Pantex is the primary United States nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility that aims to maintain the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The facility is located on a 16,000-acre (25 sq mi; 65 km2) site 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Amarillo, in Carson County, Texas in the Panhandle of Texas. The plant is managed and operated for the United States Department of Energy by Consolidated Nuclear Security and Sandia National Laboratories. Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) is composed of member companies Bechtel National, Inc., Leidos, Inc., Orbital ATK, Inc, and SOC LLC, with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. as a teaming subcontractor. CNS also operates the Y-12 National Security Complex.
As a major national security site, the plant and its grounds are strictly controlled and off-limits to all civilians, and the airspace above and around the plant is prohibited to civilian air traffic by the FAA as Prohibited Area P-47. [1]
