Plutonium Facilities Engineering

PFE Division is chartered with the engineering roles related to safe operations and maintenance of numerous critical LANL weapons production facilities and related equipment. Our roles and responsibilities are established to comply with the provisions of DOE Orders across the spectrum of Engineering, Nuclear and Industrial Safety, and Maintenance. Our three principal organizations manage engineering needs across a broad spectrum of facilities in support of our national security mission. The Division is represented by three distinctly tasked organizations.

PFE Modification Engineering Group
The Modification Engineering Group offers in-house solutions to both compact and expansive design related to weapons production equipment, facilities structures, and critical infrastructure with a focus on nuclear safety systems. Excellence in this area is critical to configuration management, execution success, and project delivery. We employ a wide variety of technical disciplines to implement this service for our assigned facilities.
PFE System Engineering
The System Engineering Group is dedicated to the management of the Plutonium Facility’s Safety Systems as well as the critical non-safety systems. There are dozens of nuclear safety systems for which continuous service is required for mission delivery. Our people help ensure the highest service availability is achieved. TA-55 supports a wide range of national security programs that involve stockpile stewardship, plutonium processing, nuclear materials stabilization, materials disposition, nuclear forensics, nuclear counterterrorism, and nuclear energy. Operations at TA-55 maintain a critical skill base of plutonium expertise across a broad suite of technical capabilities. These capabilities form a center of excellence for actinide science and technology, including world-class manufacturing capabilities for solving significant national security challenges.
PFE Chemistry and Waste System Engineering
The Waste Facilities Engineering Group provides required engineering resources to manage a wide array of facilities related to our weapons production mission. The programmatic mission of these support facilities includes nuclear materials process technology, Special Nuclear Material (SNM) standards development, nuclear safeguards, radioactive source recovery, waste minimization, mixed-waste characterization, disposition of waste streams, support for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) while complying with Safety Basis documents, Federal and State permitting requirements (e.g. RCRA, Ground Water Permit).

Student and Intern Visits

PFE offers rewarding careers in core engineering functions such as Design, Project Management/Engineering, and System Engineering in areas such as Glovebox Engineering, Fire Protection, Nuclear Ventilation, Nuclear Material Containerization, Electrical Distribution, Civil and Structural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, etc., for all nuclear, non-nuclear, and support systems required to keep our facilities running smoothly and available to deliver our mission objectives. Living in Northern New Mexico is an experience to behold.

Plutonium Facilities Engineering

PFE - Driving results through a shared strategic focus that includes technical and operational partnerships.

Plutonium Facilities Engineering Division (PFE), through its people, keeps nuclear facilities safe and operable, advancing national security through excellence in the engineering, design, and operation of mission critical nuclear facilities.

PFE Division –The Organization & Mission

PFE Modification Engineering Group

PFE System Engineering

PFE Chemistry and Waste System Engineering

Student and Intern Visits

Nuclear Facility Engineering - Safety by Design