Report details Y-12 contractor problems; CNS says improvements made since 2015

OAK RIDGE — The government's belated release of a 2015 performance review shows why Consolidated Nuclear Security — the managing contractor at the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants — received such a low score (57 out of 100) on its first report card.

Among the problems cited was the contractor's accidental shipment of too much weapons-grade uranium to a New York lab last summer. The National Nuclear Security Administration said the mix-up, which violated federal transportation rules and resulted in fines against CNS, was a prime example of the contractor's operational flaws.

The Y-12 incident 'highlighted the overall lack of success' the contractor had experienced in trying to improve conduct of operations, according to the report.

PDF for Fiscal Year 2015 Performance Report for Consolidated Nuclear Security.

'A shipment from Y-12 to an off-site laboratory exemplifies this culture and performance problem,' the NNSA review stated.

'Areas of concern include supervisory engagement and control, procedural compliance, manual manipulation of data, lack of questioning attitude, and confidence in material control and accountability.'

Other areas also drew tough criticism, ranging from leadership issues to late deliveries and other problems with the contractor's management of the nuclear weapons mission at the two plants.

CNS, however, says it had made numerous improvements over the past five months and worked to address the government's concerns.

In a statement, the contractor emphasized the ratings period included an 'unprecedented transition' of two NNSA sites.

As part of contractor reform efforts, the National Nuclear Security Administration combined the management of two nuclear weapons plants — 1,000 miles apart in different states — in order to increase efficiency and save taxpayer dollars.

CNS said the contractor, which took over management of Y-12 and Pantex on July 1, 2014, encountered 'several unexpected challenges as we sought to implement the requirements of the new contract.'

'We carefully considered feedback in the NNSA's evaluation and sought to maximize our understanding of their view of our performance,' the Bechtel-led contractor team said in a statement.

In the five months since receiving its performance score, CNS said it had realigned the contractor's organization to better align with federal overseers in the NNSA's Production Office.

The contractor cited improvements in conduct of operations at the high-security nuclear facilities and other changes.

'These changes have already paid dividends in enhancing our performance in support of our mission to safely and securely help maintain the nation's nuclear deterrent,' CNS stated.

The National Nuclear Security Administration completed its evaluation report in mid-November 2015, but did not release it publicly until last week. Various organizations, including the News Sentinel, submitted formal requests for the 45-page report via the Freedom of Information Act.

While the detailed report on the contractor's performance wasn't available until recently, a letter that included the performance score (57 out of 100) and total fee ($42.6 million out of a maximum possible $51.2 million) was circulated in December.

The fee appeared to be high considering the low score, but that was because the contractor received a fixed fee for its first 12 months on the job. That included the final three months of fiscal year 2014 (July-September) and the first nine months of fiscal year 2015 (October-June).

Only in the final three months of fiscal year 2015 was the fee award based on performance, and that includes the incident last July in which the Y-12 contractor shipped 1,000 grams of highly enriched uranium — 10 times the correct amount — to a commercial lab. CNS was fined $33,600 by the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to records received by the News Sentinel under the Freedom of Information Act.

The performance report indicated some problems in achieving goals related to dismantlement of nuclear weapons, although it appeared Y-12 succeeded in meeting more than 100 percent of its goal for dismantling secondaries — the second stage of nuclear warheads, a specialty of the Oak Ridge plant.

CNS drew praise for some activities that took advantage of the two-plant management contract. The report indicated the contractor loaned some of Y-12's engineering resources to Pantex to help complete an important project.

The contract also received praise for Y-12's development work on the B61-12 bomb, a refurbished weapon system that consolidated aspects of earlier versions of the bomb.

'CNS at Y-12 was able to re-establish key B61 processes, unused in over a decade, to support early development hardware deliverables,' the report stated.