Y-12 Operator Faces Fine for Safety Violations

The operator of the U.S. Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee could be fined $137,500 for violations of Energy Department nuclear safety rules, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 6).

The agency cited contractor BWXT Y-12 for violations in the areas of criticality safety evaluation, work processes, program management and quality improvement.  “Each violation contains multiple examples of noncompliance with nuclear safety rules,” according to a press release.

The firm found in April 2006 that “uranium mass had accumulated above stated limits in a vacuum system filter housing at Y-12’s uranium casting operations,” the release states.  “It was later found that an unanticipated amount of lubricating oil had also accumulated in this filter housing.”

The incident caused no injuries, but BWXT Y-12 was slow to find and fix the problem, the government said.  The agency did take into account the company’s investigation of the incident and corrective efforts in determining the size of the proposed fine (National Nuclear Security Administration release, Sept. 18).

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