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Amarillo, Texas—Emergency response personnel from the National Nuclear Security Administration and Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), will conduct an emergency management exercise August 24 at the Pantex Plant.

During this exercise, between 8 a.m. and noon, people in the vicinity of FM 683, between Hwy 60 and Sage Circle, and the Pantex Plant may observe response personnel simulating response activities as part of the exercise.

This event is part of emergency management exercises conducted on a regular basis by the U.S. Department of Energy Pantex Plant. These exercises test the ability of emergency personnel to respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations, and ensure that the public, Pantex employees and the environment would be protected in the event of an actual emergency.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on the performance excellence and the imperatives of safety, security, zero defects and delivery as promised.

For more information on each site, visit www.pantex.com or www.y12.doe.gov. Follow Pantex on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Follow Y-12 on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.

Starting a new job can be anxiety producing. The situation can be nerve-racking unless you have a “coach” to support you.

POLO group during their Second Annual Hike and Bike at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

For Trent Spivey, that coach was Courtney Waddell from Pantex Facility Engineering. Spivey spent considerable time awaiting his clearance in a trailer located just outside the protected area. Fortunately, Waddell stopped by regularly to ask how she could help make his transition into the company as easy as possible.

“Without Courtney, I would have known nothing about Pantex nine months after being hired,” Spivey said. “Coming to a place with more than 3,000 people that you don’t know, it helps to have a friend.”

Spivey learned about Pantex while attending West Texas A&M and as a student had the opportunity to take a site tour and meet with different managers. Once on board, he joined the Pantex Outreach and Leadership Organization, a group of early career professionals in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, where Waddell volunteered to be his mentor.

“Having a mentor to introduce me to the people I’d be working with put me further ahead than those who came in blindly. That’s the number one success of the mentoring program,” Spivey said. “The mentorship really plugged me in and showed me what I can be within the company.”

Spivey now is on the POLO social subcommittee, and he looks forward to one day passing on what he knows to other new employees.

Chris Whitmer is one of the original organizers of POLO. Since its formation in 2014, POLO has grown to more than 100 members who participate in various networking, social, and community events. At a recent networking event, engineers toured the inside of a turbine at the Pantex wind farm, and at another, they heard an engineer talk about career paths, technical versus management, based on his own experience.

“POLO gives new hires, especially those coming from areas outside of Amarillo, the opportunity to meet other people, which gives them a reason to stay,” said Whitmer, who is from Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Barbara Vertefeuille from Safety Analysis Engineering, shares Whitmer’s viewpoint.

“If people have someone to go to—someone to ask questions and point them in the right direction—they are more likely to stay,” she said.

Vertefeuille has taught training for the last 20 years and has mentored those who are working toward their Documented Safety Analysis qualifications. She focuses on the specialized abilities they need for the work and helps them understand their role.

“People need someone to help them progress in their job and lives. I try to help them feel comfortable and confident in their own abilities,” she said.

AMARILLO, Texas – Twenty nonprofits in the Texas Panhandle are better able to expand or continue their missions thanks to grants from Consolidated Nuclear Security’s (CNS) Pantex Community Investment Fund, administered by the Amarillo Area Foundation.

CNS, which manages the Pantex Plant for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, announced the recipients in its third round of charitable giving with funds totaling $175,000. The advisory committee gave priority to proposals from organizations located and operating in the 12 contiguous counties surrounding the Pantex Plant, which includes Armstrong, Carson, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hutchinson, Moore, Oldham, Potter, Randall and Swisher. Applications for next year will be due in early 2018 through the Amarillo Area Foundation.

“We are very proud to continue our employees’ legacy of giving by contributing to Panhandle area organizations through the CNS Community Investment Fund, “ said Pantex Site Manager Todd Ailes. “Pantex has always been committed to improving and supporting our surrounding communities.”

The company announced the latest round of availability in March as part of its commitment to Amarillo and the surrounding areas. A Pantex Community Investment Advisory Committee of CNS employees reviewed proposals from area non-profit organizations. After evaluations were made, the committee recommended grant awards to CNS management and the Amarillo Area Foundation.

With this year’s grants, CNS has donated $471,000 to area non-profit organizations since 2015 through the Amarillo Area Foundation.

“Our relationship with the Amarillo Area Foundation has enabled our employees to engage in the grant process in such an effective way,” said Jason Bohne, CNS Communications and Public Affairs director. “As a company, we’re happy to partner with community organizations for the betterment of Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle—where our employees work, live, and give.”

The advisory committee selected grantee organizations based on the following funding preferences and priorities: Basic Needs, Child and Family Development, Education, Community Development, Financial Literacy, and Health and Wellness.

Organizations and the funds they will receive are as follows:

CONTACT
Steve Myers
Public Affairs
Office (806) 477-6032
smyers@pantex.com

Amarillo, Texas – Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) was recently honored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. The company received an award for Facility Management Contractor Small Business Achievement of the Year at the 16th Annual Small Business Forum and Expo.

The Facility Management Contractor Small Business Achievement of the Year award recognizes the tangible, annual, organizational results of a DOE facilities management contractor. These results are measured in terms of dollars and percentage increases in small business procurement activity as well as policies, programs and procedures that promote small business use.

CNS operates the Pantex Plant in Amarillo and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the National Nuclear Security Administration. For fiscal year 2016, CNS awarded 67 percent of all purchases to U.S.-based small businesses, exceeding a negotiated goal of 55 percent.

Scientific Sales, Inc., one of Y-12’s fiscal year 2016 Small Business of the Year honorees, also received an award as 8(a)/Small Disadvantaged Business of the Year.

For a full list of winners, please visit the DOE website: https://www.energy.gov/osdbu/annual-small-business-awards-fy2016.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on the performance excellence and the imperatives of safety, security, zero defects and delivery as promised.

For more information on each site, visit www.pantex.energy.gov or www.y12.doe.gov. Follow Pantex on Facebook, X or LinkedIn. Follow Y-12 on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

AMARILLO, Texas – Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC, the managing and operating entity of Pantex, recently received the Texas Workforce Solutions Local Employer of the Year Award.

The award annually honors one private-sector employer whose efforts and initiatives resulted in an extraordinary impact on the State of Texas as well as employers, workers, and the community in which the employer operates.

The award focuses on employer excellence and operational results that benefit employers, workers, and the local community and assumes a close partnership with and successful use of Texas Workforce system services.

Corey Strickland, Pantex deputy site manager, and Heather Freeman, Pantex Human Resources manager accepted the award.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on the performance excellence and the imperatives of safety, security, zero defects and delivery as promised.

For more information on each site, visit www.pantex.energy.gov or www.y12.doe.gov. Follow Pantex on Facebook, X or LinkedIn. Follow Y-12 on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

Engineering professionals across the nation celebrated Engineers Week—or EWeek—February 20-24, and employees at Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC joined the fun. Engineers from Pantex, the Uranium Processing Facility and Y-12 visited local schools throughout the week, encouraging hundreds of young people to make a difference in the world through an engineering career.

EWeek was started 66 years ago by the National Society of Professional Engineers to ensure student awareness of engineering and technology careers using real-world examples and education.

Engineers hosted a day-long event at area schools that included exposure to electrical, mechanical, structural and chemical engineering. The students rotated through stations that allowed them to build motors, catapults and towers and determine chemical separation in a column.

In additional support of educational outreach, February also saw the 2017 Pantex Regional High School and Middle School Science Bowls and at Oak Ridge, Y-12 hosted “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,” at the site’s New Hope Center.

“Engineering is a major with a big up-side,” said CNS engineer Julie Cramer. “Engineers are in high demand, and, if you work hard through school, you will be able to enter into an interesting career where you can get paid to do things you would normally only do as hobbies.”

Some of the schools CNS visited during EWeek2017 week included:

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on the performance excellence and the imperatives of safety, security, zero defects and delivery as promised.

For more information on each site, visit www.pantex.energy.gov or www.y12.doe.gov. Follow Pantex on Facebook, X or LinkedIn. Follow Y-12 on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

Pantex security police officer Billy Hall was recently recognized as one of the best in the U.S. Department of Energy Complex.

Hall is the latest recipient of the Colonel Sydnor Award, named after Colonel Elliot P. Sydnor, who had a large impact in the modernization of the Savannah River Site’s Protective Force in 1983. Sydnor would go on to help develop the Department of Energy’s Composite Adversary Team.

Billy Hall (center) receives the Colonel Sydnor Award from Ben Bitonel (left) and Kerry Wisniewski.

In honor of Colonel Sydnor, the Office of Enterprise Assessments presents the award annually to a CAT member who demonstrates the highest level of physical fitness and tactical proficiency and exhibits qualities associated with superior character and leadership.

“The Composite Adversary Team represents the most talented Security Police Officers across the DOE complex,” Protective Force Deputy Chief Daniel Holmes said. “It is very difficult to be selected to be a part of the CAT program.”

Hall has been a part of the Special Response Team at Pantex for 14 years and is now an SRT captain. He said that the position has given him many tools that have allowed him to be a more effective leader for his team.

“Being selected for this award by my peers — from all of the other DOE sites — as the Colonel Sydnor winner is the greatest accomplishment in my career thus far,” said Hall. “Finally reaching this goal has been very gratifying and required much hard work, patience, dedication and love for what I do.”

The DOE CAT Program’s level of excellence is recognized throughout the worldwide nuclear security community, and Pantex has risen to the occasion before. Hall is the third Pantexan to receive this honor in the last 20 years.

Funds to be distributed through Amarillo Area Foundation

AMARILLO, Texas – Charitable organizations from across the Texas Panhandle are once again invited to apply for grants from the Pantex Community Investment Fund established by Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS), managing and operating contractor of the Pantex Plant.

CNS established the fund last year through the Amarillo Area Foundation, as part of its commitment to Amarillo and the surrounding communities. Over its two previous grant cycles, CNS awarded almost $300,000 in grants to more than 30 local nonprofit organizations.

The Amarillo Area Foundation is announcing a Request for Proposals, and the CNS employee advisory committee for the CNS Pantex Community Investment Fund, a component fund of the Amarillo Area Foundation, will entertain proposals from nonprofit and charitable institutions throughout the 26 northernmost counties in the Texas Panhandle. Grant amounts will range from $2,500 to $10,000. Individuals and non-charitable organizations are not eligible.

The application process will be competitive. Organizations who fit the eligibility requirements and whose work is in line with the priorities are encouraged to apply. Only one application per organization will be accepted. General operating support is a low priority. The priorities for funding are:

• Basic Needs (Food, Clothing, and Shelter)
• Children, Youth, and Family
• Community Development
• Education
• Health and Wellness

Please note this will be the only CNS Pantex competitive grant cycle in 2017.

Priority will be given to proposals from organizations located and operating in one of the 12 contiguous counties surrounding the Pantex Plant with preference given to projects that serve multiple priority counties. These counties are: Armstrong, Carson, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hutchison, Moore, Oldham, Potter, Randall, and Swisher.

Applications are available online at aaf.spectrumportal.net and are due April 28, 2017, by noon. See https://www.amarilloareafoundation.org/application-2016 for instructions on how to register in the Spectrum portal. If you have any questions, please contact AAF grant staff at 806.376.4521 or grants@aaf-hf.org.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on the performance excellence and the imperatives of safety, security, zero defects and delivery as promised.

For more information on each site, visit www.pantex.energy.gov or www.y12.doe.gov. Follow Pantex on Facebook, X or LinkedIn. Follow Y-12 on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

In 1943, housing was at a premium in the Amarillo area. With the war effort and production at Pantex already in full swing and a growing workforce, the need for new homes was obvious.

Construction of pre-fab housing units at the Pantex Village.

The National Housing Administration approved 175 new homes to be built in Amarillo for Pantex employees with 3 or more family members, but even that number was not sufficient. So, an additional 360 units were approved including 142 two-room apartments, 128 one-bedroom apartments, 60 two-bedroom units and 30 with three bedrooms.

It was all part of what was then called “Pantex City,” which was located just north of U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 683. Initially, along with apartment buildings and homes, plans for the city included a shopping center with a grocery store, meat market, fire station, drug store, barber shop, beauty parlor, shoe repair and a tailor shop. There was also talk of a possible grade school with plans to bus students back to town for high school.

Construction was slated for completion in April 1943, thanks to pre-fabricated, mass-production methods. The apartment buildings went up like Tinker Toys with each dwelling having between four to eight apartments. An additional 400 pre-fab homes were soon added, bringing the population of the Pantex Village up to a few thousand. The village grew to 69 residence buildings, a community center and a store to support the approximately 5,325 employees at Pantex working 3 shifts at the height of World War II.

Noted cowboy poet and author Buck Ramsey lived at the village, according to a 1977 article called “Letter from the Panhandle,” which was printed in the Texas Observer magazine. In it, he reminisced about his time at Pantex.

“On the western edge, the government constructed a village; symmetrical rows of buildings so uniform there was a nightly problem of entering the wrong apartment by mistake. The war industry, with its promise of regular paychecks and dwellings with gas heaters and indoor plumbing, lured many families from the hardscrabble countryside. Mine was among them.

“I sometimes slipped through the fences to wander about the forbidden pastures, to lie on my back in the ungrazed grass… and listen to trains rumble away with bombs for Europe and Asia. The war ended with me seven years old. For a couple more years we lived in the village, while the munitions plant deteriorated from the peace. I grew bolder with age and would climb up to survey the area from watchtowers. I walked the barracks porches, and then broke into deserted buildings to steel my nerves against the ghosts inside, preparing myself for some future war.”

Ramsey noted in his writings about the barren countryside and how set apart the village seemed to be from the rest of the area.

In fact, the village was very isolated, functioning as a self-sufficient community. It was 10 miles from the town of Panhandle and accessed only through a perimeter gate that was locked each evening. There were recreational facilities, especially for the younger set, including basketball and tennis courts along with a teen club where dances took place.

To some outsiders, the village was known as the low-income “Cardboard Village” due to the pre-fab materials and walls so thin you could hear neighbors talking.

As a village, there was also a small newspaper called the Pantex Breeze. There were no real village officials because the place was run like a housing project. There was a manager, but no one was ever elected as an official to preside over the village.

After the war, things started to change. In 1949, the plant and village were acquired by Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) in Lubbock, and, by the end of that year, the village was turned over to Carson County.

The village was still going strong in the early 1950s. According to housing advertisements in the Pantexan magazine, the rent for a one- to three-bedroom apartment ranged from $33 to $42 per month, with all utilities paid.

In 1968, Pantex Village closed due to the large number of vacancies caused by improved economic opportunities elsewhere and the closing of the Amarillo Air Base in 1967.

Eventually, ads were placed throughout the Panhandle that the buildings were all to be sold at auction. Some of the smaller buildings are reportedly still being used in the town of Panhandle as a storage shed and another as a re-bricked building. Today, all that’s left as a reminder of the early days of the facility and the role it played at the Pantex Plant are a few concrete slabs dotted around the area where the village once stood.

However, the most surprising remnant of the auction is right down Interstate 40 as you enter Amarillo. On the east side of town, you will find one of the most advertised and well visited tourist destinations, the Big Texan Steak Restaurant, famous for its “free 72-ounce steak, if eaten within an hour.”

Bob Lee purchased and dismantled five barracks picked up at the auction and used the lumber to build his restaurant in 1960. Reportedly, most of that wood was lost in a fire in 1976, but the restaurant was rebuilt with the help of 100 of his employees pitching in.

Just like a time more than 30 years earlier… it took a village.

Consolidated Nuclear Security employees give back to local communities

AMARILLO, Texas/OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – United Way contributions at the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security Complex totaled some $1.2 million, Consolidated Nuclear Security, the managing and operating contractor, announced today. Contributions from employees, retirees and the corporation were gathered during the sites’ recent campaigns.

The campaigns also added more than 500 Leadership Givers, who have pledged to donate $1,000 or more. Corporate gifts of some $155,000 also added to the total. Funds also were raised through special events, such as silent auctions, and the sales of jewelry, books and food items.

“I am proud of what we accomplished with our campaign this year,” said Pantex Site Manager Todd Ailes. “I believe being a member of a community comes with the responsibility to make the community better. Over the years, Pantexans, as a group, have strongly supported United Way and are one of the largest givers.”

“People at Y-12 really showed their support for the United Way and local communities,” said Y-12 Site Manager Bill Tindal. “Our campaign slogan this year was ‘locally sown, locally grown’ because it’s reminder that this is about our community, our friends and neighbors. United Way agencies are helping people a lot closer than we think.”

Y-12 employee contributions to the United Way are distributed in 17 East Tennessee counties, while Pantex contributions benefit the Texas Panhandle region and equated to 11 percent of the overall Amarillo and Canyon United Way campaign.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on the performance excellence and the imperatives of safety, security, zero defects and delivery as promised.

For more information on each site, visit www.pantex.energy.gov or www.y12.doe.gov. Follow Pantex on Facebook, X or LinkedIn. Follow Y-12 on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.