in FY 2022)

Completion of the Mechanical Electrical Building Subproject: January 2022