Sandia National Laboratories Special Nuclear Material De-inventory Project; Best Practices and Lessons Learned, Final Phase

On May 7, 2004, the Secretary for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced the National Nuclear Security Agency’s (NNSA) Nuclear Materials Consolidation Initiative. This initiative was established to reinforce national security by consolidating Special Nuclear Material (SNM) from across the nuclear weapons complex. As an early adopter of this initiative, Sandia National Laboratories developed plans and schedules to remove all Security Category I and II SNM from the Albuquerque, New Mexico location by the end of fiscal year 2007. Sandia identified seven discrete groups of SNM requiring removal in order to meet the objectives and establish Sandia National Laboratories as a “non-enduring” SNM site for the complex. Planning and preparations began early on to solve the myriad logistical challenges that lay ahead for removing the seven target groups. This paper follows up on last year’s work and describes Sandia’s experience in the final phase and close out of the SNM De-Inventory Project. Disposition of SNM is a formidable challenge under the best circumstances. Accomplishing these objectives on an aggressive schedule amplifies the known challenges and brings to light unexpected ones, given the myriad of stakeholders and special project requirements. While many of the core processes to ship and dispose of materials are well-established, the unique characteristics, security requirements, and inter-lab and DOE agency coordination for many of the materials, do not lend themselves to utilizing the typical transfer routines. SNM disposition requirements include but are certainly not limited to material analysis, site receiving agreements, shipping container certifications, safeguards and security protections, authorization basis approvals, and nuclear criticality safety. Also, basic project management elements including scheduling, budget, staffing, stakeholder buy-in, and effective communication must be managed judiciously to ensure project success. This paper presents the challenges, best practices and lessons learned for the Sandia National Laboratories SNM De-inventory Project. Topical areas are Methodologies and Best Practices and Testing, Assessments, and Lessons Learned. Sub-topical areas include Nonproliferation and Arms Control, Materials Control and Accountability, Waste Management, and Packaging and Transportation.