The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office is initiating a series of controlled burns of grassland areas on the Oak Ridge Reservation for prescribed burning at the East Tennessee Technology Park and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during March and April.
On March 15, weather permitting, controlled burns are taking place:
Jeff Nichols, associate director for computing and computational sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in front of Titan, the world’s fastest supercomputer. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)
Hundreds of connectors are being re-soldered each week, and the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory—the world’s fastest machine—could be in regular production by May, a lab official said Wednesday.
Jeff Nichols, ORNL associate lab director for computing and computational sciences, said connectors on the $100 million computer’s motherboards had too much gold, and solder was interacting with the gold on connector pins, making the solder unstable and leading to cracks.
There are about 20,000 of the pencil-sized connectors, which link central and graphic processing units, or CPUs and GPUs. Each connector has about 100 pins.
Sakuji Tanaka
When Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka of Japan visits Oak Ridge on Friday and Saturday, he will talk about and hear innovative ideas on how to achieve peace through service.
On Friday, Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give Tanaka a tour of ORNL. At 3 p.m., the RI president will tour the Secret City Commemorative Walk built by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. City Manager Mark Watson, who is president-elect of this Rotary club, will present a gift to Tanaka, who will make some remarks.
At 3:45 p.m. Tanaka will then visit the International Friendship Bell, where he will be welcomed by Oak Ridger Jack Bailey, district governor of RI District 6780, which encompasses 65 clubs in East Tennessee. Shigeko Uppuluri will present a history of the bell and give a bell replica to Tanaka, who will make remarks and ring the bell.
Shawn Reeves
Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Shawn Reeves has been awarded the 2013 Outstanding Technologist Award in Physical Sciences from the Microscopy Society of America.
She is a member of the microscopy group in ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division.
Reeves, a Lenoir City resident, will receive the award during the plenary session of the Microscopy and Microanalysis Annual Meeting in Indianapolis this summer.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have partnered again to award two new grants in the ORAU/ORNL High-Performance Computing Grant Program for 2013.
ORAU provides up to $75,000 over three years to researchers and their teams. In addition to the monetary award, ORNL provides faculty and student teams with valuable access to the laboratory’s computing resources and staff.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory—home of one of only two reactor facilities in the world capable of producing californium-252 (Cf-252)—has begun implementing a new six-year contract between the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program and industry to make this unique and versatile radioisotope.
The new contract follows the successful completion of a four-year Cf-252 program under an agreement with a consortium of industries that use the neutron-emitting radioisotope for a number of applications that focus mostly on analysis, detection, and nuclear energy.
Lamar Alexander
Bob Corker
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Thursday said the automatic federal spending cuts going into effect today demonstrate a failure of presidential leadership.
The senator also said he would like to minimize the impact of the cuts on important government institutions such as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, student loans, and the proposed Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 Security Complex.
Congress and the White House approved the automatic, across-the-board cuts in discretionary and defense spending— known as sequestration—about 18 months ago in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Considered unpalatable by many, the cuts were meant to encourage Democrats and Republicans to compromise on deficit reduction efforts.
That hasn’t worked.
Chuck Spencer
Operating costs have already been cut by 7 percent at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and all employees are expected to report to work on Friday, even if automatic federal spending cuts go into effect at midnight.
The federal cuts could reduce lab funding by 5 percent to 8 percent, ORNL Director Thom Mason said. That could translate into $70 million to $100 million in funding cuts, depending upon how the reductions are allocated.
Meanwhile, at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the automatic spending cuts could lead to furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have said between 700 and 1,000 employees could be furloughed for up to six months.
But in a Feb. 14 message to employees, B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer did not say how many employees might be affected.
Former Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist speaks to representatives from Leadership Knoxville at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Conference Center. (Jason Richards/ORNL)
Former Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday with Leadership Knoxville.
The group toured ORNL’s supercomputing facilities as part of the visit.
Here are two pictures from the tour, submitted by ORNL and photographer Jason Richards.
Keith Joy
The Tennessee Veterans Business Association awarded the 2013 “Veterans Work” Award to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Keith Joy, ORNL Small Business Programs director.
The award was presented during a recent banquet at the Knoxville Convention Center.
The annual award honors a company that works with and hires veterans. ORNL works to consistently meet or exceed its small business goals for veteran-owned small businesses, as well as those in all socioeconomic categories, a press release said.
Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)
A report released Wednesday said the automatic federal spending cuts set for March 1 would require furloughs at the Y-12 National Security Complex and a shutdown of the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The report was issued by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee.
It said Y-12 would have to furlough 700-1,000 of its 4,500 employees for up to six months, and there would be hundreds of layoffs at national laboratories, universities, research facilities, and private sector companies that rely on grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science for energy research, the report said.
The U.S. Department of Labor will host three town hall meetings on Wednesday in Oak Ridge to provide information about the medical benefits provided under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. At the meetings, specific information will be discussed concerning home health care services, the Privacy Act, and how to better serve EEOICPA claimants.
The meetings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. Wednesday.
