Los Alamos National Laboratory. Courtesy/LANL
Staff Report
Ongoing safety improvements at the TA-55 Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory are addressed in an internal memo obtained by the Los Alamos Daily Post:
To: LANL-All
From: Craig Leasure, PADOPS, A102
Date: June 19, 2017
Subject: Ongoing Safety Improvements at the TA-55 Plutonium Facility
In light of the recent public discussion and interest in operational issues at TA-55, I thought it was important to set the record straight and update Laboratory employees on the many improvements in the areas of safety, security, and operations that we have together put into place over the last decade.
First and foremost, we know you are working hard and you should be proud of what we have accomplished as a Laboratory by working hard together as a team. As a result of these efforts, diligence and commitment, TA-55 is operating safely and securely in support of our national security mission and, importantly, the Government concurs.
Safety:
We have addressed concerns from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) by strengthening the PF-4 building structure and operating systems to, among other things, better survive a ten- thousand year earthquake.
o By the end of the year, we expect modeling of the PF-4 seismic response will show that the facility, as upgraded, would survive an earthquake of such magnitude. This sustained effort led the DNFSB to close their 2009-2 recommendation earlier this year.
o Both fire suppression and air handling systems inside PF-4 have been strengthened to be more robust in the severe earthquake scenario.
·
We have strengthened and continue to improve the Laboratory’s Criticality Safety program, evolving from an expert-based program to one that is now standards based. The standards-based approach successfully supported the re-start of the major programmatic activities in PF-4.
o Since 2013, PF-4 programmatic operations and safety management programs have successfully completed seventeen independent external assessments – nine Contractor Readiness Assessments and eight Federal Readiness Assessments.
o Our Criticality Safety program has put into place rigorous measures to ensure safe operations.
o All Fissile Material Operations at LANL have been reviewed, and all of those operations have been deemed to be in a safe state with technical bases that have been upgraded to meet the current standards, or compensatory measures.
·
Since 2009, we have reduced the overall material at risk (MAR) present on the main operating floor by more than 60%.
· As a result of these assessments, LANL has been recognized as a center of excellence within the DOE in how readiness is achieved and how it conducts readiness reviews.
Program:
PF-4 is now 96% operational, including all pit manufacturing development units, pit surveillance, Pu238 support of NASA and defense programs, subcritical parts manufacturing, Americium recovery and science campaigns support which are all are on schedule. With the completion of the electrorefining readiness this calendar year PF-4 will be 100% operational.
Security:
· We have built and activated the Nuclear Materials Safeguards and Security Upgrade Project (NMSSUP) to further enhance overall security around TA-55.
· We continue to maintain one of the most highly rated physical and cyber security operations in the National Nuclear Security Administration Complex (NNSA), including a nuclear material control and accountability program recognized as “the best in NNSA.”
Operations and Upgrades:
· We have successfully resumed high priority operations at TA-55 after updating the criticality safety calculations and operational procedures – we continue to bring on new activities across the facility. In fact, we produced a development pit this year.
· We have successfully replaced the PF-4 criticality alarm system with a modern system.
· We are in the process replacing our Uninterruptible Power Supply system with a modern system.
While this list is not intended to provide a complete accounting of all the improvements we have made at TA-55, I wanted to convey that we have made significant progress and are continuing to move forward. There are many more improvements we will make as more funding becomes available and future increased mission requirements become clearer.
Safety and security of our Plutonium activities will continue to be among my highest priorities and we will continue to apply our resources to delivering on key national missions while carefully managing the risk. Safety is our top priority and as a result our plutonium facility is safe, even if that impacts programmatic timelines.
As employees, you should be proud of your Laboratory’s accomplishments over the past decade to strengthen our ability to operate safely and securely at PF-4 and throughout the Laboratory. While there will often be external organizations and individuals which advance a misleading narrative, it is not an accurate reflection of our work.
We recognize that this is an area which requires continuous improvement. Should you have any suggestions or concerns, I would encourage you to raise them with your managers.