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The Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), formerly known as the Kansas City Plant, is a
National Nuclear Security Administration The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a United States federal agency responsible for safeguarding national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and ef ...
(NNSA) facility managed and operated by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies that manufactures "85 percent of non-nuclear components that go into the
nited States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
nuclear stockpile." The plant produces non-nuclear mechanical, electronic, and engineered material components for U.S. national defense systems such as high-energy laser ignition systems, microwave hybrid microcircuit production, and miniature electromechanical devices. It also provides technical services such as metallurgical/mechanical analysis, analytical chemistry, environmental testing, nondestructive testing, computer-based training, simulations and analysis, and technical certification.


History

The plant traces its history to the
Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military av ...
plant dedicated by then Senator Harry S. Truman in 1942, which manufactured Double Wasp engines during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. In 1949 the Atomic Energy Commission commissioned the
Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, ...
(specifically, the
Bendix Aviation Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...
) to build the non-nuclear components of nuclear warheads there. Bendix became
AlliedSignal AlliedSignal was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and Signal Companies. It subsequently purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and thereafter adopted the Honeywell ...
in 1983 and eventually
Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
in 1999. Workers at the site were represented by the
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Or ...
(IAMAW).


Kansas City National Security Campus

In 2014, the Kansas City Plant moved to the renamed Kansas City National Security Campus, a state-of-art facility including manufacturing, laboratory, office, and warehouse space. The move saves the government about $100 million annually in operating costs and cut energy consumption by more than 50 percent. The smaller, more efficient facility maintains the capability to assure the reliability, safety, and security of the nation's nuclear deterrent while enabling NNSA to recruit and retain the next generation of scientists and engineers. Initially announced in 2009, the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
announced that Zimmer Real Estate Services and
CenterPoint Properties CenterPoint Properties is a company that invests primarily in real estate used for intermodal freight transport. The company owns 325 buildings containing 58 million square feet, including the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, the Chicago Internati ...
had won a bid to build the replacement plant. The site, adjacent to the former
Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base Richards-Gebaur Memorial Airport is a former airport that operated alongside Richards-Gebaur Air Reserve Station (also Richards-Gebaur Air Force Station) until the base's closure in 1994, and until it was closed in 1999. Formerly, it was oper ...
in south Kansas City near
Grandview, Missouri Grandview is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 24,475 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. History A post office called Grandview has been in operation since 1889. The city wa ...
. Zimmer and CenterPoint already owned the
CenterPoint Intermodal Center CenterPoint Intermodal Center is an intermodal freight terminal located in Elwood, Illinois. It is considered the largest inland port in North America. The Intermodal Center includes a 785-acre Union Pacific Railroad complex just south of Joliet a ...
across the street. The creative ownership method works this way: a government authority (the Kansas City Planned Industrial Expansion Authority) owns the land and improvements and leases the project to CPZ Holding LLC. CPZ Holding subleases it to CenterPoint Zimmer LLC, which sub-subleases it to the government. Upon expiration of the government authority's lease, CPZ Holding will own the project. Financing for the $750+ million project cost was structured and provided by CGA Capital. In March 2017 affiliates of CGA Capital acquired all of the interests of and in CPZ Holding from CenterPoint Properties and its partners, and will own the project upon expiration of the government authority's lease. HNTB Architecture designed the campus, Gibbens Drake Scott Inc. designed the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing features, which consist of 1.5 million rentable square feet on the northwest corner of Missouri Highway 150 and Botts Road on the north edge of Richards-Gebaur. The developers pay more than $5 million a year in lieu of property taxes. Half is used to retire the debt service on $40 million worth of public infrastructure improvements and half funds local tax agencies.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Missouri Economy of Kansas City, Missouri Honeywell Nuclear weapons infrastructure of the United States United States Department of Energy