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Pantex, Y-12 honored for “green purchasing” efforts

Amarillo, Texas—The Pantex Plant in Amarillo and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, turned green into silver and gold respectively, with GreenBuy awards from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for sustainable purchasing. The awards recognize excellence in “green purchasing” that extends beyond minimum compliance.

This is the second year for Pantex and the fourth year for Y-12 to receive a GreenBuy award. Multiple recognitions are significant because GreenBuy awards call for continuous improvement. Both sites are managed and operated by Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS).

By participating in the GreenBuy Program, the sites leverage the federal government’s purchasing dollars to achieve mission goals while improving the marketplace for sustainable products and services, as well as reducing the overall environmental impacts of DOE's operations.

Shab Fardanesh, Senior Sustainable Acquisition Advisor for the DOE's Office of Environment, Health, Safety, and Security, said, “This voluntary program helps DOE sites systematically reduce their footprint through environmentally sustainable purchases. As an added bonus, employees can also use this information to make greener and healthier purchases at home.”

Exceeding the goals

Sites must purchase a minimum of nine products in at least five categories to receive the Gold award. Y-12 exceeded those milestones by purchasing 10 priority products in the requisite categories in fiscal year 2021. The categories range from lowering health and environmental impacts to reducing maintenance and waste-management costs.

Pantex exceeded the goals for the Silver award by purchasing six priority products in four categories.

CNS Sustainability and Stewardship Manager Jan Jackson said, “Both sites achieved these awards by demonstrating excellence in sustainable acquisition for recycling electronics and purchasing of paper towels, toilet tissue, other consumables, and electronic equipment as priority products.”

Sherith Hudson, CNS Sustainable Acquisition Program coordinator, added, “These awards recognize that the CNS Sustainable Acquisition Program trained 399 employees at Y-12 and Pantex involved in specifying and procuring materials, products, and services during Fiscal Year 2021.”

Learn more about the GreenBuy Award Program and its recognition of DOE sites for excellence in “green purchasing.”

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC 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. CNS member companies include Bechtel National, Inc.; Leidos, Inc.; ATK Launch Systems, Inc.; and SOC LLC. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on 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.

CONTACT
Steve Myers
Communications
Office (806) 573.0490
Cell (806) 236.2826

Stephen.Myers@pantex.doe.gov

The Pantex Wind Farm has allowed the site to consistently exceed DOE goals regarding the use of renewable energy and reduce energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Pantex and Y-12 are committed to policies and practices that help protect the environment.

Those commitments can be summed up with the acronym P2C2:

• Protect the environment,
• Prevent pollution,
• Comply with applicable legal and other requirements, and
• Continual improvement.

Pantex carries out these promises on a daily basis. Here are seven ways Pantex works to help the environment.

Employing renewable energy
Since the summer of 2014, the Pantex Renewable Energy Project (PREP) has allowed the site to consistently exceed DOE goals for using renewable energy and reducing energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The wind farm also provides both Pantex and Y-12 with renewable energy credits, which help exceed DOE sustainability goals. PREP was recently featured by DOE as the largest federal wind farm in America. Pantex also continues to use renewable energy-powered equipment such as solar-powered aerators in the wastewater lagoons, solar-powered lights at parking lots, and solar-generated power to emergency notification towers.

Buying Green
Pantex continues the tradition of acquiring products that are environmentally sustainable. During FY 2021, Pantex received the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Purchaser Award for purchasing approximately 95% of monitors, computers, telephones, televisions, and other imaging systems that met the EPEAT criteria established by the Green Electronics Council. Nearly 100% of all computers and monitors save energy by using power management tools. Pantex also received the 2021 DOE Office of Sustainable Environmental Stewardship Silver Level Greenbuy Award for purchasing six green priority products in four different categories.

Recycling to prevent waste

During FY 2021, Pantex recycling efforts resulted in a total 2,132,489 pounds in recycled material. The following quantities (in pounds) of waste were shipped to various recycling companies:

• Batteries 115,119
• Cardboard 110,280
• Electronics 33,215
• Lamps 4,058
• Other 485,872
• Paper 93,904
• Plastic 4,260
• Scrap Metal 1,225,081
• Scrap Tires 33,900
• Used Oil 26,800

Reducing energy intensity
Pantex continues to work to reduce energy intensity by 20%, primarily through the use of the Pantex wind farm. Energy intensity is the amount of energy used per square foot of plant’s footprint. By 2025, the goal is to reduce energy intensity at Pantex by 30% from the 2015 baseline. Energy savings in projects such as the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) replacements and security lighting upgrades will further Pantex’s progress in reducing energy consumption.

Conserving water resources
The groundwater remediation program at Pantex focuses on pumping water from the perched aquifer and limiting the amount of recharge back into the perched aquifer. When contaminated water is pumped from the perched aquifer, it is treated to remove contaminants. This treated groundwater is then mixed with treated wastewater from the rest of the plant. Over the last two years, Pantex has renovated a subsurface irrigation system that, under a permit from the State of Texas, allows this treated wastewater to be beneficially reused for crop irrigation. Using the treated wastewater for irrigation increases crop production and reduces the amount of recharge going back into to the perched aquifer. During the crop growing season, between 900,000 and 1 million gallons of treated wastewater may be used in the subsurface irrigation system for the purpose of beneficial reuse. To supplement the subsurface irrigation system, Pantex is constructing a five-pivot irrigation system on Pantex property east of FM 2373. Similar to the subsurface system, the pivots will receive treated water from the plant wastewater facility and the groundwater pump and treat systems to be reused for surface irrigation of crops.

Following the rules
The State of Texas has issued Pantex an environmental compliance rating of “high,” which is the best rating that is offered by the state. The rating is based on Pantex’s compliance with its permits and authorizations and all of the environmental laws and regulations applicable to its operations. In addition, the state has classified the Pantex water supply and distribution system as “superior.” This is also the highest rating offered by the state and is based on performing operations that go beyond those required by regulation.

Reducing waste
Pantex continues to use digital technology, such as the X-ray machine in the Pantex Occupational Medical Department, to eliminate silver-contaminated film wastes and reduce annual radiography waste. Electronics equipment is dispositioned through certified recyclers, transferred, or donated to other sites and/or educational institutions through various government programs. Accordingly, 99% of electronic equipment was kept out of landfills. In addition, more than 95% of all Pantex printers have duplex printing capabilities to save paper use.

NNSA is known for harnessing the power of the atom to help defend the United States. But the facility in Texas where we assemble and dissemble nuclear warheads is powered in part by an entirely different form of energy: the largest government-owned wind farm in the country.

In 2013, NNSA built the 11.5-megawatt Pantex Renewable Energy Project (PREP) Wind Farm, with five turbines, each 400 feet tall, built on 1,500 acres of federal land adjacent to the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. It holds the honor of the largest federal wind farm in the United States. The farm is designed to generate more than 47 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, about 60% of Pantex’s energy needs.

Read the full press release on the NNSA website.

Thanks to the many Pantex and Y-12 volunteers who help ignite science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the next generation.

“When I was in school, I didn’t have …” is a common refrain from generation to generation. Maybe we first heard the phrase from our elders, and now find ourselves repeating it to school-aged children we know. One reason we may say this is because of the many options students have to learn about possible career fields, including the various opportunities science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, fields offer. During February, more than 100 Pantexans and Y-12ers once again shared their love for and knowledge of STEM with Panhandle and East Tennessee children during area Science Bowls, Engineers Week, and Introduce a Girl to Engineering events.

“It would not be possible to reach these students without the volunteers who give their time and energy to students,” said Kristin Waldschlager of Y-12 Educational Outreach.

Darla Fish, Pantex’s Educational Outreach lead, agreed. “It is our many volunteers who make the STEM programs successful. Without them, it would be much harder to make an impact on students.”

Volunteers Hannah Bradshaw, Channing Sparks, and Stephanie Steelman of Pantex and Carol Adamson, Cole Bewley, and John Brasher of Y-12 shared why they support STEM events.

Adamson said, “For me, it’s important to share my knowledge with students in order to offer them a different perspective on STEM that I was never afforded as a kid — to let them know that if they’re interested and willing to learn, that’s all it takes.”

“The U.S. as a whole is not focusing on STEM,” Steelman said. “We are not requiring math and science courses as much as we did 20 years ago. By exposing kids to STEM activities at earlier ages, we might pique enough interest for them to start taking math and science classes in middle school and think of STEM professions as a possible career path.”

Several CNS volunteers were fortunate enough to learn about STEM venues while they were students. For Sparks, it was part of her Girl Scout training.

“I participated in a few STEM activities as part of Girl Scouts or at the recommendation of a teacher who had a passion for STEM,” she said. “Many kids have the talent and minds for STEM careers, but they may not be afforded the same opportunities. Sharing my knowledge, journey, and experiences may just be the thing someone needs to hear to push them in the right direction to being a STEM all-star!”

Bewley’s STEM experience in school helped make him who he is today. “I was exposed to STEM activities in middle school, but I became heavily involved when I started high school. At Morristown Hamblen High School East, we had a fantastic program that allowed students to take a variety of STEM classes based off their interests in various topics,” he said. “I was always interested in engineering, so I took all of the basic engineering and fundamentals classes (drafting, robotics, programming, design) that were offered. I believe that my high school STEM experiences played a huge role in allowing me to be successful in college and find a career that I love at Y-12.”

One thing all volunteers love to see when they participate in STEM activities is the children’s reactions when they understand it.

Brasher said, “You don’t know what you don’t know, so by exposing others to your ‘world,’ we foster a more inquisitive mind and show them a new shade of color from the Crayola box. My favorite part of volunteering is seeing kids light up when they see what is possible.”

“When kids start to click with the concepts of engineering, it’s wonderful,” Adamson said. “We had a lot of examples of this at the Industrial Engineering booth at pre-COVID-19 IGTE events. Most girls had no idea what industrial engineering was, but after going through our push/pull process optimization exercise, they were able to see the concepts in action and understand how it could make a difference.”

Bradshaw said, “Everyone knows there are doctors because everyone has been to a doctor. There are countless ways to help people, and letting students know engineering is one of those opportunities is important. It’s rewarding seeing students get interested and start asking questions about things.”

So the next time you see a OneSource announcement asking for volunteers to help with STEM activities, sign up. As Sparks said, “It is important for kids to see themselves in someone who is volunteering because they can relate to them and their experiences, while also knowing that they have the potential to follow the same path or even pave new paths in the STEM world.”

AMARILLO, Texas –To improve production output and position the Pantex Plant to deliver planned future weapons work, Pantex aims to hire more than 200 production technicians by fall 2022.

“Pantex is a key integration point in the weapons supply chain, where parts and services come together from other sites and make up the final product that supports the nuclear deterrent. We have a significant volume of work ahead of us, and we need additional hands-on expertise to make production a reality,” said Diane Grooms, Chief Human Resources Officer.

This presents an extraordinary hiring opportunity for citizens in the Panhandle and nearby states with trades experience. Pantex is searching for those who can do the actual hands-on work to ensure the nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, and effective. Citizens with a background in at least one of the following areas are needed: manufacturing, machining, maintenance, welding, electrical, automotive/diesel, and instrument technology. A high school diploma or GED is required, as well as six months of verifiable hands-on work experience.

Production opportunities at Pantex have increased based on long-term strategic priorities outlined by the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Although the last new nuclear weapon was completed in 1991, Pantex ensures the continuing effectiveness of the nuclear stockpile as the nation’s primary assembly, disassembly, retrofit, and life-extension center for nuclear weapons. While these efforts are familiar to Pantex, many weapons’ life-extension projects are being simultaneously phased in and out, creating an increased need for workers to meet multiple project deadlines.

“This is an opportunity to be part of a team that is dedicated to the nuclear security of our nation, but also provides a critical role in global security. We have the phrase, ‘Pantex Pride’ for a reason. We are doing the jobs that very few in the world can do,” said Pantex Site Manager Jeff Yarbrough.

Those hired can expect competitive pay and benefits, as well as contributing meaningful work to support the safety and security of our nation and the world. Those interested in applying should visit pantex.energy.gov/careers/productiontech.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC 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. CNS member companies include Bechtel National, Inc.; Leidos, Inc.; ATK Launch Systems, Inc.; and SOC LLC. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on 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.

CONTACT
Steve Myers
Communications
Office (806) 573.0490
Cell (806) 236.2826

Stephen.Myers@pantex.doe.gov

Amarillo, Texas - From hovercrafts to coding, five schools in the Texas Panhandle will soon advance their educational efforts in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with grants from Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), the managing and operating contractor for Pantex. This month, CNS awarded five $1,000 grants for STEM activities in the classroom and to help develop Pantex’s future workforce.

Grants were awarded to the following schools and projects:

• Dumas Intermediate, for conduction, coding, and creating activities;
• Highland Park Elementary, hovercrafts;
• Ridgecrest Elementary, STEAM (science, technology, art, and math) Lab;
• Rogers Elementary, coding; and
• White Deer Elementary, snap circuit kits.

CNS announced the grant opportunities in recognition of Engineers Week in February. In March, a total of 15 submissions were evaluated by a panel of volunteer engineers at Pantex. The group carefully reviewed all the applications and narrowed the impressive list down in order to recommend the five winners.

“Having an opportunity to offer these grants to our local educators was a great way to help encourage STEM education in our future workforce,” said Darla Fish, Community and Educational Outreach coordinator at Pantex.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC 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. CNS member companies include Bechtel National, Inc.; Leidos, Inc.; ATK Launch Systems, Inc.; and SOC LLC. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on 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.

CONTACT
Steve Myers
Communications
Office (806) 573.0490
Cell (806) 236.2826

Stephen.Myers@pantex.doe.gov

Lubbock High School won first place in the Pantex Regional Science Bowl.

On February 5 and 19, Pantex conducted its 30th year of the Pantex Regional Science Bowl and the second year holding the competition completely virtually. It took 64 volunteers each weekend to staff this year’s events. A total of 16 middle school teams and 14 high school teams from across the Texas Panhandle competed for the chance to represent the region at the National Department of Energy Science Bowl in late April.

The DOE National Science Bowl was created in 1991 as a way to encourage students to excel in mathematics and science and pursue careers in these fields.

“Pantex has run the regional competition since the beginning, and we’ve had so much fun doing it,” said Darla Fish, Pantex Science Bowl regional coordinator. “It is so important to be out in our community and show the students the importance of STEM education.”

The students not only win bragging rights, but also money for their school’s science and mathematics programs. The teams that won the top honors this year were Hutchinson Middle School and Lubbock High School.

To date, more than 325,000 students have participated in the competition, and in its 30-year partnership with Pantex, many thousands of volunteers have stepped forward to ensure a successful competition. Volunteers are what make it possible to run this demanding competition.

For more about Pantex’s 30 years of involvement with the Science Bowl and the importance of our volunteers, see this video.

“The Science Bowl was awesome this year. Our teams had a great experience thanks to Pantex and all your hard work. I really appreciate all of your help,” said Valencia Muniz, science teacher at Canyon Junior High. “The volunteers were amazing and really impressed my kiddos.”

“There have been plenty of changes over the years with Science Bowl, but one thing that never changes is the excitement and spirit of the students and volunteers who step up to the challenge,” Fish said.

Bushland Middle School shows off their Pantex Science Bowl 30th anniversary shirts and bags.

State-of-the-art building to replace WWII-era structures, modernizing NNSA high explosive manufacturing capability

AMARILLO, Texas – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration this week celebrated the groundbreaking of the Pantex Plant’s new Advanced Fabrication Facility. The AFF will replace structures dating back almost eight decades and support Pantex’s role as NNSA's High Explosives Center of Excellence for Manufacturing. Modernization efforts across Pantex continue as antiquated structures are removed and new ones are set to take their place.

The 20,000 square foot AFF will allow consolidation of HE machining operations from one World War II-era building and one Cold War-era building into a single, modern facility. Relocating these operations allows restoration of HE machining capacity to support NNSA weapons programs. Completion is anticipated in late 2023.

Read the full press release on the NNSA website

Amarillo Texas— In recognition of Engineers Week during the last week in February, Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) manager and operator of Pantex, is sponsoring $1,000 grants for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classrooms. The goal of the grants that have been designated for grades K–12, is to foster advancement of STEM activities in the classroom and to help develop Pantex’s future workforce.

Public and private school teachers or school administrators in the following Texas Panhandle counties may apply: Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, Swisher, and Wheeler.

Grant application information is available on the Pantex website, and applications will be accepted through Feb. 25, 2022. Educators who are immediate family members of Pantex employees are not eligible to apply for or receive a grant.

Pantex staff will evaluate the grant applications and make recommendations for grant allocations. Once a final decision is made, five grants of $1,000 each will be made payable to the individual school and will be dispersed to the teacher or administrator in accordance with school protocol.

Grants will be awarded in March, and all funds must be spent by June 1, 2022.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC 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. CNS member companies include Bechtel National, Inc.; Leidos, Inc.; ATK Launch Systems, Inc.; and SOC LLC. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on 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.

CONTACT
Steve Myers
Communications
Office (806) 573.0490
Cell (806) 236.2826

Stephen.Myers@pantex.doe.gov

During a September Pantex onboarding session, new employees learn about the opportunities offered at Pantex and Y-12 and how all employees play a vital role in meeting the mission.

In new employee orientations, incoming Pantexans and Y-12ers are greeted with a simple, but vital message: Every single employee’s contributions are integral to securing the mission of national security. The mission is so important that one of the top priorities of the National Nuclear Security Administration is to continue building the workforce of the future.

Despite the ongoing global pandemic, CNS was able to surpass its hiring goal in FY 2021 due to innovative efforts by human resources, recruitment, hiring managers, and financial analysts. The goal for FY 2021 was to hire 1,277 CNS employees. Between Pantex and Y-12, 1,353 external hires were made.

How has the hiring process evolved?
While requisitions have continued to increase in the last 5 years, the new hiring process at CNS has made a significant difference in recruiting and onboarding top talent this past fiscal year. In 2019, the Human Resources Business Partnerships organization was created, which brought hiring managers, human resources, and financial personnel to the same table to proactively discuss hiring needs for each upcoming fiscal year.

“This new process dramatically changed how we approached hiring and recruitment within CNS,” said Amy Moran, HR strategy and operations director. “Instead of being reactionary, we are having proactive conversations with each organization to determine personnel needs and make sure hiring aligns with funding.”

Groups meet monthly to review metrics to determine whether hiring benchmarks are being met and, if not, what actions need to be taken to meet those benchmarks. The metrics include new hire data, terminations, attrition rates, and internal transfers. The system also takes into account the length of time it takes to recruit new employees, including security clearance time and onboarding training.

“Using the metrics gives us a springboard for conversation and a way to routinely measure if we are meeting our quarterly goals. There have been instances that being able to review this data together has helped us prevent personnel shortages when the unexpected happens,” said Heather Freeman, HR business partnerships director. “We’re able to pivot more quickly and update recruitment strategies in order to make sure our organizations have the resources they need.”

How are we recruiting new employees?
In the past, CNS often relied on in person job fairs, its career listing page, and recruiters reaching out to some potential candidates. Over the last fiscal year, recruitment for the next generation of nuclear security professionals has more aggressively moved to the digital space.

“We have made intense efforts on building our digital brand to recruit top talent for CNS,” said Amanda Hurley, recruitment and placement senior manager. “We’re using proactive recruiters, LinkedIn and Indeed’s recruitment tools, and applicant data tracking databases. Instead of waiting for top hires to find us, we are seeking them out.”

The most visible changes to our recruitment efforts can be found on the Pantex and Y-12 Careers sites, which were created through a partnership with a subcontractor.

How is this affecting CNS organizations?
A group that has seen a significant increase in hiring over the past few years is Y-12 Infrastructure. The organization holds nearly 1,100 employees, with more than 100 hires needed each year. Y-12 Infrastructure has had a dramatic increase in workload along with a heavy retirement wave. Andy Huff, Y-12 Infrastructure deputy manager, shared that the new hiring and recruitment process has made quite a difference for the organization — so much so that they have already met their hiring headcount for FY 2022.

“This new hiring process really comes down to a simple concept: speaking a common language. Human Resources came to the table and started proactively communicating, while being committed to finding a solution to a more efficient process,” Huff said. “This in turn has helped reduce overtime and has increased employee morale within our organization.”

The hiring growth over the last fiscal year was made possible through an enterprise wide effort. Thanks to current Pantexans and Y-12ers, the workforce of the future continues to be built day by day.

“We’re very proud of efforts made over the last year. From Occupational Health personnel fulfilling pre employment physicals at a record pace, to our hiring managers conducting highly efficient interview processes, we have grown our greatest asset: our people,” Moran said. “The mission is essential. We don’t have the luxury to not fulfill these needs, and everyone stepped up to the challenge.”