ARIES Oxide Production Program Monthly Report – April 2014
A summary of the accomplishments, milestones, financial summary, project performance and issues facing the Oxide Production Program for the end of April 2014 is presented in this Executive Summary. PF-4 and ARIES operations remain paused in order to resolve issues and perform an extent-of-condition review for Criticality Safety and Conduct of Operations. On April 28th, Jeff Yarbrough issued a memorandum updating status on the “pause” of PF-4 programmatic operations. He reported that 150 of the procedures that control programmatic operations in PF-4 have successfully resumed. These 150 procedures represent about ½ of the total that will enable us to meet FY14 programmatic commitments. No formal letter of direction will be provided to LANS via the NNSA Field Office contracting officer to address the direction relative to shipments, analytical chemistry sampling and guidance for financial adjustments in FY14 and FY15. LANS will provide a revised plan based on the funding profile included in the President’s Budget Request for the remainder of FY14 and FY15 to include revised FY14 milestones and proposed FY15 milestones. The ARIES Pit Cutter project met the NNSA milestone (Complete Design of Simple Pit Disassembly Equipment [ARIES Pit Cutter] – Due 8/15/14) by completing the fabrication design on 4/3/14, well in advance of the 8/15/14 due date. The project team has started procurement of long-lead items in preparation of the prototype fabrication and cold testing. The fabrication is scheduled to complete in FY14 and the cold testing will begin in FY14 and complete in early FY15. LANL and PNNL met on April 14 to discuss the path forward for PNNL criticality support to the program. The consensus was that PNNL resources can be effectively applied to the generation of detailed CSEs to support the program independent of the current ESS strategy. FY15 program planning is underway. The team is working on planning/drafting the work packages and developing the schedule under the assumption that operations will begin October 1, 2014. A planning schedule has been finalized and the team is meeting regularly to discuss details at the work package and WBS levels. The FY15 PMP is also in the process of being updated. The goal is to have all the drafts reviewed/approved and finalized prior to the start of the FY. MQ personnel have completed ADPSM Management Assessment: Evaluate Quality Roles and Responsibility Agreements between ADPSM and LANL Technical Support Organizations (PFITS 2011-1943). Two findings and four opportunities for improvement were reported. The robotic lathe controller upgrade has entered the construction phase of the project. The controller cabling IWD pre-job meeting was completed. The initial robotic lathe functional test was completed. The existing controller power supply disconnect is scheduled for early May. The NDA Cage project team received notification on 3/28/14 to restart the NDA cage project. Since then the team have been busy with activities that include assigning a planner, getting the construction work package ready for construction and getting the USQ completed. The electrical services installation for the new welding skid for the Inner Can Welder was completed. A gas bottle rack, used to support welding operations, will be installed in early May. The Outer Can Welder design is complete and the IWD is in development to execute construction. Installation materials have been ordered. Work continues on the MD-2 preliminary design. The project engineer is performing a technical evaluation of the Project Management Plan that was submitted by the design agent in response to the LANL Request for Proposal. If all requirements have been captured, LANL procurement will develop a contract and give the design agent notice to proceed on the preliminary design. Estimated completion is scheduled for September 2014. The design for the TA-55 Bldg. 314 warehouse was issued at 90% complete and has begun the last review process. A constructability review is scheduled for early May. The Project Manager has been working with the LANL estimating group to get the class 3 estimate for review. The Oxide Production Cage Upgrade project has kicked-off efforts on the 30% design. Requirements documentation has been drafted. The floor space was walked-down with other project managers and stakeholders and the boundaries were agreed upon.