Y-12 Blog
NNSA recently designated UPF’s Construction Support Building as a High Performance Sustainable Building. Representatives from the team include (from left to right) UPF Project Office Construction Manager Mike Pearson; UPF Project Office Construction Integrator Halen Philpot; UPF Project Office Field Engineer Bud Slaven; UPF Project Office Site Infrastructure and Services Federal Project Director Don Peters; CNS Energy Manager Charlie Sexton; USACE Resident Engineer Jason Phillips; and USACE PM Forward Joe Duncan.
UPF’s Construction Support Building (CSB) has received another designation for sustainability, this time from NNSA, which designated the CSB as a High Performance Sustainable Building (HPSB).
The CSB is a three-story, 65,000-square-foot facility that houses construction operations and will serve as UPF’s operations center when the project is completed. The CSB can accommodate 300 office personnel, and an additional 250 craft employees in the break area. It has a 14,700-square-foot warehouse space, rooftop solar panels, and a geothermal well system.
According to the award letter, the CSB “exemplifies high standards in integrated design, integrated management, energy and water efficiency, and enhanced indoor environmental quality.”
Constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for NNSA, the CSB is also the first building at Y-12 to earn LEED Gold status. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a designation from the U.S. Green Building Council for sustainability and resource efficiency. The CSB earned LEED credits for solar panels that provide approximately 15kW of electrical power, insulated concrete form walls, a geothermal well system, automatic faucets, and automatic LED lighting.
“We are proud to have delivered a building that met the stringent requirements for HPSB as well as the LEED Gold standard,” said UPF Federal Project Director Dale Christenson. “The CSB will benefit UPF during construction and serve the site long after UPF is complete.”
Steel installation for the second level of the UPF’s Mechanical Electrical Building recently began.
Steel installation for the second level of the Uranium Processing Facility’s (UPF) Mechanical Electrical Building (MEB) began in late December.
“We are making steady progress on MEB, and with steel going in for the second level, you can see how the effort of multiple teams made it begin to take its final shape,” said Misty Lawrence, area lead for the construction of MEB.
The second level of steel will be installed from west to east and will be complete this spring, Lawrence said. Subcontractor Geiger Brothers will then frame the roof and install siding. MEB is the first of UPF’s three main buildings to go vertical and change the skyline at Y-12.
“UPF will change dramatically in the next few weeks as steel is installed for the second level and MEB rises to its final height,” Lawrence said.
Employees at Pantex and Y-12 are proud of their work to support America and the world’s nuclear deterrent.
This video shares why the work we do on life extension programs, such as the W76‑1, is important to nuclear deterrence. For more than 75 years, the sites have changed as missions changed, but employees have always adapted and delivered. Both sites are proud of what they do to support America and the world’s nuclear deterrent.
Syreeta Vaughn was recently appointed to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Advisory Board.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam appointed Syreeta Vaughn to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Advisory Board in December.
Vaughn, a graduate of UT, has served on the Earth and Planetary Science Board for more than 10 years. “I have had the honor and pleasure of seeing the EPS department grow and thrive,” Vaughn said. “Through my service and homegrown connection to the community, I have had a unique opportunity to see the impact UT has made on the community, students, and in my life.”
Vaughn has set her goal to be similar to what Haslam has envisioned. “Originally, UT had one board to support the entire UT collegiate system. Governor Haslam’s vision is that the four-board approach will afford us (the members) with the opportunity to meet UTK specific campus needs. As a UTK alumnus, I can only hope the small role that I will play as a member of this board will make a small impact both in the community and within UT.”
The Tennessee Veterans Business Association Dinner was held on January 28, 2019. CNS was a sponsor table. Attendees included Brian Arrington, Lisa Copeland, Amy Wilson, and Bill Tindal. Guest speaker was Oliver North.
Pantex and the Y-12 National Security Complex were recently named veteran-friendly employers. The Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Veterans Commission honored Pantex with the distinction in 2018, and the Tennessee Veterans Business Association recognized Y-12 in January. Together, Pantex and Y-12 employ more than 1,800 veterans.
Veterans serve in a range of roles at the sites, everything from security police officers to machinists to weapons assembly/disassembly operators to engineers. “Working at Y-12 has allowed me to continue my service to the nation in a meaningful way,” said Tom Tress, who served as a helicopter mechanic in the Marine Corps and is now a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt working on process improvement initiatives at the site. “I believe strongly in our nuclear deterrence mission.”
Sherry Philyaw, retired senior chief petty officer who now manages infrastructure assessments and corrective actions at Pantex, finds continuity in her military and Pantex careers through the structure and formality of processes. “To assure the dependability of every single one of our products, we have to follow procedures and policies, just like in the Navy,” she said. “We check and double check everything. Our customer has to know without a doubt that the product we deliver will be exactly what they are expecting.”
In addition to veterans, Pantex and Y-12 employ active-duty Reserve and National Guardsmen and women who are often deployed on tours of duty around the world.
“Military service builds skills that are very valuable to employers,” said Heather Freeman, Pantex Human Resources site manager. “Veterans have training in leadership, teamwork, loyalty, decision making, and technical skills. They have real-life experience, work well under pressure, are responsible, have a strong work ethic, and can interact with a variety of people. It is a great investment for both employers and those who have served our country.”
Moreover, since July 2014, Consolidated Nuclear Security, the managing contractor of Pantex and