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NNSA Proposes Fine Over Pantex Safety Breach
The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has proposed a $123,750 fine against the BWXT Pantex nuclear weapons factory in Texas in connection with an incident in which workers used tape to hold together cracked nuclear warhead components, the agency announced yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 22). While dismantling a W-56 warhead in January, plant personnel found a crack in a high-explosive charge. They taped the crack and placed the charge in a stable position. Attempts to remove the charge several days later were halted after the cracks expanded, according to the Associated Press. Pantex did not perform a proper safety review or give workers adequate instructions before they attempted to remove the explosive, according to investigators for the U.S. Energy Department. The plant also had not fixed a tooling problem after two years, AP reported. “Any potential for the failure of the tooling to safely contain cracked high explosive could have increased the probability of an inadvertent detonation,” the department said in a violation notice. No one was hurt in the incident, BWXT Pantex General Manager Michael Mallory said in a statement issued Tuesday. “The final investigation confirmed that the workers followed their procedures and correctly stopped the operation when they observed conditions that were not as expected. The safe control of all components and materials was maintained at all times,” Mallory said (Associated Press/Amarillo Daily Sentinel, May 18).
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