Y-12 Blog
Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) is demonstrating a continued commitment to business partnership, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of ongoing outreach to business owners and potential vendors, CNS representatives are continuing their Partners in Excellence (PIE) event series virtually.
CNS began the PIE event series in April 2018 because the government contract solicitation process is sometimes considered complex or cumbersome for businesses, particularly newcomers and small businesses.
The latest round of online PIE workshops and forums allow potential business partners to attend while adhering to local social distancing guidelines in Texas, Tennessee, and across the country. PIE workshops are targeted based on agenda content, but larger events like the recent August PIE forum are open to a broader audience of business owners.
“Our goal is to increase the capacity and capability of our contractor base to support our small project execution,” said Cindy Morgan, director of CNS Supply Chain Business Management. “In our world, small projects are defined as $50 million or less.”
While CNS has a focus on modernizing the aging infrastructure of Pantex and Y-12, the company doesn’t only need construction contractors.
“We purchase a variety of goods and services from small and large businesses, and we need vendors for everything from general office supplies to information technology and staff augmentation,” said Randy Crawford, Pantex Small Business Program Manager.
The PIE events are a chance for CNS leaders to offer attendees a slice of knowledge about successfully doing business with Pantex and Y-12, break down the requirements, and share upcoming opportunities. During the August 29 PIE event, Bill Tindal, the CNS chief operating officer, provided an overview of the Pantex and Y-12 site histories and explained why the company uses subcontractors as partners.
There’s also a chance to network with fellow business owners to encourage partnerships. “Sometimes a small business is not able to bond for a large job, but they have the expertise and skills that a larger business does not,” said Morgan. “Providing a chance to network encourages those businesses to work together and submit a joint bid.”
Each year, CNS awards over $1 billon in subcontracts to businesses that help accomplish specialized tasks in support of its vital national security mission.
MEDIC’s newest bus was used for September’s mobile blood drive events at Y-12.
More Y-12 employees rolled up their sleeves in September to meet the growing need for blood donations in East Tennessee.
During a typical month, @ MEDIC Regional Blood Center holds one donation event at Y-12 and collects about 70 units of blood. In September, MEDIC requested a second event due to a higher demand for blood in the region. Thanks to Y-12ers generously giving the Gift of Life, MEDIC collected 131 units during the month’s two donation events, which were held in MEDIC buses parked outside New Hope Center. #CNSCares #GiveBlood
Congratulations to Kevin Shipp of Y-12 Engineering; he was awarded the 2020 Sandia National Laboratories Weapon Intern Program Leadership Award. He is a graduate of the 2020 program, which was the 25th class.
This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership in all facets of the program, including academic performance, project leadership and team management performance, professional development, and peer assessment.
“The Sandia National Laboratories Weapon Intern Program was an incredible experience,” Shipp said. “We were given access to resources and a wealth of knowledge that are unparalleled in the Nuclear Security Enterprise. It was also a privilege to participate in the program with my classmates who are top notch people from around the NSE and DOD. So, I was humbled and honored to be selected for the leadership award by them.”
Shipp also was chosen to speak at the WIP graduation ceremony on behalf on the class. He has made exceptional impressions on his peers as well as the WIP staff, bringing great credit upon himself, CNS, and the NSE.
Joshua Schwartz (left), Chris Haught (center), and Dallas Moser discuss maintaining strict controls to ensure nuclear criticality safety.
Anyone who works around special nuclear material at Pantex or Y-12 is aware of the enormous energy release possible from these materials. There are few things certain in life, but for CNS, maintaining strict controls on nuclear criticality safety is one. While the material forms at Y-12 present greater risks, both plants deal with quantities of nuclear material sufficient to warrant consideration for prevention of an inadvertent criticality.
“Y-12 suffered a criticality accident in the late 50s. As a result, many of today’s Y-12 and industry standard NCS program elements grew from lessons learned from that event,” said Ken Keith, deputy vice president of Mission Engineering. “We never, ever want to even approach a repeat event.”
Nuclear Criticality Safety is a collection of programs and activities that help ensure we do not repeat that event, and it requires constant vigilance. An inadvertent or uncontrolled release of energy in the form of radiation and heat is a criticality. To give you a sense of the hazard, only 700 g of 235U has the potential for criticality under the right conditions.
“The unique properties of uranium can create the energy to power reactors and weapons,” said Gary Sanders, CNS vice president of Mission Engineering. “But it requires special controls to both shield our workers from the radiation effects and prevent a cascading reaction.”
Chief NCS Engineer Chris Haught added, “The challenge we face with this hazard is when conditions are unsafe and approaching very near to a critical configuration, there are no warning signs. Because of this, the criticality hazard is non-intuitive and presents unique challenges for ensuring personnel safety. We understand fire hazards, or hazards around pressurized fluids or electricity through normal life experiences, but the criticality hazard must be learned through training and actual operating experience.”
That experience has led to constant monitoring, adjustment, and improvement.
Unanticipated changes in processing activities at CNS over the past couple of years challenged engineers and operations staff to better understand the processes, the assumptions for actions and material flow, and the why of why we care about what we do. CNS has reviewed the way it does business from top to bottom.
“We’ve improved several review and oversight functions, hired additional staff in several areas, improved lines of responsibility, improved training of operations staff, and improved administrative processes,” Keith said.
“We have further strengthened our Nuclear Criticality Safety Program with a dedicated leadership position and integrated and resourced a plan to address the legacy issues to ensure safety of operations,” said Sanders.
That dedicated leadership position is filled by Susan Kozemko, senior director of Criticality Safety Management & Integration. She manages a multidiscipline team that implements criticality safety requirements in a formal and disciplined manner. She also serves as chair of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Committee that is accountable to the site managers and provides oversight and guidance for the NCS program at Pantex, Y-12, and the Uranium Processing Facility.
“Vigilance is required in everything I do to ensure errors are corrected in a timely manner, actions are taken to prevent recurrence, NCS requirements are met, and improvements are proactively evaluated,” Kozemko said.
The work of NCS engineers is never over; it is a constant environment of review, adjust, and improve.
Keith summarized, “While many improvement efforts continue, much has been accomplished and more is to be done.”
Take 5 minutes and learn more about Melissa Blair, CNS's new senior director of Enterprise Strategic Planning. All views and opinions are the employee’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CNS.
In addition to being the senior director for Security Programs, Melissa Blair has taken on a new role as the new senior director of Enterprise Strategic Planning. She is responsible for leading a complex, multiyear site planning process, documenting milestones, and ensuring the process is communicated and working.
It’s not what she thought she’d be doing when she entered college as an education major.
“I always wanted to be an elementary school teacher,” she said with a slight smile. “I quickly learned that I lacked the creativity to come up with construction paper and sticker activities for kids and switched to learning how to train adults in business and industry.”
And that’s what she’s been doing for 30 years. In the process, she’s gained a diverse set of experiences across DOE’s weapons complex, which has prepared her well for her current role.
What is your favorite aspect about your work environment? How does that aspect make you know the mission is being met?
When I see someone working with a sense of urgency. Their dedication to meet the mission and our deliverables despite all the challenges is inspiring.
What CNS principle drives you to be successful?
There are really two: Promote a Questioning Attitude and Continuous Improvement. Anyone who has worked with me knows I ask lots of questions and encourage others to as well. Particularly, “why do we do it that way,” and “is there a better way?” I’m always looking for the lessons learned in a situation and to improve upon the process.
What top strength do you bring to your organization and why?
My energy and ability to work with and inspire others to work with a sense of urgency. If you see me on a Thursday morning, watch out … that’s when I come to work with my half caffeine coffee and really kick it into high gear!
Are you doing what you envisioned as a young adult? If so, describe how you got here.
Kind of … I always wanted to be an elementary school teacher and started out as an education major in college. In 1990, I started with the company in Paducah as an instructional designer when all five Martin Marietta sites were under one contract. I also taught basic instructor training, which I really loved, as it’s just as important to know how to design instruction as it is to understand how to teach adults. I transferred to ORNL, then to Y-12, and stayed with training until BWXT took over the Y-12 contract. Process improvement was part of the contract, and the first Six Sigma group was formed, so I left Training in 2001 to become a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. I spent the next 11 years in Projects before landing in Program Integration in 2016.
What one thing would your coworkers be surprised to know about you?
Before I met and married Jim, I was pretty much a homebody. He’s shown me that that I don’t have to be perfect to enjoy sports and the outdoors. So, now I am a certified SCUBA diver, have my motorcycle license, have taken up golf, and have become a big time foodie. We’re always looking for new items to cook together.
What work advice would you offer someone who is new to Pantex or Y-12?
You don’t need a technical degree to be successful in this company. I have an associate’s degree in word processing (I can type really fast!); B.S. and M.S. degrees in education, training, and development; and a doctor of education in educational psychology, specializing in collaborative learning — all non-technical degrees. Every position I’ve held over the last 30 years has put me with a team where I am not the expert (except for training). Being successful is about who you work with and understanding and playing on each other’s strengths to collaborate and make the best decisions.