Pantex breaks ground on new facility

Pantex recently began construction on a new building that will provide around 14,000-square-feet of modern office space for its workforce.

The Flexible Support Facility II incorporates new technologies, allows for efficient travel to and from common job-sites, and is designed to house teams that often collaborate on complex projects.

“This new office building will allow us to bring these vital teams together under one roof where they can collaborate using the most up-to-date technologies possible and can efficiently travel to areas of the plant where their expertise is needed,” PanTeXas Deterrence President and General Manager Kelly Beierschmitt said.

Pantex Plant, located near Amarillo, Texas, has for decades been the nation’s primary assembly, disassembly, and life-extension center for nuclear weapons. It also serves as the National Nuclear Security Administration’s High Explosives Center of Excellence for Manufacturing.

“We are very excited by this period of growth at Pantex. This is just one of several construction projects at the site. Each project is designed to better meet the current and future needs of our mission – to safely and securely maintain the nation’s nuclear deterrence,” Beierschmitt said. “Some of these new facilities bring together specific tasks that were spread across multiple buildings. Other facilities, like this one, bring together people who will work better and provide a better product by being co-located,” he added.

The Flexible Support Facility II follows a commercial construction approach to allow for cost savings and accelerated construction, with a projected completion date in mid-2028.

“This facility is one example of how we are modernizing Pantex, in this case by using the same ENERGY STAR design used at the Nevada National Security Site,” said Pantex Field Office Manager Jason Armstrong. “Sharing standard, scalable building designs across Nuclear Security Enterprise sites means we can ultimately reduce design costs and accelerate construction of office buildings like this and other non-nuclear facilities.”

Pantex will soon open the High Explosives Science and Engineering Facility and break ground on the High Explosive Synthesis, Formulation, and Production Facility, further solidifying Pantex as NNSA’s High Explosives Center of Excellence for Manufacturing.