Oak Ridge Today

Public meetings on June 5 to discuss Clinch River Nuclear 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 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 have two public meetings on June 5 to discuss the draft environmental impact statement for the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge.

The two public meetings will be in Kingston, and they will be transcribed, the NRC said.

They will allow the public to comment on the draft environmental impact statement, or DEIS, for the early site permit application for the Clinch River Nuclear Site, where small modular nuclear reactors could eventually be built. The DEIS is available here. [Read more…]

DA Clark to discuss Neo-Nazism in East Tennessee on Tuesday

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark will discuss Neo-Nazism and the root causes of its rise in East Tennessee on Tuesday, a press release said.

Clark, the DA in Anderson County, will be the speaker at Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday.

His general topic will center on Neo-Nazism, and the root causes of its rise in East Tennessee, the press release said.

The meeting will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project Park: Hike with a Ranger on Saturday

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Submitted photo

Submitted photo

 

Join park rangers for a hike along the Cedar Hill Greenway in Oak Ridge on Saturday, May 12.

The hike, which is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Saturday, will begin at Cedar Hill Park, the former location of Cedar Hill Elementary School.

Along the hike, rangers will discuss the early school system of Oak Ridge, early shopping centers, and housing in the Clinton Engineer Works, a press release said.

This 2.5-mile hike is considered moderately difficult, and some parts of the trail can wash out after a strong storm. Visitors are encouraged to wear appropriate footwear, insect repellent, and sunscreen, and bring drinking water, the press release said. [Read more…]

League of Women Voters to help register new citizens as voters

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The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has been awarded a national grant from the League of Women Voters of the U.S. to increase the voter registration of the country’s newest citizens following their participation in a Citizenship and Immigration Services ceremony.

LWVOR and the U.S. District Court of Eastern Tennessee will work together to celebrate the swearing in of immigrant residents who have chosen to call the United States their new home, a press release said. Volunteers will provide a celebratory reception and guide the new citizens through the voter registration process at six naturalization ceremonies before November 8, 2018. Other dates may be added, the press release said.

The ceremonies will take place at the Big South Fork National Recreation Area on April 26, at 10:30 a.m.; in Chattanooga (900 Georgia Avenue), on May 11, at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; in Knoxville (800 Market Street), on July 24, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; and again in Knoxville (800 Market Street), on October 19, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Other dates may be added. [Read more…]

Small businesses invited to learn how to work with NASA

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Small businesses have many opportunities to support NASA’s space flight mission—such as the Space Launch System that will be used for deep space exploration and new missions to the moon—and additional NASA projects. Learn more at the June 19 NASA networking conference “Think Big: Learn How To Do Business with NASA” at Roane State’s W.H. Swain Scott County Center in Huntsville, Tenn. (Artist’s concept courtesy of NASA).

Small businesses have many opportunities to support NASA’s space flight mission—such as the Space Launch System that will be used for deep space exploration and new missions to the moon—and additional NASA projects. Learn more at the June 19 NASA networking conference “Think Big: Learn How To Do Business with NASA” at Roane State’s W.H. Swain Scott County Center in Huntsville, Tenn. (Artist’s concept courtesy of NASA).

 

Small businesses are invited to a conference in June that will offer information on how to do business with NASA.

It’s an all-day networking conference titled “Think Big: Learn How To Do Business with NASA.” It’s scheduled for Tuesday, June 19, at Roane State’s W.H. Swain Scott County Center, which is at 410 W.H. Swain Boulevard in Huntsville. It was organized by U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, and Congressman Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican.

At the conference, small businesses can meet with NASA officials and representatives from NASA prime contractors, a press release said. Conference participants will learn about various small business opportunities provided by NASA.

“NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is just four hours from Huntsville, Tennessee,” Roane State President Chris Whaley said in the press release. “Opportunities with NASA are abundant for businesses of all shapes and sizes in this region. We want to raise awareness that big agencies such as NASA want and need services from small businesses. A business from a small community in a rural county can think big because NASA may be interested in your products.” [Read more…]

Manhattan Project Park premieres Minuteman missile film on Saturday

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The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will have a special premiere showing of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site film, "Beneath the Plains," in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 21, 2018. (Submitted photo)

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will have a special premiere showing of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site film, “Beneath the Plains,” in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 21, 2018. (Submitted photo)

 

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will have a special premiere showing of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site film, “Beneath the Plains,” in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

The film showing is scheduled at 3 p.m. Saturday at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The 30-minute film gives visitors a glimpse of how 1,000 missiles were kept on constant alert, a press release said.

“Hidden in plain sight during the Cold War, these nuclear weapons stood as a deterrent against a nuclear attack to the United States and its allies,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Rally for Second Amendment, Constitution on Saturday

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Anderson County residents have organized a rally to show support for the Second Amendment and the U.S. Constitution in Clinton on Saturday.

“Aware of the threat to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of our great nation, some very concerned citizens of Anderson County, Tennessee, have banded together to demonstrate to those who attack our liberties that they will not be successful in their attempts to destroy America,” a press release said.

“While recognizing there is no immediate threat to to our liberties in East Tennessee, we feel strongly that we must stand with those in other parts of our county who are seeing immediate threats to their right to keep and bear arms, a right that is guaranteed and protected by the Constitution of our country,” the press release said.

The rally is scheduled to start at noon Saturday, April 21, on the steps of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. It is meant to “show support and solidarity with freedom-loving citizens throughout the United States,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Former ambassador to discuss Syria at Roane State on Wednesday

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Margaret Scobey

Margaret Scobey

Former Ambassador Margaret Scobey will discuss Syria at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge on Wednesday. Her talk is titled “Syria: Challenges to U.S. and Regional Interests.”

The community lecture is sponsored jointly by ORICL (Oak Ridge Institute of Continued Learning) and Roane State. It is free and open to the public.

Scobey’s appearance will begin with a reception at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Visitor’s Lobby of the Coffey/McNally Building, a press release said. Following the reception, Scobey will speak in the City Room, A-111, of the same building. After her presentation, Ambassador Scobey will respond to questions from the audience.

Scobey retired as career minister from the U.S. Foreign Service following a 32-year career, the press release said. She served as U.S. ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt from 2008 until July of 2011. Prior to that, she served as the U.S. ambassador to Syria from late 2003 until early 2005, when she was recalled in protest to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Her last assignment in the Foreign Service was as deputy commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. [Read more…]

Veteran challenging Fleischmann in Republican primary

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Bill Spurlock

Bill Spurlock

 

William E. “Bill” Spurlock, a Chattanooga native and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is challenging U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann in the Republican primary in Tennessee’s Third District on August 2. The Third District includes Oak Ridge and its U.S. Department of Energy facilities.

Spurlock, 60, officially announced his candidacy in Chattanooga on Tuesday, April 3.

He has served in the Army, Marine Corps, and the National Guard, completing five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the press release said. He is the recipient of the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with a total of more than 50 ribbons and medals earned before recently retiring, as a major, after 34 years of service.

A press release said Spurlock was raised on Lookout Mountain by a single mother, and he attended The Baylor School. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. After three years on active duty in the Marines, he came home to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, earning a bachelor’s degree in business management. [Read more…]

Construction authorized for main Uranium Processing Facility buildings

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A rendering of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Image from May 2017 courtesy of NNSA)

A rendering of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Image from May 2017 courtesy of NNSA)

 

Federal officials have authorized the start of construction of the three main buildings, including one for enriched uranium operations, at the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. It’s the largest federal construction project in Tennessee since World War II.

The authorization was announced Friday by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy. Y-12 is an NNSA site.

The authorization came from DOE leadership, NNSA said in a press release on Friday. The authorization allows the NNSA to start construction on the Main Process Building, Salvage and Accountability Building, and Process Support Facilities subprojects, the press release said.

UPF will replace an early-Cold War plant with a modern, more efficient, and safer facility for conducting highly-enriched uranium operations at Y-12, the NNSA said. Federal officials have been saying for a while that the facility is expected to be completed by 2025 at a cost of no more than $6.5 billion. [Read more…]

TVA to lower level of Melton Hill Reservoir for shoreline maintenance

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The Tennessee Valley Authority's Melton Hill Dam is pictured above. (Photo courtesy TVA)

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Melton Hill Dam is pictured above. (Photo courtesy TVA)

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority will temporarily lower the water level of Melton Hill Reservoir from Saturday, March 24, through Saturday, April 7, to allow property owners to repair docks, stabilize shoreline, and pick up litter.

The reservoir’s water level will be held between 790 and 792 feet above sea level—about two to four feet below its current level—during this period. The exact rate of the drawdown will depend on weather conditions and may vary with rainfall amounts, a press release said.

Melton Hill will be returned to its normal winter elevation of 794 feet beginning on April 8. [Read more…]

Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit has presentations on energy, manufacturing, security

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Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit Logo 1

The Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Oak Ridge in May will feature presentations on advanced manufacturing, clean energy and a nuclear renaissance, and national security and cyber security.

The 2018 TVC National Summit is scheduled from May 29-31 at the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. It will be hosted by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in cooperation with U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann.

Agenda topics include: [Read more…]