Oak Ridge Today

FAA comments on Oak Ridge Airport could be received this week

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A revised layout plan for the Oak Ridge Airport at Heritage Center from a presentation to Oak Ridge City Council by project consultant Billy Stair on Feb. 20, 2018. (Image courtesy Billy Stair)

A revised layout plan for the Oak Ridge Airport at Heritage Center from a presentation to Oak Ridge City Council by project consultant Billy Stair on Feb. 20, 2018. (Image courtesy Billy Stair)

 

Officials working on the proposed Oak Ridge Airport could receive comments this week from the Federal Aviation Administration about a revised layout plan, a project consultant said Thursday.

Officials are finalizing an airport runway plan. If it is approved, that would be a very positive step, project consultant Billy Stair said.

In February, Stair said the FAA wanted project officials, who are proposing to build what is known as a Class B airport, to plan for a future expansion to a Class C airport—sometime around 2040.

“To plan for such a future expansion, we need to widen the runway and taxiway at the initial construction,” Stair said in February. “We do not need to lengthen the proposed 5,000-foot runway. The new runway alignment avoids encroachment by Highway 58.” [Read more…]

BioBlitz at Worthington Ecological Study Area in Oak Ridge on Saturday

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Submitted image

Submitted image

 

Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning will partner with the Tennessee Valley Authority in a Discover Life in America “BioBlitz” at Worthington Cemetery in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

A BioBlitz is an event in which the public is invited to help with plant and animal identification, an event notice said.

The event’s organizer, Melinda Watson of TVA Natural Resources, said Worthington was selected because of its unique and varied habitats, including a cedar barren, native warm season grass meadow, hardwoods, marsh/swamp, hemlocks, among other habitats, the event notice said.

Each participant needs to have access to a smartphone, tablet, or a camera with GPS capability, the TCWP said. [Read more…]

Meet the candidates in Oak Ridge on Thursday

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There will be a Meet the Candidates event in Oak Ridge on Thursday, July 12. It will allow residents of Oak Ridge and Anderson County to become acquainted with the candidates for contested offices in the August 2 state and federal primary and Anderson County general elections, a press release said.

The Meet the Candidates event is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 12, in the gymnasium at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. It’s sponsored by Democracy for East Tennessee.

Among the contested offices on the Anderson County general election ballot are mayor, commissioners for Districts 6 and 7 in Oak Ridge, Circuit Court clerk, sheriff, and trustee, the press release said. [Read more…]

Learn about secrecy, security, spies during Manhattan Project

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The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Turnpike Gatehouse is pictured above on the west end of town. (Submitted photo)

 

This month, you can learn about security, the need for secrecy, and the concerns about spies during the Manhattan Project in World War II.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during the war. Oak Ridge was the main production site.

The program on secrecy, security, and spies will be presented by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Friday, July 13, at the Turnpike Gatehouse in west Oak Ridge.

“The program will give visitors some insight to what life was like in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project with all the security, the need for secrecy, and the worry of spies,” a press release said. “This program is free and open to the public; parking is limited, so please try to carpool if possible.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge ranked No. 4 in nation for ‘green power’ sales rate

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Oak Ridge Electric Department worker on a utility pole. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Oak Ridge Electric Department worker on a utility pole. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Electric Department has ranked number four in the nation on a list of Top 10 utility “green power” programs, officials said.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, granted the award to the Oak Ridge Electric Department in recognition of its leadership in voluntary renewable energy programs, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Electric Department was ranked number four on the NREL list for Top Green Power Sales Rate in 2017, achieving a sales rate of 7.09 percent.

“The City of Oak Ridge Electric Department has made great strides in promoting renewable energy solutions, and CORED customers are active participants in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Green Power Switch (GPS) and Green Power Switch Southeastern RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) programs,” the press release said. “These programs allow residential and commercial customers to support the environment through the purchase renewable energy. Both programs are Green-e Energy certified.” [Read more…]

Register to vote in August election by Tuesday

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The deadline to register to vote in the August 2 election is Tuesday, July 3.

WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that the rest of the Anderson County Courthouse will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 3 and 4) for the Independence Day holiday, but the Anderson County Election Commission office will be open for its regular business hours on Tuesday, July 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. so that you can register to vote.

The August 2 election includes the Anderson County general election and state and federal primary elections.

See the Anderson County Election Commission website here.

Manhattan Project Park: Ride with a Ranger on Saturday

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Photo courtesy Manhattan Project National Historical Park

Photo courtesy Manhattan Project National Historical Park

 

Manhattan Project: Ride with a Ranger on the North Boundary Greenway

Join a park ranger for a bike ride on the North Boundary Greenway to see how the former communities of the area have changed during the past 70 years.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will present this free program on Saturday, June 16, at 10 a.m.  The program will begin at the Turnpike Gatehouse and travel down Quarry Trail.

“Along the ride, we will explore the former communities that were here before the Manhattan Project,” a press release said. “Rangers will stop several times along the bike ride to point out the rich history that is found within the Oak Ridge area.” [Read more…]

Public can comment Tuesday on potential environmental impacts at Clinch River site

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Clinch-River-Site-Bear-Creek-Road-Entrance-March-27-2016

The small nuclear reactors that could be built along the Clinch River in west Oak Ridge could provide enough electricity to power several cities the size of Oak Ridge. The Bear Creek Road entrance to the Clinch River Site, where the reactors could be built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, is pictured above on Sunday, March 27, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with the public in Kingston today (Tuesday, June 5) to discuss a draft conclusion that environmental impacts would be small enough to allow an early site permit to be issued for the Clinch River site in west Oak Ridge, where a small modular nuclear reactor could be built.

While in Kingston, the NRC staff will discuss the agency’s draft environmental impact statement on the early site permit application for the 1,200-acre Clinch River site, which is south of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) and east of State Route 58.

“The NRC is interested in the public’s views on the agency’s overall draft conclusion that environmental impacts would be small enough to allow the agency to issue the permit,” a press release said.

The NRC will be at Noah’s Event Venue, which is at 1200 Ladd Landing Boulevard in Kingston, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. (as needed) on Tuesday, June 5. NRC staff will describe the environmental review process and the conclusions of the draft environmental impact statement. Each meeting will conclude with a formal public comment period, the press release said. NRC open houses, which are scheduled from 1-2 p.m. and 6-7 p.m., will provide the public the opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. [Read more…]

Y-12 part of extending life of nation’s oldest nuclear weapons

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Image from U.S. Government Accountability Office report in May 2018 on B61-12 Nuclear Bomb.

Image from U.S. Government Accountability Office report in May 2018 on B61-12 Nuclear Bomb.

 

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is part of a program to extend the life of B61 bombs, the oldest nuclear weapons in the nation’s active stockpile, federal officials said.

The life extension program, or LEP, for the B61 bombs is the most complex and expensive since the U.S. Department of Energy began stockpile life extension activities in January 1996, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Critical components of the bombs are reaching the end of their operational lives, and the life extension program will result in a bomb known as B61-12. It will consolidate four versions of the bomb into one. The bombs could be carried on B-2A bomber aircraft and F-15E, F-16, F-35, and PA-200 fighters.

A GAO report described the role of six National Nuclear Security Administration sites and laboratories in the LEP. Besides Y-12, the NNSA sites are Kansas City National Security Campus in Missouri; Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico; Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas; Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina.

Y-12 is designated as the production site for the secondary. All weapons in the U.S. nuclear stockpile are two-stage nuclear weapons, or thermonuclear weapons. The first stage, known as the primary, is a fission device that is the initial source of nuclear energy, the GAO said. The secondary, which is the second stage, is a nuclear stage physically separate from the primary. Together, the primary and secondary are referred to as the weapon’s nuclear explosive package, the GAO said. [Read more…]

Demolished building once helped protect city, enriched uranium at Y-12

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A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city. Part of the building, a former secure federal communications center, was still standing among the demolition debris late Wednesday afternoon. This picture was taken looking southeast from near the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city. Part of the building, a former secure federal communications center, was still standing among the demolition debris late Wednesday afternoon. This picture was taken looking southeast from near the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. June 2.

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city.

The building at 101 Bus Terminal Road was once connected by radio to a Y-12 building that stored the world’s only supply of enriched uranium-235, according to a 2010 newspaper article published by D. Ray Smith, who cited Bill Sergeant, head of security after World War II.

A small section of the Bus Terminal Road building that still had historic artifacts—two holding cells and a heavy, bulletproof steel door—remained standing, surrounded by demolition debris, on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s not clear why that one section hadn’t been demolished yet, but the 2010 newspaper article by Smith said it had been a secure federal communications center and was built to be safe from attack. That small section of the building, which had no external windows, was reported to have a concrete ceiling that was one foot thick.

The building, which is at the intersection with Oak Ridge Turnpike, is now being completely demolished so a Taco Bell restaurant can be built there. The building had been extensively modified, and it’s not clear how much of it might have been considered historic.

Smith said the Bus Terminal Road building was once connected by radio to Building 9213, which stored uranium-235 for about a year at Y-12. Building 9213 is on the south side of Chestnut Ridge, which is on the south side of Y-12. After it briefly stored uranium, Building 9213 was used for criticality experiments for years, Smith said. It’s also been used to train the National Guard to identify and isolate radioactive sources as part of their training for homeland security. [Read more…]

City hosting more than 400 national, regional leaders at Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit

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More than 400 people will gather at the CNS Y-12 New Hope Center on Scarboro Road in south Oak Ridge from May 29-31 for the annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit. The theme of the summit is “Connecting People, Ideas, Opportunities.”

The event is hosted by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in cooperation with U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge.

The Summit will bring together regional leadership from five states—Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia—to discuss clean energy, cyber and national security, advanced manufacturing, and education. The Summit will also celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge, the 85th Anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and 50th Anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 8 Mission.

If you did not register online, you can register onsite starting at 2 p.m. May 29 at the New Hope Center. [Read more…]

UPF lawsuit: NNSA considering new, supplemental environmental impact statement for Y-12

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

With a lawsuit pending, federal officials are considering whether a new or supplemental environmental impact statement is needed for the Y-12 National Security Complex after design plans changed for the Uranium Processing Facility, the largest federal construction project in Tennessee since World War II.

As part of the process, the National Nuclear Security Administration is preparing what is known as a supplement analysis, or SA. A draft of the new SA has been issued, and you can read it on the Y-12 website.

Comments on the draft supplement analysis can be submitted through June 20.

The final new supplement analysis and a record of decision could be issued by July 27, although the schedule is subject to change, according to a joint status report filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on May 11. The record of decision is expected to say whether a new or supplemental environmental impact statement is required for Y-12.

There was a site-wide environmental impact statement, or EIS, prepared for Y-12 in 2011. About five years later, in 2016, there was a supplement analysis prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act. It was connected to the decision by the NNSA and U.S. Department of Energy to not prepare a new or supplemental environmental impact statement after the NNSA decided on a new multi-building design for the UPF, rather than a single-building design, as part of an effort to keep project costs down, among other considerations. [Read more…]