Oak Ridge Today

Public can tour parts of ORNL, celebrate 75 years on Lab Day (June 9)

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The public will have a chance to tour parts of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and help celebrate the lab's 75th anniversary on Saturday, June 9, 2018. (Photo by ORNL)

The public will have a chance to tour parts of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and help celebrate the lab’s 75th anniversary on Saturday, June 9, 2018. (Photo by ORNL)

 

The public will have a chance to tour parts of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and help celebrate the lab’s 75th anniversary on Saturday, June 9.

The event will include family-friendly activities, tours, demonstrations, and talks, a press release said.

The “75 Years of Science: Lab Day at ORNL” special event will give the public an opportunity to visit world-leading scientific facilities such as the Spallation Neutron Source and the Titan supercomputer, see one of the world’s first nuclear reactors, and interact with research staff, the press release said.

“The pioneering research of ORNL scientists and engineers has played a pivotal role in our nation’s history and continues to shape our future,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said. “We look forward to welcoming the community to celebrate with us as we pursue another 75 years of leadership in science.”

Registration is required to attend the June 9 event. Advance registration for U.S citizens and non-U.S. citizens, ages 6 and up, will open Tuesday, May 1, and close Friday, May 11, at https://75thanniversary.ornl.gov/register/. Space is limited, and registration will close earlier than May 11 if all space is allotted. A limited number of day-of registration spots will be available for U.S. citizens only. [Read more…]

Final drums of old transuranic waste from ORNL prepared for disposal

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An aerial view of the Transuranic Waste Processing Center in Oak Ridge, where the final drums of legacy transuranic waste stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be processed before shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for permanent disposal. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

An aerial view of the Transuranic Waste Processing Center in west Oak Ridge, where the final drums of legacy transuranic waste stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be processed before shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico for permanent disposal. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

 

The final drums of old transuranic waste stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been prepared for disposal.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management reported Tuesday that it had recently completed installing vents and sample ports in the final drums of the legacy transuranic waste stored at ORNL. The decade-long effort ensures that the drums do not contain any hazardous gases that could cause rapid combustion.

The ventilated unit where the drums were vented is closed and explosion-proof, DOE said. It is capable of withstanding a combustion event while keeping workers and ORNL, the nation’s largest multi-program national laboratory, safe, DOE said.

“Venting and sampling these drums is an essential part of the waste disposal process,” ORNL Portfolio Federal Project Director Bill McMillan said. “Now that we can ensure the safety of each drum, they are ready for transport to the Transuranic Waste Processing Center for processing and subsequent shipment to a permanent disposal facility away from Oak Ridge.” [Read more…]

DOE announces $1.8 billion program for new supercomputers, with one at ORNL

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Rick Perry

Rick Perry

Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a new supercomputing program on Monday that could be worth up to $1.8 billion and deploy two systems, with one at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, that would be 50 to 100 times more powerful than today’s computers.

The new systems are called exascale computers. DOE said the new supercomputers will solidify United States leadership in exascale computing.

The initiative was announced by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Perry announced a request for proposals, or RFP, for the development of at least two new exascale supercomputers to be deployed at DOE national laboratories sometime around 2021-2023.

“The new supercomputers funded through this RFP will be follow-on systems to the first U.S. exascale system authorized by Secretary Perry this past June, named Aurora, which is currently under development at Argonne National Laboratory and scheduled to come online in 2021,” a press release said. The RFP announced Monday envisions the possibility of upgrades to Aurora or even a follow-on system in 2022-2023, “depending on an assessment of needs and opportunities at that time.” [Read more…]

James Peery to lead ORNL’s Global Security Directorate

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James Peery

James Peery

 

James Peery, who led critical national security programs at Sandia National Laboratories and held multiple leadership positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory before arriving at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory last year, has been named associate laboratory director of global security at ORNL, a press release said.

Peery succeeds Brent Park, who was recently confirmed as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Park has led the Global Security Directorate since July 2010.

“James will be responsible for ensuring that ORNL is applying its research strengths to the highest priorities for our nation’s security, and his more than two decades of experience in creating successful initiatives makes him well qualified to lead the Global Security Directorate staff in its compelling mission,” said ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Dean named associate laboratory director for physical sciences

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David J. Dean

David J. Dean

 

David J. Dean has been named associate laboratory director for physical sciences at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, effective May 1.

The Physical Sciences Directorate encompasses the laboratory’s materials science and technology, chemical sciences, nanoscience, physics, and isotope production research programs and activities, a press release said.

“In his new position, David will pursue excellence across our broad physical sciences portfolio, with particular emphases on quantum materials, structural materials and alloys, soft materials, nanoscience, and applications of materials and chemistry in energy and security,” said ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia. [Read more…]

Spending bill has $639 million for DOE cleanup in Oak Ridge

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Y-12 Biology Complex aerial

An aerial view of the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Plans call for eventually demolishing the complex. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The federal spending bill approved last week includes $639 million for the federal government’s cleanup program in Oak Ridge, including what could be full funding for a top priority deactivation and demolition project at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The $639 million for the current fiscal year is an increase of $141 million or more, compared to recent fiscal years, and it’s the most money appropriated in a while.

Besides Y-12, the fiscal year 2018 funding will be used for U.S. Department of Energy cleanup projects at East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“It’s very positive for us,” said Jay Mullis, manager of the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. Mullis gave a brief update at a meeting of the Oak Ridge Reservation Communities Alliance on Monday.

In addition to $125 million to deactivate and demolish the Biology Complex at Y-12, the fiscal year 2018 spending bill includes $17.1 million in funding for the planned Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12, about $200 million for continued cleanup work at ETTP, and a total of roughly $12 million for the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, or EMDF. That’s a proposed landfill that could be west of Y-12 and accept waste from future cleanup work at Y-12 and ORNL, possibly early in the 2020s. The project plan for EMDF is expected to be open to public comment later this summer. [Read more…]

Centrus, X-energy contract supports work on advanced nuclear fuel

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American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center

The American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center in south Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy USEC/Centrus Energy Corp.)

 

Note: This story was updated at 3:15 p.m.

A contract between two companies that have operations or employees in Oak Ridge will support continued work on the production of fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, possibly within six years or so.

The two companies, Centrus Energy Corp. and X Energy LLC, announced the services contract in a press release on Wednesday.

The companies had announced in September that they were exploring a collaboration for the possible production of fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, and they had signed a memorandum of understanding for the potential collaboration.

They said then that they were working toward the development of a fuel fabrication facility that could possibly be in Oak Ridge, where Centrus, formerly known as USEC, has had operations for about 15 years. Oak Ridge could be a nexus for the advanced reactor industry in the United States, one official said at the time. It’s not clear yet how large the fuel fabrication facility would be or what the total investment might be.

In the Wednesday press release, the two companies said the services contract announced this month builds upon the September memorandum of understanding.

“This contract is the initial implementation of that agreement,” said Jeremy Derryberry, Centrus senior communications manager. “Our team in Oak Ridge will be working with X-energy on this project.” [Read more…]

For first time in 30 years, Savannah River dissolving spent nuclear fuel from ORNL reactor

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The reactor pool is pictured above in the reactor bay inside the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday, March 15, 2018. Spent nuclear fuel is stored inside the pool. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The reactor pool is pictured above in the reactor bay inside the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday, March 15, 2018. Spent nuclear fuel is stored inside the pool. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

For the first time in 30 years, spent nuclear fuel from the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been dissolved at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The work is important because it is expected to allow the reactor, known as HFIR, to continue its mission, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

HFIR, which uses highly enriched uranium, is one of the world’s most powerful nuclear research reactor facilities. It’s the highest flux reactor-based source of neutrons for research in the United States. Flux refers to the rate of flow of fluids, particles, or energy. In HFIR’s case, the flux is measured in neutrons per square centimeter per second. HFIR is used for neutron scattering and isotope production, among other missions.

ORNL will reach its maximum capacity for storing HFIR fuel in fiscal year 2020, the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in an “EM Update” electronic newsletter on Tuesday. [Read more…]

Fleischmann: Supercomputing race could change with Summit at ORNL

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The installation of the Summit supercomputer continues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Jan. 23, 2018, with the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and IBM teams receiving and installing compute nodes. Summit will come online in late 2018 for early science, and will be available to users in January 2019. (Image credit: Jason Richards/ORNL. Used under Creative Commons license)

The installation of the Summit supercomputer continues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Jan. 23, 2018, with the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and IBM teams receiving and installing compute nodes. Summit will come online in late 2018 for early science, and will be available to users in January 2019. (Image credit: Jason Richards/ORNL. Used under Creative Commons license)

 

The supercomputer being built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could change the race for supercomputing supremacy between the United States and China, U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann said during a budget hearing on Thursday.

The congressman said Summit, a 200-petaflop supercomputer at ORNL, will be commissioned this summer, and it will be the fastest supercomputer in the world, with twice the power of the top Chinese system. The Chinese machine is a 93-petaflop system known as Sunway TaihuLight.

During Thursday’s budget hearing, which featured Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Fleischmann said the United States and China are in a race for supercomputing supremacy. The race is critical to advances in science and technology that will drive economic growth, said Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge.

Citing a February 9 edition of Science magazine, Fleischmann said the U.S. dominated supercomputer rankings for decades but is now far behind. The combined power of the top two machines in China easily outpaces all 21 supercomputers operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, the country’s top funder of supercomputers, the congressman said.

But that could change with the commissioning of Summit this summer, Fleischmann said. [Read more…]

Selected for space launch, Robertsville satellite gets boost from ORNL

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Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space. On Friday, March 9, 2018, the $70,000 science project got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Celebrating above by saying "NASA, we are a go!" are RMS students, teacher Todd Livesay, ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, and other Oak Ridge Schools staff and project volunteers. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space. On Friday, March 9, 2018, the $70,000 science project got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Celebrating above by saying “NASA, we are a go!” are RMS students, teacher Todd Livesay, ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, and other Oak Ridge Schools staff and project volunteers. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m. March 11.

Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space.

On Friday, the $70,000 science project, which started about three years ago, got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Robertsville satellite, which will orbit a few hundred miles above Earth, will use a small camera to try to take pictures of forest regrowth in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg. That area burned in forest fires fed by high winds after Thanksgiving 2016, killing 14 people and damaging or destroying more than 2,500 homes and businesses.

The RMS satellite, named RamSat, will use a radio to relay its images and other data back to Earth.

A project proposal was submitted to NASA in November, and Oak Ridge Schools learned this month that the RMS proposal had been accepted.

“This is such an exciting opportunity for the students!” said Peter Thornton, one of the RamSat team leaders from ORNL. “They will now have the chance to design, build, carry out, and own a satellite mission.” [Read more…]

Council has special meeting today to consider contracts for water line, pool repairs

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The Oak Ridge City Council has a special meeting at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, to consider two contracts, one for water line repair and the other for pool repair. The water line repair is an emergency repair to a 24-inch feed that is considered critical for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and passes through the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Oak Ridge City Council has a special meeting at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, to consider two contracts, one for water line repair and the other for pool repair. The water line repair is an emergency repair to a 24-inch feed that is considered critical for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and passes through the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

The Oak Ridge City Council has a special meeting at 4 p.m. today (Friday, February 16) to consider two contracts, one for water line repair and the other for pool repair. The water line repair is an emergency repair to a 24-inch feed that is considered critical for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and passes through the Y-12 National Security Complex.

If approved, the water line repair contract would be valued at roughly $100,000, and it would be awarded to Hurst Excavating LLC of Knoxville. The project would replace about 400 feet of the 24-inch water line, which is along Bear Creek Road inside the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The project is a joint effort between the City of Oak Ridge and the U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira A. McWaters said in a February 15 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. The city-DOE water contract specifies that repairs are to be shared 50/50, McWaters said.

The cast iron water line runs from east to west from the city’s water treatment plant, which is on Pine Ridge at Y-12, to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The line failed January 29. It is part of the infrastructure that was transferred to the city in May 2000, when the city assumed ownership and began operating the water treatment plant, which had previously been owned by DOE. [Read more…]

Discover ORNL research opportunities at Virtual Career Fair

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Undergraduates, graduate students, and recent college graduates may find the research opportunity that meets their career goals during the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Science Education and Workforce Development Virtual Career Fair next week.

The Virtual Career Fair will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday, February 22. It will be hosted by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a press release said.

“The virtual career fair is a great opportunity for students to investigate research opportunities available at ORNL,” said Bill Cox, ORISE group manager. “Participants will have the same ability to ask questions as if they were at a career fair in person.” [Read more…]