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GAO-13-686R 1 (2013-07-12)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaahct0001 and id is 1 raw text is: cIAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 July 12, 2013 Congressional Committees Nuclear Weapons: Factors Leading to Cost Increases with the Uranium Processing Facility The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) site for conducting enriched uranium activities, producing uranium- related components for nuclear warheads and bombs, and processing nuclear fuel for the U.S. Navy.1 According to NNSA, the Y-12 plant's current enriched uranium operations (1) have an inefficient workflow due to the patchwork of facilities and equipment, (2) experience continually rising operations and maintenance costs and frequent outages and work interruptions due to facility age and deterioration, and (3) involve processes that could expose workers to radiological contamination, among other things. To address these issues, in 2004, NNSA decided to construct the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF).2 According to NNSA, the UPF will * consist of a single, consolidated uranium processing and component production facility less than half the size of the existing Y-12 plant facilities; * reduce the costs of enriched uranium processing by using modern processing equipment and consolidated operations; and * use new technologies and other features that provide better worker protection and environmental health and safety. The UPF is to be built adjacent to the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF)-the nation's central repository for such material-and the facilities are to be joined.3 We reported in November 2010 that UPF had experienced significant cost increases.4 More recently, the upper bound of the UPF's cost range has increased from approximately $1.1 billion in 2004 to $6.5 billion in 2012. At the request of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and in accordance with the requirements contained in the National Defense 1NNSA is a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy. NNSA owns the buildings, equipment, and the components produced at the Y-1 2 plant, but the site is operated under contract to NNSA by Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, LLC (B&W), a partnership of the Babcock & Wilcox Company and Bechtel Corporation. 2B&W is the contractor managing the UPF design and has subcontracted portions of the design work to four other contractors. 3Constructed from 2004 to 2009, HEUMF is responsible for the receipt, shipment, and interim and long-term storage of current and projected inventories of highly enriched uranium. 4 GAO, Nuclear Weapons: National Nuclear Security Administration's Plans for Its Uranium Processing Facility Should Better Reflect Funding Estimates and Technology Readiness, GAO-i 1-103 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 19, 2010). GAO-1 3-686R Nuclear Weapons Page 1

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