Independent Assessment of Safety System Management at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Plutonium Facility – Building 332 – March 2025

July 2025,

Independent Assessment of Safety System Management at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Plutonium Facility – Building 332

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) conducted an independent assessment of safety system management (SSM) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Plutonium Facility (Building 332) from October to December 2024. LLNL is managed and operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) for the National Nuclear Security Administration and is overseen by the Livermore Field Office (LFO). This assessment was performed within the broader context of targeted SSM assessments at selected high hazard (i.e., hazard category 1 and 2) nuclear facilities across the DOE complex. The purpose of this assessment was to evaluate whether the selected safety systems (i.e., the safety class final HEPA filtration stages and hydrogen gas control systems, and the safety significant glovebox exhaust system) were appropriately functionally classified and are operated and maintained in a manner that ensures they can reliably perform their intended safety function of protecting workers and the public from analyzed hazards. This assessment also evaluated the effectiveness of applicable LFO oversight processes.