Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridgers celebrate library renovations

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Oak Ridge Public Library Director Julie Forkner, right, talks to a standing-room-only crowd about renovations to the library’s East Wing on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A standing-room-only crowd attended the grand re-opening celebration of renovations to the East Wing of the Oak Ridge Public Library on Tuesday.

The renovations include a brand-new Children’s Room and bathrooms that meet Americans with Disability Act standards.

The projects were made possible through a combination of funding from the City of Oak Ridge, a Support Grant to Local Governments, and the Friends of Oak Ridge Public Library administering a bequest (a personal property gift) on behalf of Jerry Kinnamon.

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Transite panels being removed from last part of K-25 Building

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K-25 Transite Removal

More than 2,800 transite panels will be removed from the remainder of the K-25 Building. (Submitted photo)

A federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge is removing exterior panels known as transite panels from the last part of the K-25 Building that is still standing.

K-25 was built to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II and was once the world’s largest building under one roof. It’s been unused for decades and is being torn down.

Most of the mile-long former gaseous diffusion building, located at East Tennessee Technology Park, has been demolished. About two million square feet of the U-shaped building have been removed, according to a Thursday press release from UCOR, the cleanup contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Removal of K-25 north end demolition debris almost complete

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K-25 North End Demolition

With the north end demolished, only a small part of the east wing remains at the once-massive K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

Workers are almost done removing demolition debris from the K-25 Building’s north end.

Only a small section of the giant building’s east wing remains. It is contaminated with technetium-99, a slow-decaying radioactive isotope. Further deactivation of that section is needed before demolition can begin, according to a recent article in “Public Involvement News,” published by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office. [Read more…]