Y-12 Blog
Y-12’s expertise in handling uranium was called upon in 2010 for Project Golden Llama. The project took highly enriched uranium from Chile, which was the fifth country to remove all of its HEU after an international call for countries to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years.
During shipment preparations, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake occurred off the Chilean coast causing widespread damage to surrounding areas. Contingency plans were made, and the shipment made its way to Oak Ridge with minimal delay.
Communications staff members with the flag and certificate from the 39th Commuications Squadron in Turkey.
For almost two years, the Communications group at Y‑12 has sent care packages to coworker Lisa Harris’ son, who serves with the U.S. Air Force. The packages started as a way to make her son and his squadron’s deployment in Turkey more comfortable.
Harris said, “We’ve supported them as often as we can with small items they can carry with them — gum, granola, peanuts, cookies. We sent them things to help take their focus off being away from their families and friends for long periods of time.”
To show their appreciation for the gesture, the squadron sent a flag that was flown in the cockpit of an A‑10 Warthog during a mission. Harris said, “We never expected anything in return. To us, it was the least we could do.” The group plans to continue sending care packages to the 51 members of the Air Force stationed there.
The certificate, photograph and flag are displayed in the group’s area in Jack Case Center. 
Dale Christenson (left) receives the Federal Project Director of the year award from Under Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes.
Dale Christenson, project director of the Uranium Processing Facility, was presented the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Project Director of the Year Award on March 14. Christenson leads the NNSA’s $6.5 billion UPF project underway at
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Last month was important for the
“Y-12 and other NNSA sites are on the front edges of the advanced reactor effort for boutique reactors for NASA and other possible users such as the Department of Defense,” Senior Technical Consultant for Program Development Chris Robinson said. “The final test lasted 28 hours and is a significant milestone for the NASA’s fission surface power program.
“Support for NASA continues to progress the technology for future testing and need for reliable fission-based power systems. In addition, our accomplishments gave the U.S. Army the confidence to initiate a multi-year project to upgrade the fuel for the White Sands Missile Range Fast Burst Reactor,” Robinson said.
Construction is underway on the Mechanical Electrical Building at the Uranium Processing Facility site.
Last month, the UPF project received authorization from DOE/NNSA leadership to start construction on the Main Process Building and Salvage & Accountability Building subprojects. UPF will replace World-War-II-era facilities with a modern, more efficient, and safer facility for conducting highly enriched uranium operations at
“This milestone is another important step toward delivering UPF and strengthening our nation’s nuclear security,” said Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, DOE Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator. “I’m proud of the UPF team for keeping an acquisition project of this size and scope on budget and on schedule.”
See the complete NNSA press release for more information.