Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Courtesy/DOE/NNSANNSA News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s (DOE/NNSA) Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) project continues to make timely progress with the recent completion of the Site Infrastructure and Services (SIS) subproject.
UPF will replace an early-Cold War plant with a modern, more efficient, and safer facility for conducting highly-enriched uranium operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
“Completing the SIS subproject is an important step in paving the way for future subprojects and to ultimately deliver UPF,” UPF Federal Project Director Dale Christenson said.
SIS is the second of seven subprojects that will construct UPF. Work included the completion of a concrete batch plant and a 65,000 square foot Construction Support Building (CSB). There was also building demolition, utility work, site grading, and installation of new erosion protection and security features as part of the SIS subproject.
The fully automated, continuous mix concrete batch plant is capable of producing 600 cubic yards of concrete per hour. The plant and five concrete trucks are on site and dedicated solely to UPF, providing construction schedule flexibility and immediate response to quality issues. The plant has produced over 130,000 cubic yards of concrete for UPF’s structural foundation to date and will provide concrete for the future UPF buildings.
The 65,000 square-foot CSB provides office space for more than 300 UPF project personnel. It is the first permanent structure for UPF and the first building at Y-12 with a LEED Gold Certification.
To execute the work, NNSA employed an integrated acquisition and project management strategy, including partnerships with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), LLC.
These partnerships capitalized on CNS’s familiarity with Y-12’s mission and existing infrastructure and USACE’s expertise in non-nuclear construction to finish two months ahead of schedule and $18 million under budget.
“I am very proud of our how well all three organizations worked together to safely deliver SIS ahead of schedule and under budget,” SIS Federal Project Director Don Peters said. “Our unique partnerships provided the best value to the government and to American taxpayers.”
Of the five remaining subprojects, two are underway and the final three will begin later this year.
Using a “build to budget” strategy, NNSA has committed to Congress to deliver UPF by 2025 for no more than $6.5 billion, assuming stable funding through the duration of the project.
