As construction nears, team for billion-dollar UPF project grows [The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.]

<p><chron>Oct. 08</chron>--<location value="LU/us.tn.oakdge" idsrc="xmltag.org">OAK RIDGE</location> -- As the multibillion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility moves toward construction -- with site preparation expected to begin in 2012 -- <money>Y-12</money> has ramped up the project team, added contractors, and named a vice president to coordinate many of the requirements for such a large government project.</p><p>The UPF team is headed by B&W <money>Y-12</money>, but at least 20 companies are involved in design work and other preparations. The new facility is supposed to replace <person>World War II</person>-era production facilities at the <money>Y-12</money> nuclear weapons plant, but first operations aren't expected for at least another 10 years.</p><p>There are 592 people currently working on the project, according to <money>Y-12</money> spokesman <person>David Keim</person>. That number is up from about 400 at the first of the year.</p><p>Design of the facility, which will consolidate uranium processing and warhead-making and dismantlement operations, is 62 percent complete and slightly ahead of schedule, Keim said Friday. About <money>$130 million</money> was spent on UPF during Fiscal Year 2011, which ended <chron>Sept. 30</chron>, he said.</p><p>The design effort is proceeding "full-bore" and should be 90 percent complete in 2012, Keim said. At that stage, the <org value="ACORN:3406037728" idsrc="xmltag.org">National Nuclear Security Administration</org> has said it will have sufficient information to provide a firm price tag for the big project.</p><p>Currently, the official cost range is <money>$4.2 billion to $6.5 billion</money>, but there have been reports that the <location value="LU/us.tn.oakdge" idsrc="xmltag.org">Oak Ridge</location> facility could cost <money>$7 billion</money> or more.</p><p>Funding, of course, will ultimately tell the story of whether the project gets built. Despite commitments for modernization of the nuclear weapons complex from the Obama administration and congressional leadership during the New START ratification debate last year, there are new calls in <location value="LU/us.dc.wash" idsrc="xmltag.org">Washington</location> for cutting those funds as part of the overall deficit-reduction plan.</p><p>Asked about funding uncertainties, Keim said the UPF project is continuing as outlined in the so-called 1251 Report, which was an addendum to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010 that added funding to support modernization at <money>Y-12</money> and other sites. "Our team will continue to focus on controlling and reducing the cost of a project essential to our nation's long-term nuclear security," Keim said.</p><p><person>John Gertsen</person>, formerly B&W Y-12's vice president for engineering, has been named to the newly created position of vice president for UPF programs. Gertsen has worked at <money>Y-12</money> for 28 years and been involved with every production facility at the plant, B&W said.</p><p>A number of other leadership changes have taken place.</p><p><person>Phil Schuetz</person>, former UPF project manager, was sent to <org>Los Alamos National Laboratory</org> in <location value="LS/us.nm" idsrc="xmltag.org">New Mexico</location> for a special one-year assignment. His work is part of a collaboration between UPF and the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement facility, a similarly sized project under way at Los Alamos.</p><p><person>Tony Giordano</person> is now project manager at UPF. He has been with UPF for about four years and is responsible for managing day-to-day activities of the project, including all engineering, construction and procurement.</p><p><person>Mark Seely</person> was named UPF project director. He came to <money>Y-12</money> from <org>Bluegrass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Project</org> in <location value="LS/us.ky" idsrc="xmltag.org">Kentucky</location>, where he was project manager. According to B&W, Seely is responsible for overall management of the UPF project, including integration with other organizations at <money>Y-12</money>, corporate parent companies, and NNSA headquarters in <location value="LU/us.dc.wash" idsrc="xmltag.org">Washington, D.C.</location></p><p>The design of UPF is taking shape under four groups headed by <org value="ACORN:3488484591" idsrc="xmltag.org">Merrick & Company</org> (special mechanical design group); <org value="NYSE:JEC" idsrc="xmltag.org">Jacobs Engineering</org> (utility design); CH2M Hill (architectural/structural tasks); and URS (processing and instrumentation design support). Each of those groups involves multiple companies.</p><p>In addition. <org>Carl J. Costantino & Associates</org> has a contract to do soil-structure interaction analysis for the UPF project.</p><p>Other contractors include: CS Engineering (criticality safety support); <org>Sequoia Consulting Group</org> (project sourcing planning); <org>Haselwood Associates</org> (project planning); Engineering Resources (system engineering/risk management); Omega (instrumentation engineering and readiness); <org value="ACORN:6000013014" idsrc="xmltag.org">M</org>&W Drilling (geotechnical support); <location value="LU/us.tn.adams" idsrc="xmltag.org">Adams</location>, Craft, Herz and Walker (survey support); and <org>ABS Consulting</org> (hazards evaluation).</p><p class="shirttail">___</p><p class="shirttail">(c)2011 the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.)</p><p class="shirttail">Visit the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) at www.knoxnews.com</p><p class="shirttail">Distributed by MCT Information Services</p>