The Fire Suppression System at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site
March 15, 2019
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March 12, 2019
The Fire Suppression System at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site
The National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) is located within the Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada National Security Site in Mercury, Nevada. Responsibility for the Device Assembly Facility falls under the Nevada National Security Site management and operating contractor, and NCERC is operated by Los Alamos National Laboratory. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has oversight of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Nevada National Security Site, and their respective management and operating contractors. NCERC’s principal operation is to conduct research and experiments on nuclear criticality for the Department of Energy. NCERC maintains a special nuclear material inventory to support its nuclear security missions and contains the largest collection of nuclear critical mass assembly machines in the western hemisphere.
In June 2009, a Nuclear Explosive Safety Study Group reported concerns that activation of the NCERC fire suppression system would release water on the criticality machines, which could lead to a criticality accident. The report concluded that the NCERC fire suppression system required further investigation and analysis, along with technical expertise to evaluate alternatives based on a graded risk basis. In addition, the report noted that because of criticality safety concerns, a compromise was reached in which the fire suppression system selected for NCERC was a dry pipe system. We initiated this audit to determine whether NNSA fully evaluated fire suppression system alternatives prior to initiating repairs at NCERC.
Our review found that NNSA had not fully evaluated fire suppression system alternatives based on a graded risk basis prior to initiating and completing repairs at NCERC. During our audit, NNSA directed that an analysis of the alternatives be performed; however, the analysis is not yet complete. While we did not issue any formal recommendations, we suggest that NNSA complete the feasibility study of implementing an alternative to the current water-based automatic fire suppression system at NCERC as planned.
Topic: National Security & Safety