Pit (Workforce) Pipeline

A comparison description of the Pit manufacturing process can be found in the Draft Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Stockpile Stewardship and Management for a Modern Pit Facility, found here.  This document describes that plutonium metal from the recovery and purification processes would be used to fabricate new pits. Some plutonium metal from other sources could be used to supplement the plutonium recovered from the purification operations. The plutonium metal would then be transferred to the manufacturing area where it would be melted and cast into required shapes in a foundry operation. These castings would then be machined to proper dimensions, combined with other non-plutonium parts, including beryllium and enriched uranium components, and would be assembled into pits. Throughout the manufacturing operations, certification and inspection would be conducted to ensure that components meet specifications. The finished pits would then be prepared for storage and eventual shipment.

A very similar process can be expected for the potential new pit production mission at Savannah River Site (SRS). While some of the expertise in plutonium handling and storage, aqueous nitrate processing, material control & accountability (MC&A), critical safety, etc. exists at SRS some other specialty skills will need to be developed. These include precision plutonium machining, plutonium casting, specialty welding, pyrochemical processing, etc.  These skills represent a relatively small number of the total people needed to run the facility but are a critical component. The NNSA Fact Sheet  highlights some of these activities.  In addition, it is envisioned that these skills would have to be developed in cooperation with Los Alamos National Lab (LANL).

Per the April 2018, Workforce Analysis to Support Future Pit Production report, SRS must add 720-795 new workers to support the proposed pit mission. The report states, "Because SRS has not produced pits, it does not have a "base" workforce from which to build. Therefore, SRS needs to hire new workers or transfer employees from other programs. The actual hiring of new employees would need to precede this by 3-5 years."

By now you should have heard that the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) recommended the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX) at SRS to be repurposed to produce plutonium pits while also maximizing pit production activities at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Click here for the joint statement. This announcement came one day ahead of a May 11 deadline imposed by Congress.

May 11 was the deadline to complete the analysis of alternatives imposed through an amendment to the current defense spending bill from New Mexico's two senators, Democrats Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, who have been outspoken about their desire to keep plutonium work at Los Alamos. If the NNSA had not made a decision and the chairman of the Nuclear Weapons Council - a panel of senior Energy and Defense Department officials who help implement nuclear weapons policy - had not accepted it by May 11, plutonium operations would remain at Los Alamos and Congress would have moved ahead with an estimated $3.7 billion in construction projects to accommodate the work there.

Therefore, the recommendation has been made for this two-prong approach - with at least 50 pits per year produced at Savannah River and at least 30 pits per year at Los Alamos. The joint statement says it is the best way to manage the cost, schedule, and risk of such a vital undertaking. However, it is not the final, or "cast in stone", decision as many media reports suggested.  

Congress still has to appropriate the necessary funds to first perform design functions, which are slated to be in the yet to be approved the FY19 budget.  Furthermore, there are several Critical Decisions (CD) that still need to be prepared and approved before NNSA can start construction (refurbishment) of the MOX facility (see timeline). NNSA still needs to go through the DOE Order 413.3B which mandates the CD process, not to mention the process of terminating the existing MOX contract, facility, and overcoming the resistance from State and Federal elected officials.

One thing is for sure, we are in for a lengthy and arduous period before the "recommendation" of Pit Production becomes a final decision.