Demand boom predicted for glove boxes in coming years

October 7, 2022

By Exchange Monitor

KNOXVILLE, TENN. —The Department of Energy’s planned expansion of plutonium pit production at sites in New Mexico and South Carolina and other missions figure to drive a big jump in demand for glove box facilities in the near future, two speakers told the Energy Technology & Environmental Business Association conference here Thursday.

Between 2022 and 2025 monthly glove box fabrication will need to grow to more than 350 from the historic capacity of less than 100, Tony Wampler, senior business development director at Merrick & Co., Greenwood Village, Colo., said during a panel discussion on nuclear industry hot topics. He cited a demand analysis from the Energy Facility Contractors Group.

The major drivers will be construction of a plutonium pit fabrication facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and expansion of plutonium pit production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Wampler said.

Wampler said the DOE’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration should prioritize the market and collaborate with the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and other entities.

This summer, the DOE sought information from potential vendors who might be able to help the agency forestall, or at least minimize, potential glovebox supply chain disruptions.