Press Releases

Amarillo, Texas—Emergency response personnel from the National Nuclear Security Administration and Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), will conduct an emergency management exercise January 17th at the Pantex Plant.

During this exercise, between 8:00 a.m. and noon people in the vicinity of 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) honored North Amarillo Auto Parts as Small Business of the Year at this year’s Amarillo Small Business Awards. The ceremony was a collaborative effort among CNS, West Texas A&M University, the City of Amarillo, and the 'West Texas A&M University">WTAMU Small Business Development Center to recognize small businesses in the Texas Panhandle area.

With a fleet that includes fire trucks and specialized security vehicles, many of Pantex’s requests fall outside normal auto parts requests. Paul Bently, Pantex crafts supervisor, said “Matt (Newkirk) at North Amarillo Auto Parts spends countless hours on the phone and on the internet searching for hard-to-find parts that we need every day in the shop.”

CNS has set a goal to award 60 percent of contracts to small businesses. “CNS would not be able to achieve its mission without the support of small businesses; they truly are the heart of our economy,” said Ryan Johnston, the CNS Small Business Program Manager.

Watch this short video about North Amarillo Auto Parts and its relationship with Pantex.

AMARILLO, Texas –The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce is shining a spotlight on its “Top 20 Under 40” winners, and among them are two Pantexans; Joshua Cunningham and Brandy Ramirez.

To be eligible, along with being under the age of 40, the candidates must be employed in the area for at least three years, and in the same field, though not necessarily at the same businesses. Nominations were received through the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce website, and the winners were selected by judges who reviewed nominations and picked the top 20 award winners as up-and-coming Amarillo professionals who are standouts in their professions.

Cunningham currently serves as Pantex Nuclear Material Control & Accountability Manager. In this role, Cunningham is responsible for the control and accountability of all special nuclear material and accountable nuclear material. He graduated summa cum laude from West Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in 2005, joining Pantex the next year as a Laboratory Engineering Technician. He has fulfilled several roles, including scientist, production section manager, facility manager, and senior scientist, prior to accepting his current position.

Cunningham says he is “passionate about leadership and takes great satisfaction in caring for those that are part of his team and focusing on opportunities for impacting positive change for the people he serves.”

Ramirez, a graduate of Caprock High School, received her degree from West Texas A&M University in Mechanical Engineering and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Science and System & Engineering management from Texas Tech University. She began as an intern at Pantex in 2010 and took on a full-time role in System/Facility Engineering in 2012. She serves as the president of the Amarillo Society of Women Engineers and the Pantex Women in Nuclear chapter, and hopes to inspire young women to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

“My goal is to learn more about Pantex in hopes of moving from a technical position to management, where I can inspire others and apply skills obtained through professional development that Pantex has offered me,” said Ramirez.

Jason Harrison, vice president of Business Development and Governmental Affairs with the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, said, “The Chamber realizes the importance of our young professionals and is excited each year to recognize those business professionals under the age of 40 that exemplify the
highest of standards of professional excellence in their industry and careers and have demonstrated personal achievement in their lives, as well as brought value to the Amarillo business community.”

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 has partnered with West Texas A&M University, the City of Amarillo, and the West Texas A&M Small Business Development Center to recognize small businesses in the Texas Panhandle area at this year’s Amarillo Small Business Awards.

CNS has set a goal to award 60 percent of contracts to small businesses; including those classified as woman-owned, veteran-owned, small disadvantaged, and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. CNS considers small businesses of paramount importance and continues to actively seek opportunities for them.

On hand for today’s event are Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson, CNS Vice President of Performance Excellence at Pantex, Tom Harrison, Director of Facilities and Construction at West Texas A&M University, Stan Peña, along with other noted dignitaries.

“CNS would not be able to achieve its mission without the support of small businesses; they truly are the heart of our economy,” said Ryan Johnston, the CNS Small Business Program Manager. “Today’s event will recognize some of the many great local businesses that help Pantex keep our nation safe and secure.”

As part of today’s program, a special award is being given out to the 2017 Pantex Small Business of the Year 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.

AMARILLO, Texas – Lightning is prevalent in the Texas Panhandle, and the lightning equipment used at Pantex produces meteorological data that are useful to many outside of the plant. In late August, Pantex began issuing meteorological lightning data to the National Weather Service and the public. This will allow Consolidated Nuclear Security, the managing and operating contractor, to provide additional capabilities and data to the National Weather Service and the greater Amarillo area.

Current lightning detection and location systems triangulate radio frequency signatures from lightning strikes using time of arrival mapping techniques. Due to inherent variability in the positional data obtained from these systems, a more definitive lightning location system utilizing visual data to confirm strikes is necessary.

A team of engineers and scientists from Pantex Systems Engineering designed a system that utilizes lightning capture cameras to detect and locate lightning strikes on or near Pantex, referred to as the Optical Lightning Detection System (OLDS). Six units will sit near the perimeter of Pantex, and images from these cameras will be downloaded through a cellular network for processing to determine the strike location if it occurs on-site.

Combined with the Lightning Map Array (LMA), which can detect cloud-to-cloud or inter-cloud strikes that usually preceded cloud-to-ground strikes by up to an hour, the system is vital to determining lightning patterns in and around the plant. This is important to Pantex given the prevalence of lightning in the Texas Panhandle and the criticality of the work performed at the Pantex Plant. (See Pantex Plant upgrades lightning sensors for more information.)

David Hattz and members of his Pantex Electromagnetics Group review the lightning data, including many photographs, and can map where lightning strikes occur and detect pre-strike activity. “It’s important we have this type of equipment given the criticality of the work we do. The LMA system detects the first inner-cloud strikes allowing us to notify employees up to an hour sooner when lightning is approaching the Pantex Plant,” Hattz said.

Since local law enforcement and meteorologists use the data produced by the lightning equipment as well, the group pursued getting the Record of Decision. In June, a local sheriff’s office called upon Pantex for help provide lightning data in and around the Blue Sky Airfield.

Pantex Engineer Wayne Blodgett said, “We found there were cloud to ground strikes in the airfield area, and we were able to provide data that shows the strikes and the time of the strikes. Requests like these are what makes having the Record of Decision in place easier. We are able to get the data to the requester sooner so they can use the information for their needs. Getting this exception to the review requirement allows us to provide data to the National Weather Service quickly. Our equipment is useful to many in the Amarillo area.”

The next phase of the development will give the system onboard computing and communications in the remote stations. The stations will process pictures in the field and send data on only cloud-to-ground strikes to a central server. The server will collect data from the remote stations and triangulate lightning strike locations in near real-time.

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 has chosen four employees for its Fellows Program, one from the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, TX, and three from the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN.

The program recognizes technical staff members at Pantex and Y-12 who achieved status as a national or international expert in their field. Each fellow serves a renewable two-year term acting as the technical expert in their competency area and mentor to other staff.

Those chosen are Pantex Component Analysis/Surveillance Fellow Lorelei Woods, Uranium Fellow Glenn Pfennigwerth, Metallurgy Fellow Alan Moore, and Y-12 Component Analysis/Surveillance Fellow Vincent Lamberti.

Woods began at Pantex in 1983 and holds an A.S. in electronics, as well as a B.S. and M.S. in chemistry. With more than 30 years at Y-12, Pfennigwerth holds a B.S. in chemistry and a M.S. in chemical engineering. Moore also has worked at Y-12 for more than 30 years and holds a B.S. in metallurgical engineering and a M.S. in industrial engineering. Lamberti joined Y-12 in 2001 and holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. degree in physical chemistry and an M.S. in computer science and numerical computation. Each fellow will continue to support mission work at the sites, while acting as mentors to other staff.

“The Fellows Program is essential to ensuring technical excellence across CNS through technology innovation,” said Ashley Stowe, former Y-12 Googin Fellow and program manager for the CNS Fellows Program. “Fellows are the cornerstone of mentorship and set the example for others.”

In addition to these four fellows, four more will be named in 2018. Potential upcoming fellows could be named in explosives, lithium/special nuclear material, advanced manufacturing, electromagnetic effects, and nonproliferation.

CONTACT
Allison Roberts
Public Affairs
Office 806.573.0501
allison.roberts@pantex.doe.gov

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.

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.