August 1, 2013
The Kansas City Responsive Infrastructure Manufacturing and Sourcing Program
The Kansas City Plant, managed and operated by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, LLC (Honeywell), is the Department of Energy's (Department) National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) primary production site for non-nuclear weapon products. As part of the Kansas City Responsive Infrastructure Manufacturing and Sourcing (KCRIMS) Program, Honeywell is in the process of relocating the Plant operations at the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City, Missouri to the newly constructed National Security Campus. During and after the Plant relocation, production shutdowns are required. Additionally, some manufacturing processes and parts will have to be requalified at the Campus before the Plant can use the parts or deliver the parts to other NNSA sites.
Our review indicated that Plant officials have established plans to ensure that non-nuclear components needed to support the stockpile are available throughout the relocation and requalification periods. Specifically, the Plant outsourced selected technologies and developed plans to build-ahead non-nuclear components to meet projected demands.
Our review established that the Plant had started planning for requalification of manufacturing processes to be used and parts to be manufactured at the Campus. We observed, however, that some of the Engineering Evaluation Plans used to evaluate processes or parts for requalification were missing information and will need to be updated on a schedule that meets production requirements. Because the Requalification Readiness Assessments are currently underway, we did not make any formal recommendations regarding the requalification of parts and processes. However, we made suggestions to ensure that parts produced by the Plant after relocation will meet the Design Agencies' requirements.
TOPIC: National Security & Safety