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Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX

KEY FACILITIES

Building 9202

Building 9202 is a bulk treatment facility. It became operational in late 1943 to process the feed material for the calutron sources.

Building 9203

Building 9203 became operational in November 1943. In addition to making alpha calutron feed, the facility was used for reclaiming the alpha and beta chemical product. It included analytical chemistry laboratories and mass spectrometry and fission counting labs.

Building 9206

The 9206 Complex, constructed in 1946, occupies approximately 67,294 square feet centrally located at Y-12. It was used for the chemical processing of uranium, such as recovering enriched uranium from scrap and trash. Supporting facilities included buildings 9768, 9720-17, 9409-17, 9510-2, and 9767-2, and the east and west tank farm pits. It is in stand-down with limited operations, due to conduct of operations concerns identified by the DNFSB. It is used a storage for in-process materials. A major hazard is the presence of significant quantities of SNM and hazardous substances. While the risks are relatively low, the workers are exposed to hazardous substances and to possible nuclear criticality. A past significant event was failure to conduct monthly inspection required by criticality safety approval, which constitutes a violation of OSRs.

Building 9212 Complex

The 9212 Complex, a uranium processing facility, was built in 1949 and occupies approximately 311,325 square feet and is used for recovery, purification, and processing of enriched uranium into usable products or forms suitable for storage. The complex includes buildings 9212, 9809, 9812, 9818, 9815, and 9980. Building 9212, the largest, originally had four wings, A, B, C, and D, and its primary activity was uranium recovery and reclamation. In 1948, new structures were built between the four wings and in 1951, the E Wing was added. The UF₆ conversion facility in the D Wing was shutdown in 1964.

The functions performed at 9212 include the casting of highly enriched uranium (HEU) metal, the recovery and reclamation of HEU for storage, and serving as the source of all HEU used in test, research, and propulsion reactors and for isotope production.It supports the International Atomic Energy Agency in sampling surplus EU, packaging HEU for offsite shipment, and producing specialized uranium compounds and metal for research reactor fuel.

The major hazards are nuclear, radiological, and hazardous chemicals present in the facility, and standard industrial hazards. Significant events are: 1) the required annual test of the baghouse Halon system did not test all required components; 2) CSA requirements were not strictly enforced; and 3) there was uptake of radiological material by workers. An internal investigation by the contractor resulted in a detailed report that identified the causes of the uptake and the recommendations to prevent a recurrence. The uptake resulted in a committed effective dose equivalent of # 5 mrem for all of the attested workers. The Price-Anderson Amendment Act audit conducted in October 1996 focused on this event. The results of the audit are pending. The facility is in stand-down with limited operations due to conduct of operations concerns.

Building 9215 Complex

Building 9215 was constructed in 1950 and occupies approximately 157,000 square feet of space. It is used to manufacture parts for depleted and enriched uranium for finished weapons components. Operations include enriched uranium machining and metal finishing, and depleted uranium H-1 foundry. Portions of this facility has become active as part of RSS operations. The remainder will be reactivated as part of the enriched uranium operations restart.

Building 9720-5

Building 9720-5 was constructed in 1944 and occupies approximately 53,949 square feet of space. It is a warehouse used for storing enriched uranium weapons parts, assemblies, and other strategic material for Y-12. It is also a shipping and receiving facility for special nuclear material. It serves as the primary storage building for highly-enriched uranium. In the past it has stored enriched uranium product and currently stores recycled uranium. It has been renovated on multiple occasions.

Building 9731

Building 9731, the Calutron Pilot Plant, also called ZAX/XBX, was the first building to become operational in the fall of 1943. It contained two each of the alpha and beta calutrons. It was used as a training facility as well.

Building 9995

Building 9995 was constructed in 1952 and occupies approximately 84,000 square feet of space. It is an analytical laboratory used, among other tasks, to assay nuclear components. This facility was maintained as a continuing operation.