Y-12 Blog
Pantex Emergency Services members (from left) Maribel Martinez, Brenda Graham and Greg Roddahl learn how to use the Emergency Management Information System, or EMInS.
Safeguards, Security and Emergency Services integrated, consolidated and standardized processes at Pantex and Y-12 in 2015. According to Gary Wisdom, SS&ES senior director at Pantex, “The exchange of information has been our greatest effort and our most valuable success. Integrating our knowledge, purpose and strategic initiatives can ultimately provide the greatest returns.”
In many cases, the formalization and documentation of long‑established informal processes were major accomplishments. For example, in June 2015, the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office approved consolidated rules of engagement and hostile intent policies for unmanned aerial systems at both CNS sites.
In July, essential elements terminology was standardized, and the organization decided to proceed with incorporating all governing documents into a single Requirement Management System, which assists with consolidating the flow down of Department of Energy requirements into site‑specific documents.
The enterprise infrastructure to facilitate and support these efforts is integral to their success. Training, Supply Chain Management, Document Control and other organizations must be integrated so that they can support integration at lower levels. Representatives from SS&ES, Transformation and Supply Chain Management developed a logistics plan to make it easier for SS&ES employees to get what they need to do their work on time and cost effectively.
“If we can reduce the time spent completing repetitive purchase paperwork, reduce the time it takes to get the items and services we need, that’s a big plus for everyone,” explained Brian Deorocki of SS&ES Integration Management. Items needed at both sites may be purchased in bulk, improving employee effectiveness and reducing costs.
The logistics plan simplifies these repetitive and multi‑year procurements of specialized supplies, parts and equipment, as well as maintenance, service and repair contracts. Protective Force personnel at both sites worked together to develop a statement of work for a firearms maintenance capability at Anniston Army Depot. The depot possesses machines, parts and tools to renovate and refurbish military firearm systems and restore them to current military specifications, a capability not available at Pantex or Y-12. Both sites have provided additional statements of work for other site‑specific weapons and have coordinated with Supply Chain Management for an integrated ammunition procurement process.
During the year, Emergency Services leadership developed a common vision for the Enterprise Emergency Services organization and shared processes. Y-12’s Exercise Builder software was implemented at Pantex, along with the Communicator NXT technology and the first phase of the Emergency Management Information Notification System. Y-12 personnel offered guidance and training on each system throughout implementation.
Personnel from the sister site served as evaluators, leading to valuable discussions afterwards where processes were compared and a common balance was agreed upon.
“We continue developing common approaches to various ways of reporting and doing business across both sites, but we also realize we need to enhance our performance in terms of communications, leadership, ethics, teamwork and job satisfaction,” Wisdom said.
SS&ES teams continue integrating the Pantex and Y‑12 programs. Ken Freeman, SS&ES vice president, said, “The integration effort has been challenging, but we are very pleased with the work our employees are accomplishing. Through their continued collaborative and cooperative efforts, we anticipate having even greater success in FY 2016.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam (front row center) greets Oak Ridge business leaders during Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s Day on the Hill. Also pictured: (back row) Kelly Callison, Gene Patterson, Rick Chinn, Ben Andrews, (front row) Stacy Myers, Parker Hardy, Patricia Myers and Lisa Copeland.
Consolidated Nuclear Security and other area businesses recently joined the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce in hosting a breakfast for state lawmakers in Nashville.
More than two dozen Chamber members took part in “Oak Ridge Day on the Hill” meeting with area lawmakers and state officials in their offices and in the halls of the Legislative Plaza, encouraging them to support the Chamber’s legislative and public policy agenda for 2016.
Among the requests, approved by the Chamber’s Board of Directors, was continued support of Tennessee Promise, Drive 55 and the TN Reconnect program; and the expansion of general aviation capacity by developing a regional airport in Oak Ridge.
“It was a tremendous honor to participate as part of Oak Ridge Day and represent Consolidated Nuclear Security,” said CNS Small Business Partnerships manager Lisa Copeland. “Meeting so many state senators and representatives and other dignitaries and being able to tell the Y-12 story and the importance of workforce development was our mission; and we were able to accomplish that,” she said.
In addition to CNS, other exhibitors were Advanced Management Inc., Roane State Community College, Oak Ridge Utility District and the City of Oak Ridge.
An unexpected highlight of the visit was the opportunity to share a few minutes with Governor Bill Haslam and get a picture made with him.
Stacy Myers, chairman of the Chamber’s Advocacy Committee said, “Our goal was to take Oak Ridge to Nashville and share what Oak Ridge is doing for the next generation of our workforce.”
“Our scheduled and impromptu meetings with state officials in the hallways of the Legislative Plaza and the State Capitol proved to once again be productive.”
Girls Inc. Executive Director Rhoni Basden (left) accepts a donation from Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) Vice President for Operations Support Darrell Graddy (center) with CNS employee and Girls Inc. board member, Sheryl Houston (right).
To get more girls interested and excited about science, math and technology, Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) recently donated $10,000 to Girls Inc. of Oak Ridge/Knoxville (Tennessee) to help expand STEM programs.
Girls Inc. Executive Director Rhoni Basden said the donation will support science programs in Anderson and Knox counties and a fall Girls Inc. STEM conference.
“Through this conference, girls will be able to explore differing science fields and engage in interactive activities with experts in computer sciences, technology, engineering, forensic sciences and more,” said Basden.
Darrell Graddy, CNS Vice President for Operations Support, was on hand for the check presentation and was given a tour, by a group of young girls, of the Oak Ridge facility.
“We’re pleased to support the mission of Girls Inc.,” said Graddy. “The continuing success of Y-12 and Pantex and their missions, relies on developing the talent we will need for the future.”
“Girls Inc. and expansion of its STEM programs perfectly aligns with that goal,” he added.
Girls Inc. serves girls ages 5 to 18 in after-school, break camps and sports programs. The organization began in Oak Ridge in 1976 and has recently expanded into Knox County.
Steve Dekanich shares his enthusiasm for materials science with students at the ASM International Materials Camp.
Y‑12 senior metallurgist Steve Dekanich will receive the 2015 International Metallographic Society (IMS) President’s Award at this year’s meeting in July.
“It brought me great pleasure that my first act as IMS president was announcing my friend and mentor, Steve Dekanich of the Y‑12 National Security Complex, as the President’s Award recipient,” said Jaret Frafjord, director of IMR Test Labs in Portland and former Y‑12 colleague of Dekanich’s. “Steve is a long‑time member of IMS, a past Jacquet‑Lucas (an international award for excellence in metallography) winner, past IMS organizer for the Microscopy & Microanalysis conference and past officer of the board of directors. Steve is currently an editor for the IMS journal, Metallography, Microstructures, and Analysis, and the unofficial IMS historian. I am forever grateful that Steve introduced me to the society and encouraged me to become involved.”
This award adds to the confirmation that Dekanich’s work is internationally known and respected among his peers, but many at Y‑12 and in the east Tennessee area also have known he does great things for years—especially when it comes to sharing his knowledge. From introducing local high schoolers to the field of materials science for the last 11 years to gaining the attention of best‑selling author Patricia Cornwell with his research on the cause of the sinking of Civil War submarine the H.L. Hunley, Dekanich has applied his expertise with metals to not only help Y‑12 successfully carry out its missions but to help shape the next generation of researchers.
“I’m grateful to Y‑12 for allowing me the opportunity to share materials science with high school students through the ASM International Materials Camp,” said Dekanich. “In the 11‑year period of the camp, we had 12 students enroll in the Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee. The best part is seeing that same spark kindled in several of the students who chose materials science as a career.”
Working with the Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing Team, the successful Plant‑Directed Research, Development and Demonstration project, Dekanich advanced the technique used to detect flaws in metal. He not only spelled a win for weld inspections at Y‑12 but also (you guessed it!) created a customized training session for inspectors at Y‑12 and externally.
While awards are not something Dekanich strives for, it certainly puts the proverbial icing on the cake.
“Receiving the President’s Award was a total surprise and never imagined. To be unexpectedly recognized for something that I enjoy doing truly adds to the fulfillment of my career,” he said. “During my 45+ year career, metallography, metallurgy and materials science became a passion. That passion led me to involvement with three uranium enrichment processes; materials applications for the U.S. space station, the Navy Seawolf program and the Star Wars program; weapons development; plasma spray filter development; and serving as chairman and principal investigator on catastrophic material failures as well as many other things. In all honesty, I’m as excited now about materials science as I was 45 years ago,” he said.
An integrated team of Pantex and Y-12 employees (some members shown here) work on the beginning stages of the container improvement initiative.
For Pantex and Y-12, delivering the mission as one team is more than the sum of its parts; it’s a shared responsibility to find smarter ways to integrate resources, eliminate redundancies, tackle shared problems and break up bottlenecks. That, in turn, helps to better meet mission requirements at both sites.
With more than a thousand miles separating the sites and decades of operating independently, becoming one team hasn’t been easy, but it makes sense. The production sites play an essential role in the nation’s defense and nonproliferation strategy. The two sites’ missions are intertwined and now so are many of their operations.
Several Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) organizations are playing an important role in integrating the sites’ processes and systems. “Our CNS team is accomplishing integration on a scale that has never been done before within the Nuclear Security Enterprise,” said Darrell Graddy, CNS’s vice president for Operations Support. “We’ve already made a lot of progress, but there is still more that can be done.”
Graddy said the biggest challenge is to “raise the standards in everything we do to a level reflective of our mission success.”
Following are a few examples of how CNS employees are fostering a collaborative work environment.
Mission first
CNS synchronized weapons baseline schedules for Pantex and Y-12. Both sites jointly reworked the B61-12 Life Extension Program project schedules to include bottom up resource estimates and integration of key subprojects. The team also consolidated the Earned Value Management System — the method used to plan and measure the cost and progress of large projects — on both unclassified and classified platforms.
“The result of these efforts was the successful B61 integrated baseline review at both sites,” said James Fine, senior director of Enterprise Planning and Controls.
Integrated mission planning
Another example of cross site collaboration is CNS’s work with the National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the National Security Campus in Kansas City on the Logistics, Accountability, Planning and Scheduling project, or LAPS. LAPS encompasses the functions that support many aspects of the Nuclear Security Enterprise weapons production business. The integrated project team is working to deliver new processes and a computer system of integrated technology and data to replace aging applications.
The new system, a first for the Nuclear Security Enterprise, will improve planning capabilities, reduce costs and provide for operational efficiencies throughout the supply chain. “CNS is responsible for leading development of planning and scheduling aspects, and SNL is responsible for accountability and logistics. Together in 2015, we completed a joint proof of concept effort in two closely coordinated project plans,” said John Hudson, senior program manager in Enterprise Planning and Controls. “This laid the groundwork for system requirements definition to proceed in 2016.”
Prioritizing infrastructure upgrades
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently designated Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Pantex and Y-12 as BUILDER Centers of Excellence.
BUILDER, a knowledge-based condition assessment software developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is being implemented across the NNSA complex to help plan for maintenance and prioritize infrastructure upgrades. The three site team has been working to gather data on every facility in the Nuclear Security Enterprise. All the data — including building square footage; number of windows and doors; and type and condition of foundation, roofing and flooring — have been entered into BUILDER.
“BUILDER will provide an enterprise level understanding of the condition of existing facilities and will allow for a risk-based approach to future infrastructure needs,” said Jane Nations, Y-12 site master planner. “CNS was selected as a Center of Excellence because of our willingness to investigate and share methods to make the NNSA implementation process more efficient.”