NNSA breaks ground on new $687M manufacturing plant

Construction on a new state-of-the-art campus to house the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) multi-million dollar manufacturing plant is officially under way in south Kansas City.

Several dignitaries – including U.S. Senator Kit Bond (R-Missouri); U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri, 5), Ike Skelton (D-Missouri, 4) and Sam Graves (R-Missouri, 6); Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser; and NNSA administrator Thomas D’Agostino – addressed a crowd of more than 500 people at the construction site before putting the first shovels into the ground.

The Kansas City Responsive Infrastructure, Manufacturing and Sourcing (KCRIMS) campus, being constructed at 14500 Botts Road, is eight miles south of the NNSA’s current location at the Bannister Federal Complex. A phased move is scheduled to begin in late 2012.

“The Kansas City Plant has a proud tradition of distinguished service to the country for over 60 years,” said D’Agostino. “This new KCRIMS campus will continue in that tradition as we move from a Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex into a more efficient 21st-century national security enterprise.”

The $687 million new campus will house roughly 2,500 employees and consists of manufacturing, laboratory, office and warehouse space.

“It truly has been a team effort to get to this point, and we look forward to the day when we begin operations at the new campus,” said Mark Holecek, NNSA’s Kansas City site manager. “The new building will reduce energy consumption by more than 50 percent and is one of the first LEED Gold manufacturing campuses. Overall, the new campus will save the government about $100 million annually.”

The U.S. General Services Administration, acting as the federal government’s broker, signed a lease agreement with CenterPoint Zimmer LLC for the new campus in June. The new campus of buildings, which will house workers in 1,509,950 rentable square feet of space, is a private facility being leased to the federal government.

“The teamwork involved in this project has been incredible from the beginning,” said Jason Klumb, GSA regional administrator. “The city, the developer, NNSA and contractors deserve credit as we continue to move forward with a great project that will benefit the local community well into the future.”

GSA partnered with the National Nuclear Security Administration in 2006 to assist with the real estate needs associated with the transformation of the Kansas City plant. Operated by Honeywell FM&T, the plant purchases, produces and assembles non-nuclear components for the nation's nuclear weapons.