Planned $673 Million Non-Nuclear Components Plant Surpasses Another Hurdle

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Washington, D.C.) has jumped yet another hurdle for a proposed $673 million non-nuclear components manufacturing plant in Kansas City, Missouri.

On October 19, 2009, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Energy's NNSA won a lawsuit that opposed moving the production of the non-nuclear components plant to another location because of environmental constraints. A coalition of environmental and peace organizations asked a federal court in Washington, D.C. to set aside the project and direct necessary agencies to prepare a new environmental analysis of site-cleanup and relocation of alternatives for the existing Kansas City Plant (KCP). The court determined that the contamination at the existing plant should be considered at a later time and that GSA and NNSA's actions were legal because they held their activities subject to an environmental assessment. Thus, an environmental impact statement was deemed unnecessary by the ruling. The suit alleged that activities at the KCP generated significant amounts of hazardous contamination that must be properly treated and remediated to protect the local environment, especially groundwater.

The Kansas City NNSA plant is the primary U.S. source for the manufacturing, assembling and procuring of non-nuclear components needed for maintaining the nation's nuclear stockpile. Thus, moving from a 3.2 million-square-foot existing plant to a 1.5 million-square-foot plant, the NNSA hopes to save $100 million a year in operating costs.

The project originally was estimated to cost $500 million, but the amount increased due to more development costs.

Plans call for the construction of a 1.5 million-square-foot building complex that will replace the existing plant and manufacture non-nuclear components for United States nuclear weapons. The building construction will include three manufacturing buildings and a 40,000-square-foot central utility plant, consisting of 9,500 tons of chilled water capacity. Construction is anticipated to begin if finally approved by the spring of 2010. Overall completion is slated by the summer of 2013. Approximately 2,400 jobs will be created.

The KCP, located on 122 acres of the 300-acre Bannister Federal Complex, is operated by a subsidiary of Honeywell International, Incorporated (NYSE:HON) (Morristown, New Jersey), under contract to NNSA. GSA Heartland Region 6 (U.S.A. General Services Administration) partnered with NNSA to assist in the real estate of the new plant. GSA will lease the facility to NNSA, which will then sublease the facility to Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies LLC, which will be the operator for the plant. Honeywell will produce and assemble non-nuclear components for U.S. nuclear weapons. The plant is NNSA's highest-rated production facility and produces 85% of all components that go into a nuclear warhead and 85% of all individual types of nuclear weapons components. The plant specializes in non-nuclear components, like firing and arming systems, radars, guidance systems, reservoirs for tritium (a radioactive gas), setting foams and adhesives.

In March 2009, Zimmer/Centerpoint Team was selected to provide developmental services for the new NNSA plant. GSA selected CenterPoint Zimmer LLC, a joint venture formed between CenterPoint Property Trust (Oak Brook, Illinois) and Zimmer Real Estate Services (Kansas City, Missouri), as developers to oversee design and construction for the facility.

HNTB Architects (Kansas City, Missouri), SSOE Incorporated (Toledo, Ohio), Pro2Serv (Oak Ridge, Tennessee), Johnson Controls (Lenexa, Kansas) and JE Dunn Construction (Kansas City) was selected to provide architectural, engineering and construction services for the new plant.

The KCP is expected to reduce the company's building footprint 67% by moving from the 3.1 million-square-foot existing plant to a 1 million-square-foot facility; increase component outsourcing; and reduce staff 30%.

The National Nuclear Security Administration, formed in 2000, is part of the United States Department of Energy and works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy, as well as maintain and improve the safety, reliability and performance of the United States nuclear weapons stockpile. The company employs 1,500 people and, as of 2006, had an annual budget of $9.1 billion.

Honeywell, a Fortune 500 company that has an estimated 128,000 employees as of June 2009 and an operating income of $3.8 billion, is a major conglomerate producing a variety of consumer products, engineering services and aerospace systems for various customers to major corporations and governments.

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