LATA Gets National Achievement Recognition

LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky has received national acclaim for timeliness of reporting and promptness in reconciling nuclear material inventories at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site.

DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission presented LATA Kentucky with a Certificate of Achievement for Superiority in reporting to the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System, a central federal database used to track and account for nuclear material to ensure that it has not been stolen or diverted to unauthorized users.

The system contains current and historical data on the possession, use, and shipment of nuclear material within the U.S., as well as all exports and imports of such material.  The database is jointly funded by the NRC and DOE and is operated under a DOE contract.

LATA Kentucky, which received the award for the first time, was honored for outstanding performance for inventory reporting and reconciliation during 2013.  “Your efforts are considered ‘Elite,’ a model to the Nuclear Industry and a testament to the quality and high standards of your personnel,” according to the certificate.

“This is a demonstration of how separate organizations and companies can work together effectively to establish a program that works efficiently and provides quality results that positively reflect on the Department of Energy and the high standards of its personnel,” said Jennifer Woodard, DOE Paducah site lead.

The award relates to an inventory of equipment removed from the C-410 Feed Plant, an inactive facility that is being demolished to help clean up the site.  The pieces of equipment, called cold traps, were used many years ago to trap uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas and turn it into a solid.  They are being stored at the site for future recovery of UF6 material during plant decommissioning when systems are in place to remove the material safely and economically.  
 
LATA Kentucky personnel recently placed the cold trap inventory into the nuclear material accountability system and reported the results to the federal database, as DOE orders require.  Each month, USEC submits a book inventory to the database on behalf of LATA Kentucky.  An annual physical inventory must also be performed and submitted by October 15 of each year.  LATA Kentucky performed the annual physical inventory on October 1, 2013, and provided the inventory to USEC to report to the database on LATA Kentucky’s behalf.

Each month, the system compares the data submitted from each transaction report to the book inventory.  All deadlines were met, and no reconciliation issues occurred in 2013 for the cold traps under safeguards inventory accounting.



Article provided by Joe Walker, LATA Kentucky.