Nuclear Weapons Plant Going "Green"

The picture above (from the website nukewatch.org) is of Pantex -- the plant where all United States nuclear weapons are assembled (and out-dated nukes are dismantled). The plant is in the Texas Panhandle, just a few miles from Amarillo.

For years now, this huge nuclear weapons plant has sucked up a significant portion of the electrical energy produced in this area. It looks like that is going to change soon. Acting on instructions from the White House for government agencies to develop homegrown energy and cut carbon pollution, the Pantex plant will break ground for a huge new wind farm in just a few days.

The wind farm will save the plant (and the federal government) about $2.8 million dollars each year in energy costs -- and that money will be used to pay for the construction (which means it won't add to the budget deficit or the national debt). It will cover about 1500 acres, and will produce  about 47 million kilowatt hours of energy each year (enough energy to supply the needs of about 3,500 homes). It will also reduce the amount of CO2 emissions by more than 35,000 metric tons each year (the equivalent of removing 7,200 cars from service).

I'm still not thrilled to have a nuclear weapons assembly plant near the city where I live, but if it has to be there, I'm at least glad they are making an effort to be a good neighbor -- by producing their own energy from a renewable and clean resource, and by lowering the pollution their energy use is responsible for. Pantex is going green -- and that's a good thing.

Pantex Shipments Are Highly Radioactive

This is what the B-W Pantex website has to say about it's plant near Amarillo:

"Pantex Plant, located 17 miles northeast of Amarillo, Texas, in Carson County, is charged with maintaining the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The facility is managed and operated by B&W Pantex for the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration.

Work performed at Pantex includes support of the life extension programs, weapon dismantlement, the development, testing and fabrication of high explosive components and interim storage and surveillance of plutonium pits.

All work at Pantex is carried out under these overarching priorities: the security of weapons and information, the safety and health of workers and the public, and the protection of the environment."

As a resident of Amarillo, I would really like to believe that last paragraph is true -- since we are talking about nuclear weapons less than 20 miles from our fair city. But it's kind of unsettling when you see mistakes like this.

Pantex has recently shipped 36 "legacy items" to Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico (about 280 miles). According to the Amarillo Globe News, "Legacy items are components or tools from dismantled weapons that are not part of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and cannot be re-used in modern warheads."

The items shipped were packaged safely according to the company, even though they were not supposed to be dangerous. However, when they were unpacked in Sandia, 12 of the 36 packages were found to be "highly" contaminated with radioactive tritium gas (which is used to enhance the explosive power of a nuclear weapon).

Pantex said they had spot-checked the shipment and found no radiation before the items were shipped. Obviously that check was not sufficient, since 12 dangerously radioactive items slipped through without their knowledge. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said Pantex is revising it's inventory procedures. I should hope so!

There are some jobs where mistakes can be tolerated (even if unappreciated). However, if you are in charge of tons of nuclear weapons, I would hope there would be several levels of safety procedures that would catch any human errors before they left the plant or became serious.

This latest misstep does not inspire confidence.