News

Drivers in some areas near plant may be affected

Residents in the area should be aware that the Pantex Plant will be conducting an emergency exercise Wednesday morning.

The exercise will involve participants from multiple agencies across the area, including local government officials and law enforcement. Some activity may be noticed in areas surrounding Pantex, including emergency vehicles and other officials on roads near the plant.

Law enforcement officers will be setting up traffic control points at County Road E and County Road 14 (near the Carson County Pump Station), as well as the intersection of County Road C and County Road 14. Drivers may experience travel delays at these two rural intersections.

No other off site impacts are expected during the exercise.

CONTACT
Greg Cunningham
Public Affairs
Office (806) 477-5140
Pager (806) 345-1560

“The Last of the Big Dogs” has a new home after Pantex workers Wednesday delivered one of the few remaining B53 nuclear weapons cases to the Freedom Museum USA in Pampa, Texas.

The final B53, which received its “Big Dog” nickname from dismantlement workers due to its massive size, was dismantled at Pantex on October 25, 2011 in an historic ceremony. The B53 was a Cold War icon, and was the oldest, the largest and the most destructive nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal at the time it was retired.

Monica Graham, Pantex historian, was looking for a way to preserve the legacy of the B53 and honor the workers who built, maintained and dismantled it. The Freedom Museum, which is located about 45 minutes from Pantex, volunteered to take the weapon on loan to add to its large collection of historical military artifacts.

“This was an important effort to publicly display this iconic weapon that served in secret for decades, helping to ensure the safety of America,” Graham said.

The B53 was first put into service in 1962, a year when Cold War tensions were at their highest during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It served a critical role in the nation’s nuclear deterrent through the end of the Cold War, retiring from the active stockpile in 1997.

The B53 weighed around 10,000 pounds and was about the size of a minivan. Many B53s were dismantled in the 1980s, but a significant number remained in the U.S. arsenal until they were retired in 1997.

The B53 which was delivered this week consisted only of the outer casing of the weapon and is empty on the inside. It is one of only three such museum artifacts in the country built from a stockpile weapon. The others were assembled from training units or spare parts.

New entry signs installed at Pantex as CNS takes over site

Workers put up a new entry sign at the Pantex Tuesday after Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC, began its tenure as management and operations contractor at the plant.

CNS begins management and operation of national security facilities

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) today assumed full responsibility for management and operation of the Pantex and Y-12 nuclear weapons facilities that perform missions vital to national security.

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration awarded CNS the contract to consolidate the two facilities under a single contract. During a four-month transition that began March 3, the CNS team prepared to integrate and operate both facilities to deliver their critical missions with safety, security, quality, and cost efficiency.

During the course of transition, CNS completed more than 3,000 scheduled actions; on-boarded 7,800 employees; inspected over 400 facilities; reviewed and approved more than 5,000 procedures; consulted with dozens of community leaders and elected officials; and established the structure and processes for managing the two sites as one enterprise. Transition activities were completed on schedule and under budget.

“The Pantex and Y-12 sites have proud traditions of contributing to national security and protecting the freedoms we enjoy in this country today,” said Jim Haynes, CNS President and CEO. “We are prepared and ready to build upon these traditions and improve the performance and sustainability of these sites with our NNSA customer and our employees.”

CNS member companies include Bechtel National, Inc., Lockheed Martin Services, Inc., ATK Launch Systems Inc., and SOC LLC, with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., as a teaming subcontractor. Its five-year contract begins today, and includes options that could extend the contract another five years.

“We have been looking forward to joining the employees of Pantex and Y-12, and the communities of Amarillo and Oak Ridge, since this competition first began,” Haynes said. “Together with our customer, the talented workforces of our two sites, and the committed leaders of our two host communities, we are well positioned to deliver our national security mission.”

The Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and Y‐12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, charged with maintaining the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. Pantex is responsible for nuclear weapons life extension programs; weapons dismantlement; development, testing, and fabrication of high explosives components; and storage and surveillance of plutonium pits. Y‐12 is responsible for safe and secure uranium storage, processing, and manufacturing operations; supplying fuel for the U.S. Navy; and global non-proliferation.

About Bechtel:
Bechtel is among the most respected engineering, project management, and construction companies in the world. We stand apart for our ability to get the job done right—no matter how big, how complex or how remote. Bechtel operates through five global business units that specialize in civil infrastructure; power generation, communications and transmission; mining and metals; oil, gas and chemicals; and government services. Since its founding in 1898, Bechtel has worked on more than 22,000 projects in 140 countries on all seven continents. Today, our 53,000 employees team with customers, partners, and suppliers on diverse projects in nearly 50 countries.

About Lockheed Martin:
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

About ATK:
ATK Aerospace Group, which is representing ATK on the Bechtel team, is the world’s top producer of solid rocket propulsion systems and a leading supplier of military and commercial aircraft structures. It also specializes in small and micro‐satellites; satellite components and subsystems; lightweight space deployables and solar arrays; low‐cost, quick‐to‐market launch solutions; flares and decoys; and energetic materials and related technologies. The group has extensive experience supporting human and space payload missions. ATK is an aerospace, defense, and commercial products company with operations in 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally.

About SOC:
SOC LLC is a trusted and proven provider of integrated security and mission support carrying out and enabling national security missions globally in support of the U.S. Government, international organizations, and corporations. Founded as a security contractor supporting the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, and State, SOC has broadened its portfolio to include a wide array of critical mission support, base operations, and professional staffing services. SOC is a company of more than 5,000 highly trained and experienced personnel running some of the most sensitive and complex assignments around the world.

About Booz Allen Hamilton:
Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of management consulting, technology, and engineering services to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not‐for‐profit organizations. Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs approximately 23,000 people, and had revenue of $5.76 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2013. In 2014, Booz Allen celebrates its 100th anniversary year.

CONTACT
Jason Bohne
(240) 344-1616

NNSA administrator makes first Pantex visit to inaugurate PREP

The largest federally owned wind farm in the country will officially commence operations Tuesday when Gen. Frank G. Klotz, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and National Nuclear Security Administrator makes his first official visit to Pantex to “throw the switch” on the Pantex Renewable Energy Project (PREP).

Klotz is scheduled to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the five-turbine, 11.5 megawatt wind farm, which will generate more than 60 percent of the electricity needed yearly by the Pantex Plant, the nation’s primary facility for the assembly, disassembly and maintenance of nuclear weapons.

“For 70 years, Pantex has played a vital security role by helping to create and maintain the nation’s nuclear deterrent. Now, Pantex is poised to help secure the future of America through utilization of renewable energy, as well,” said NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart.

Construction on the one-of-a-kind wind farm began in August under a unique finance model, known as an Energy Savings Performance Contract, which allows contractor Siemens Government Technologies, Inc., to build PREP with no upfront cost to the taxpayers. Siemens will be paid directly from the value of guaranteed energy savings generated by the turbines, an amount expected to average $2.8 million annually.

The five turbines, each 400 feet tall, were built on 1,500 acres of federal land adjacent to the main Pantex Plant. Erection of the wind towers was completed early this year, and crews have since been working to connect the turbines into the plant’s electricity grid.

PREP will generate approximately 47 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which is enough to power nearly 3,500 homes. The project will reduce CO2 emissions by over 35,000 metric tons per year, the equivalent of removing 7,200 cars from the road each year or planting 850,000 trees.

In addition to providing the majority of the electricity for Pantex operations, PREP will serve as the keystone for an ongoing collaboration with Texas Tech University (TTU) to make Pantex a leader in innovation within the wind energy sector. TTU and the NNSA Production Office (NPO) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding that would combine the resources of DOE/NNSA, Pantex and TTU’s National Wind Institute to study ways to create a world-class energy research center at Pantex.

CONTACT
Greg Cunningham
Public Affairs
Office (806) 477-5140
Pager (806) 345-1560

Program has saved 800 tons of paper from landfill

Every year, the Pantex Plant uses thousands of pounds of paper that must be destroyed to protect sensitive information. For the vast majority of that paper, a trip through the shredder is not the end of its purpose, but only a beginning.

After a few weeks composting in a pile of feedlot waste, the paper goes on to help fertilize thousands of acres of crops across the Texas Panhandle and beyond, beneficially reusing a valuable resource and saving massive space in the landfill.

“This program goes hand in hand with our commitment at Pantex to be good stewards of the environment,” said Jimmy Rogers, Waste Operations Department manager at Pantex. “Reduce, reuse and recycle has become a way of life for us, and this is a great example of that effort.”

The idea to use waste paper for compost sprouted about 10 years ago when the Waste Ops Department was looking for a better outcome for the paper than burying it in the landfill. Traditional recycling was considered, but it can be expensive and difficult to find a recycler to take paper shredded as finely as security requirements at Pantex mandate.

One of the Waste Ops employees came up with the idea of combining the paper waste with another waste stream that is plentiful in cattle country: manure.

“It turned out to be a perfect solution,” said Bill Allen, section manager for Waste Ops. “We’re fortunate to live in a part of the country where we have abundant supplies of the ingredients for composting like this.”

Pantex ships a load of waste paper every week or two to Shannon Leavitt, who owns Natural Fertilizer Company in Wildorado. Leavitt’s company takes cow manure from a pair of feedlots in the area and spreads it into rows in empty fields, where the paper is mixed in.

After a few weeks of turning, compost is created in a process very similar to home composting that many people do in their backyard. Heat and bacteriological action break down the ingredients and sanitize the mix, creating a perfect fertilizer source that Natural Fertilizer sells and spreads across fields of crops ranging from vegetables to corn and wheat.

Leavitt said the compost provides a valuable mix of fertilizers to farmers across the area, although he ships to customers as far away as New Mexico and even Arkansas. The manure provides an environmentally friendly source of organic fertilizers nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. The paper breaks down into a good source of carbon.

“It’s a tremendous process,” Leavitt said. “That’s 100 percent waste material that we are converting to a very viable and beneficial material.”

Since the program started in 2003, Pantex has shipped 871 tons of paper to Natural Fertilizer. That material has not only been used to sustain the area’s abundant agricultural products, it has been spared from the landfill. Pantex pays Natural Fertilizer around $1,500 a year to take the paper, an amount that is slightly less than the cost of putting it in a landfill.

The program is all part of an ongoing effort to reduce waste streams from the Pantex Plant, which has become a huge point of emphasis within the Department of Energy Complex. This year, Pantex has diverted 89 percent of its construction waste and 65 percent of its municipal solid waste from the landfill.

Through pollution prevention efforts, Pantex has reduced hazardous waste generated at the site by 99 percent since 1987.

“These efforts help us meet goals established by the DOE, but we do this because we want to protect the environment,” Rogers said. “We live here. Our families live here. We feel an obligation to make sure we leave a cleaner environment to our children and grandchildren.”

Armed Forces Day commemorated at Pantex

The Pantex Plant honored veterans Wednesday at its annual ceremony to commemorate Armed Forces Day. Members of the Pantex Fire Department Honor Guard raised the American flag as attendees recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem. Pantex has been holding an Armed Forces Day ceremony for more than 15 years to honor those who served.

Pantex has a long history of supporting military personnel and currently employs 782 military veterans amongst its workforce of approximately 3,100 people.

Donations delivered to Snack Pak 4 Kids

For the past two weeks, a group of volunteers at Pantex has been collecting donations for the Snack Pak 4 Kids program, gathering an impressive amount of food for needy children.

Pantexans donated more than $1,000 to the effort, as well as a variety of food items, which were placed in barrels located throughout the plant.

Snack Pak 4 Kids is an Amarillo-based charity started in 2010 to provide backpacks with snacks in them for children to take home for the weekend. The program is designed to provide food to hungry children when they are away from school and unable to access a reliable source of sustenance. The program serves over 4,000 students in 24 school districts in the Texas Panhandle.

The volunteers this week delivered 5,000 Pop Tarts, 82 jars of peanut butter, as well as other snacks and money donated by Pantexans.

The effort was led by Pantexans Josh and Tracy Cunningham, Rick and Lisa Jones and Sherry Philyaw.

Admiral Cecil Haney, Commander, USSTRATCOM, visited Pantex Tuesday to tour various facilities and conduct an all-hands meeting with Pantex workers. Haney thanked Pantexans for the work they perform to help maintain a credible nuclear deterrent, thus ensuring the safety of the United States.

Haney briefed Pantexans about the responsibilities and capabilities of USSTRATCOM and discussed how the work done at Pantex factors into that mission. Haney said as the number of weapons in the U.S. stockpile decreases, the work done at Pantex to ensure the safety and reliability of each nuclear weapon becomes even more important.

Haney told Pantexans that although they do not wear a military uniform, the work they do to protect America is as crucial as the work done by those who do.

When B&W Pantex Science Bowl Coordinator Debra Halliday decided to take her 9-year-old grandson with her to the national Science Bowl competition in Washington DC last month, she thought he would have a memorable trip, but she didn’t know just how memorable it would be.

Halliday said her grandson, Griffin Koehn, was with her during the awards ceremony when Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz was congratulating the winners and presenting trophies. As Moniz exited the stage, he stopped for a moment to talk with Griffin and posed for a photo that will no doubt become a cherished memento.

“Secretary Moniz was so gracious,” Halliday said. “He shook hands with Griffin, and Griffin said to him ‘When I grow up, I want to be a scientist just like you.”

Halliday said her grandson enjoyed being a runner during the competition, as well as visiting some of the historic sites in Washington. But getting to meet the secretary of energy was the best part of the entire trip.