Almost 5,000 pounds of hazardous household waste was collected at a drop-off event in Anderson County this month.
The Household Hazard Waste drop-off on October 1 was sponsored by Anderson County Solid Waste Management Department and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. They collected 4,798 pounds of household hazardous waste, a press release said.
The TDEC collection report indicated 1,874 pounds of poisonous material (e.g., pesticides) was dropped off that day by area residents at the collection site in Oak Ridge. Other hazardous materials collected included 664 pounds of oil-based paint, 769 pounds of non-hazardous liquid, 616 pounds of flammable liquid, 460 pounds of corrosive material, 289 pounds of aerosol containers, and 61 pounds of fluorescent tubes.
A geology and hydrology professor will discuss the dangers of microplastics in rivers during a program in Oak Ridge on Thursday, September 29.
Martin Knoll is professor of geology and hydrology and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Systems at the University of the South. He will talk to the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society.
The program is at the UT Arboretum Auditorium at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge starting at 7 p.m. September 29. The talk is titled “Microplastics in the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Rhine Rivers: Why We Should Care.”
Knoll’s presentation will focus on his research investigating the concentration and types of microplastics found in the three rivers, a press release said. Special emphasis will be placed on his recent findings about the major sources of these microplastics and what might be done to reduce their numbers.
A home on Norton Road in Oak Ridge was destroyed in a fire on Sunday, and a resident had injuries that were not life-threatening. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)
A home on Norton Road in Oak Ridge was destroyed by a fire on Sunday, and a resident had injuries that were not life-threatening.
The house fire was reported at about 5 p.m. Sunday, September 4. When Oak Ridge firefighters arrived, they saw a large amount of smoke and fire coming from the home, a press release said.
“The fire was under control within 20 minutes of arrival, but fire crews remained on scene for the next several hours to put out hot spots,” the press release said.
The insect zoo at the Butterfly Festival. (Submitted photo)
The annual Butterfly Festival will feature an educational release of 500 butterflies and an insect zoo at the University of Tennessee Arboretum on Saturday, September 17.
It’s the seventh annual festival, and it’s scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. September 17 in the UT Arboretum Auditorium and surrounding area at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.
The festival is presented by the UT Arboretum Society. The purpose is to educate the public and teach people how to protect these pollinators, a press release said.
The UT Insect Zoo, two butterfly tents, educational lectures, a butterfly release, and children’s art activities are among the educational activities that will be offered, the press release said.
Depleted uranium hexafluoride storage cylinders at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Portsmouth, Ohio, Conversion Facility. (Photo from U.S. Government Accountability Office report)
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Some of the waste came from the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge and is now stored in Ohio, but a portion of the converted depleted uranium could eventually be returned to Oak Ridge for use in nuclear weapons.
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Depleted uranium hexafluoride storage cylinders at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Portsmouth, Ohio, Conversion Facility. (Photo from U.S. Government Accountability Office report)
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Some of the waste came from the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge and is now stored in Ohio, but a portion of the converted depleted uranium could eventually be returned to Oak Ridge for use in nuclear weapons.
DOE’s Office of Environmental Management has had about 67,000 cylinders of the depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) stored at two conversion facilities in Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio. The facilities convert the DUF6 into two primary products, depleted uranium oxide (a more stable chemical form) and hydrofluoric acid, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Depleted uranium hexafluoride storage cylinders at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Portsmouth, Ohio, Conversion Facility. (Photo from U.S. Government Accountability Office report)
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Some of the waste came from the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge and is now stored in Ohio, but a portion of the converted depleted uranium could eventually be returned to Oak Ridge for use in nuclear weapons.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
The Pine Ridge substation now serves the Y-12 National Security Complex, including the Uranium Processing Facility. (Photo provided by CNS Y-12)
Submitted
The Y-12 National Security Complex flipped the switch on a new era as crews finalized the process of moving the entire site’s electrical supply to the new Pine Ridge substation.
In June, the Building 9204-02 (Beta 2) and Building 9201-01 (Alpha 1) electrical feeds were disconnected from the Elza-1 substation, marking the final load transition to Pine Ridge.
The new substation was built as one of seven Uranium Processing Facility Project subprojects. Designed and built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Pine Ridge substation construction began in 2017 and was completed in 2020 at a cost of $60 million. The project team received the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary’s Project Management Achievement Award for finishing $13 million under budget and six months ahead of schedule. It is a 70-MVA (mega volt amp) facility and includes:
An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:Basic
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on South Illinois Avenue around Panera Bread on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
Khristoff Deshawn Lee, 29, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court Tuesday afternoon to two counts of attempted carjacking, two counts of reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a weapon, and evading arrest.
An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:Basic
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
Three Ohio residents died in a two-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road at Old Emory Road in Claxton on Friday, July 22.
The three Ohio residents were all in the same vehicle, a 2018 Honda CRV, and they were all from Mansfield, Ohio, according to a preliminary report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The driver was Peter Webel, 75, and the two passengers were Linda Webel, 76, and Frieda Gottschling, 80.
The other vehicle, a 2004 GMC Sonoma, was driven by a juvenile male from Knoxville.
At ORNL, the Versatile Test Reactor would have been at a relatively undeveloped site previously considered for other projects about a mile east of the ORNL main campus. It would have required a new hot cell and a facility for post-irradiation examination and the conditioning of spent nuclear fuel for disposal. It would also have used existing facilities at ORNL, including the Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory and the Irradiated Material Examination and Testing Facility.
DOE said building the Versatile Test Reactor at either INL or ORNL would have small environmental consequences, but overall, the consequences would be less at the INL site. Among the reasons: A smaller area would be temporarily disturbed and permanently occupied at INL because of the need to build a new hot cell facility at ORNL. Unlike the INL site, the ORNL location abuts wetlands that would have to be managed or avoided under the Clean Water Act and Tennessee regulations. The removal of trees at ORNL would result in the loss of roosting habitat for sensitive bat species. And although small at both locations, the potential radiological impacts would be lower at INL because the Versatile Test Reactor would be farther from the site boundary and population density is lower near INL than ORNL.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
At ORNL, the Versatile Test Reactor would have been at a relatively undeveloped site previously considered for other projects about a mile east of the ORNL main campus. It would have required a new hot cell and a facility for post-irradiation examination and the conditioning of spent nuclear fuel for disposal. It would also have used existing facilities at ORNL, including the Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory and the Irradiated Material Examination and Testing Facility.
DOE said building the Versatile Test Reactor at either INL or ORNL would have small environmental consequences, but overall, the consequences would be less at the INL site. Among the reasons: A smaller area would be temporarily disturbed and permanently occupied at INL because of the need to build a new hot cell facility at ORNL. Unlike the INL site, the ORNL location abuts wetlands that would have to be managed or avoided under the Clean Water Act and Tennessee regulations. The removal of trees at ORNL would result in the loss of roosting habitat for sensitive bat species. And although small at both locations, the potential radiological impacts would be lower at INL because the Versatile Test Reactor would be farther from the site boundary and population density is lower near INL than ORNL.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a 39-year-old man during an interaction with Oak Ridge police officers in the Hendrix Creek subdivision on Sunday afternoon.
Oak Ridge Police Department officers had made contact with the man, Tyler Jones, after receiving a report of a suspicious person around Heritage Drive, the TBI said. He began showing signs of distress, and medical personnel were called.
“At some point during the encounter, after medical personnel arrived, Jones became unresponsive,” the TBI said. “Officers immediately rendered aid until paramedics arrived. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.”
Luminarias with peace messages will be lit this year to remember and acknowledge the atomic bombings of Japan in August 1945, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park said.
A luminaria is a lantern with a candle inside a small paper bag.
The peace messages will be written by the public before events in August, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park said.
U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo from DOE)
U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tours began running again on July 11, and they are scheduled to continue through November.
“The program is a longtime staple in the community, helping educate residents and visitors about the site’s rich history and current missions,” DOE said in an EM Update newsletter published Tuesday. (EM stands for environmental management.)
The tour program started in 1996 and has attracted tens of thousands of visitors from all 50 states, DOE said.
