Oak Ridge National Laboratory Archives

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

May 23, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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...]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories Tagged With: CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, cleanup contractor, demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, east wing, K-25 Building, K-27, K-31, north end, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Steve Dahlgren, technetium-99, transite panels, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS, west wing, Y-12 National Security Complex

TVC Summit next week includes House majority leader

May 22, 2013 By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Eric Cantor

Submitted

Business, community, and political leaders and senior decision-makers will convene at the 2013 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit next week to discuss issues that are critical to the economic engine of the Tennessee Valley, a press release said.

Hosted by Third District Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the two-day meeting themed “Securing America’s Future” will focus on energy and environment, innovation and entrepreneurism, public and private partnerships, and advanced manufacturing, the release said.

The Summit will be held at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s New Hope Center in Oak Ridge on May 29-30. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, Federal, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: advanced manufacturing, Andy Page, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, Bill Johnson, Bob Raines, Chuck Fleischmann, DOE, DOE Oak Ridge Office, economy, energy, entrepreneurship, environment, Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader, innovation, John Morris, Lamar Alexander, Mark Whitney, National Nuclear Security Administration, Neile Miller, NNSA, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pete Lyons, Phil Roe, public/private partnerships, Randall T. Kempner, Securing America’s Future, Tech 20/20, Tennessee Valley, Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit, Thom Mason, TVA, U.S. Department of Energy

ORNL researcher discusses 3-D printing Tuesday

May 13, 2013 By Dawn Huotari Leave a Comment

The Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will hold its monthly luncheon lecture meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting will feature speaker Lonnie J. Love, who will discuss the development of 3-D printing and other advanced manufacturing applications at ORNL, a press release said. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clubs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: 3-D printing, advanced manufacturing, Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Friends of ORNL, Lonnie Love, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL

Two ORNL researchers, two joint faculty receive DOE early career awards

May 10, 2013 By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Pictured from top left, clockwise, are Valentino Cooper, Gaute Hagen, Matthias Schindler, and Jason Hayward. They are 2013 awardees in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program. (Submitted photo)

Materials science and physics research led by early career Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists received a boost this week from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Early Career Research Program.

The program, now in its fourth year, is designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during crucial early career years when many scientists do their most formative work. This year’s 61 awardees were selected from a pool of 770 university- and national laboratory-based applicants.

“This highly competitive program is a well-deserved recognition for early-career scientists who are launching their own research programs,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said. “We are delighted that four of this year’s awards are going to researchers associated with ORNL.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: computation, DOE, Early Career Research Program, Gaute Hagen, hadronic parity violation, Jason Hayward, materials science, Materials Science and Technology Division, Matthias Schindler, neutron imaging, neutron scattering, nuclear decay, Nuclear Security and Isotope Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, ORNL, perovskite oxide, physics, Physics Division, researchers, scientists, SNS, Spallation Neutron Source, Thom Mason, U.S. Department of Energy, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, Valentino Cooper

UT names advanced manufacturing expert as Governor’s Chair with ORNL

May 8, 2013 By University of Tennessee Leave a Comment

Sudarsanam Suresh Babu

Sudarsanam Suresh Babu, an authority in the production, design, and performance of transforming materials into parts, has been named the 11th University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair.

Babu will serve as Governor’s Chair for Advanced Manufacturing. He begins on July 1.

Babu, a professor in the Welding Engineering Program in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University, directed a National Science Foundation Industry and University Cooperative Research center focused on materials joining for energy applications. [Read more...]

Filed Under: College, Education, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: advanced manufacturing, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Mechanical, Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, Energy Material Program, Governor's Chair for Advanced Manufacturing, Jimmy G. Cheek, Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Ohio State University, ORNL, professor, Sudarsanam Suresh Babu, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor's Chair, UT

ORNL analysis predicts extreme weather losses could double by 2050

May 2, 2013 By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

By Katie Elyce Freeman

U.S. economic losses from extreme weather could at least double by 2050, according to an Oak Ridge National Laboratory analysis published this month in the online edition of the journal Global Environmental Change.

“A side effect of America’s growth has been the tendency to put more people, infrastructure and assets in harm’s way, and when a storm comes through, that increased exposure drives up economic losses,” said author Benjamin Preston, deputy director of ORNL’s Climate Change Science Institute, who studied historical data from more than 3,000 U.S. counties and used predictive modeling in the assessment. Preston works in impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability science, a field devoted to analyzing the effects of climate change on people, governments and industries. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: Benjamin Preston, climate change, Climate Change Science Institute, damage, disaster losses, economic losses, extreme weather, Global Environmental Change, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL

ORNL-issued iPad stolen in Clinton

May 1, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 5:02 p.m.

An Oak Ridge National Laboratory employee reported that a lab-issued iPad was stolen from his car while he and his wife shopped at the Dollar General store on Charles Seivers Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

Gregory and Robin Chitwood called police around 2 p.m. Tuesday and reported that the device had been in the car when they went into the store but was gone when they returned, WYSH said. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Clinton, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Bill Cabage, Charles Seivers Boulevard, Dollar General, Gregory Chitwood, iPad, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy

Clinton High dedicates ‘net zero’ classroom

May 1, 2013 By John Huotari 1 Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Students, teachers, and school administrators gathered to dedicate a new, so-called “net zero” classroom on the campus of Clinton High School on Tuesday.

The 1,150-square-foot building is powered by solar panels and is independent of the electric grid. The classroom, believed to be the first of its kind in the state, was funded by the school system as well as grants from Tennessee Valley Authority and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as well as other sponsors. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: alternative energy, classroom, Clinton High School, electric grid, geothermal, net zero, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, solar, solar panels, Tennessee Valley Authority, wind

Hardin Valley Academy senior wins four-year UT-Battelle scholarship

April 29, 2013 By Oak Ridge National Laboratory 2 Comments

Meredith Graves, a senior at Hardin Valley Academy and winner of the 2013 UT-Battelle Scholarship, is pictured above with Thom Mason, Oak Ridge National Laboratory director. (Submitted photo)

Meredith Graves, a senior at Hardin Valley Academy, is the recipient of the 2013 UT-Battelle Scholarship to the University of Tennessee.

The four-year, $20,000 scholarship, presented annually to a graduating senior with a parent who works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is awarded annually to an outstanding student who plans to study science, engineering, or mathematics at the University of Tennessee.

Graves, daughter of Van and René Graves of Knoxville, has already been accepted into the University of Tennessee’s Bachelor of Architecture program, where she hopes to apply her interest in STEM-related fields to the design of energy efficient and environmentally friendly structures. [Read more...]

Filed Under: College, Education, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories Tagged With: architecture, Hardin Valley Academy, Meredith Graves, Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, scholarship, University of Tennessee, UT-Battelle, UT-Battelle Scholarship, Van Graves

DOE Environmental Management has public meeting to discuss cleanup funding, strategy

April 18, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Mark Whitney

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or EM, is holding a public meeting to discuss the program’s fiscal year 2015 budget and cleanup priorities. The workshop, featuring Oak Ridge’s senior EM leadership, is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. April 23 at Pollard Auditorium.

“As taxpayer stewards, I think these public meetings are a responsible practice that increase transparency and explain our decision process,” said Mark Whitney, Oak Ridge’s Environmental Management manager. “These meetings also provide a forum for residents and stakeholders to voice their opinions, suggestions, and concerns about our vision.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: budget, cleanup, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, environmental management, funding, Mark Whitney, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

ORNL researchers elected American Physical Society fellows

April 17, 2013 By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Xiaoguang Zhang and Eliot Specht have been named American Physical Society fellows. (Submitted photo)

Two researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected to fellowship in the American Physical Society.

Xiaoguang Zhang and Eliot Specht were named APS fellows in recognition of their outstanding contributions to physics.

APS fellowship is limited to no more than 0.5 percent per year of the society’s more than 50,000 members. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: American Physical Society, APS, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences Division, Computer Sciences and Mathematics Division, crystallographic alignment, Eliot Specht, high-temperature superconductors, magnetic tunnel junctions, Material Sciences and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, physics, scattering theory, Xiaoguang Zhang

ORNL leading study focused on afterlife of electric vehicle batteries

April 16, 2013 By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Once they’ve finished powering electric vehicles for hundreds of thousands of miles, it may not be the end of the road for automotive batteries, which researchers believe can provide continued benefits for consumers, automakers, and the environment.

Five used Chevrolet Volt batteries are at the heart of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s effort to determine the feasibility of a community energy storage system that would put electricity onto the grid. During the next year, researchers from ORNL, General Motors, and the ABB Group will conduct studies and compile data using a first-of-its-kind test platform officially commissioned Tuesday. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: ABB Group, automotive batteries, batteries, battery systems engineering, Bill Wallace, Chevrolet Volt, electric vehicle batteries, Energy and Transportation Science Division, Energy Storage Research Program, General Motors, George Andrews, GM, Imre Gyuk, lithium ion batteries, Michael Starke, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, ORNL, Power and Energy Systems Group, U.S. Department of Energy