RSI named regional small business subcontractor of the year

June 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Tom Beehan and Rick Ferguson at RSI Solar Ceremony

Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, left, and RSI Vice President Rick Ferguson at a May 2012 ceremony for an RSI solar farm at Heritage Center. (Photo courtesy Lynn Freeny/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office)

The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Restoration Services Inc. of Oak Ridge as Subcontractor of the Year in Region IV, which includes eight southeastern states.

RSI was recognized for its hard work, innovative ideas, and dedication to the community, a press release said.

“The SBA is pleased to recognize your achievements and your role in driving our nation’s economic growth,” said John Shoraka of the SBA Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. The SBA announced regional awards as they prepared to celebrate the 50th anniversary of National Small Business Week from June 17-21. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chinese supercomputer bumps ORNL’s Titan from No. 1 spot

June 17, 2013 By 3 Comments
Tianhe-2 Lights

Lights on the Chinese Tianhe-2 supercomputer, which has a theoretical peak that is twice as fast as the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Jack Dongarra)

A Chinese supercomputer has bumped the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from the No. 1 spot on a semiannual ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

The Tianhe-2, which was developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, is capable of 33.86 petaflops, or more than 33,000 trillion calculations per second.

Now ranked No. 2, Titan was able to perform 17,000 trillion calculations per second, or 17.59 petaflops, according to the list published in November. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Titan supercomputer at ORNL completes acceptance testing

June 12, 2013 By 1 Comment
Titan Supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was ranked as the world’s fastest supercomputer in November 2012. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

By Leo Williams

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan supercomputer has completed rigorous acceptance testing to ensure the functionality, performance, and stability of the machine, one of the world’s most powerful supercomputing systems for open science.

The U.S. Department of Energy machine, the first to combine different types of processing units to maximize performance at such a large scale, ranked as the fastest supercomputer in the world in the November 2012 list published at http://www.top500.org/. Titan, a Cray XK7 supercomputer, is capable of more than 27,000 trillion calculations each second—or 27 petaflops. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Three ORNL staff members cited for vehicle technologies work

June 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Scott Curran

Scott Curran

Ron Graves

Ron Graves

Three Oak Ridge National Laboratory staff members—Scott Curran, Ron Graves, and Janet Hopson—were recognized following a U.S. Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office, or VTO, annual merit review.

Curran was recognized with a 2013 VTO Research and Development Award for “his leadership in transitioning reactivity controlled compression ignition combustion from a single cylinder to a multi-cylinder engine using bio-renewable fuels.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Alexander Inn ballroom demolished as renovation work begins

June 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Alexander Inn Ballroom Demolition

Workers have demolished the damaged ballroom at the historic Alexander Inn, a dilapidated two-story hotel that has been vacant for years and is now being converted into an assisted living center.

Workers have demolished the ballroom at the historic but dilapidated Alexander Inn as part of a project to convert the vacant two-story hotel into an assisted living center.

There are about a dozen workers at the three-acre site on East Madison Road, including framers and demolition, cleanup, and abatement crews, project manager Shea Ramsey said Thursday.

The flat-roof addition that included the ballroom, kitchen, and dining room had leaked, and the wood had rotted. Project officials have previously said the ballroom and kitchen would be demolished and rebuilt. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Energy Secretary Moniz visits Y-12 National Security Complex

June 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Energy Secretary Visits Y-12

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, right, tours the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility during his visit Monday to the Y-12 National Security Complex. Joining him are, from left, B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer, Julie Huff of B&W Y-12′s Materials Management Organization, B&W Y-12 Senior Vice President of Security Rod Johnson, and NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart.

New U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited the Y-12 National Security Complex this week.

Before touring production and storage facilities at the site, Moniz held an all-hands meeting with Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and federal employees at Y-12′s New Hope Center. Joining him at the meeting was U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge. [Read more...]

Filed Under: National Nuclear Security Administration, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

New all-solid sulfur-based battery outperforms lithium-ion technology

June 6, 2013 By 4 Comments
ORNL Lithium-Sulfur Battery

A new all-solid lithium-sulfur battery developed by an Oak Ridge National Laboratory team led by Chengdu Liang has the potential to reduce cost, increase performance, and improve safety compared with existing designs. (Submitted photo)

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today’s electronics.

The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur, also addresses flammability concerns experienced by other chemistries.

“Our approach is a complete change from the current battery concept of two electrodes joined by a liquid electrolyte, which has been used over the last 150 to 200 years,” said Chengdu Liang, lead author on the ORNL study published this week in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oak Ridge Tool-Engineering highlighted in Tennessee Business Spotlight

June 3, 2013 By 1 Comment

Terry Mullins, the chief executive officer of Oak Ridge Tool-Engineering, Inc., has a pretty simple business philosophy:

“We just go after where the money is,” Mullins said. “We’re able to pick and choose which markets are hot.”

While the philosophy may be simple, the services the company provides are anything but. Oak Ridge Tool-Engineering designs and builds equipment used on some of the world’s most complex machinery—everything from submarines to the International Space Station. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Government, Oak Ridge, State, Top Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Energy secretary meets with lab directors, tours ORNL, Y-12

June 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz at ORNL

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, second from right, toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Monday. Also pictured are ORNL Director Thom Mason, right; U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, left; and Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman.

During a short trip to Oak Ridge this week, new Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory, planned to visit the Y-12 National Security Complex, and met with lab directors from across the country. He also met with U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.

Moniz was sworn in as the nation’s 13th Secretary of Energy on May 21, and during his visit to Oak Ridge, he said he is “looking at new ways of doing business” and considering organizational changes. He said his visit here gave him an overview of missions that includes cleanup work, clean energy, scientific research, and nuclear security.

“It’s a tremendous place to come to really get this broad panorama,” Moniz said. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

DOE’s public bus tour begins Monday

May 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Oak Ridge facilities public bus tour begins June 3 and continues through Aug. 30. The tour offers visitors a first-hand look at the DOE’s Oak Ridge facilities and provides historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 70 years.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular destination for tourists visiting the area. Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted more than 29,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour tour allows visitors to see the reservation and learn historical facts and updates on the world-class missions under way in Oak Ridge. [Read more...]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Energy secretary to visit ORNL Monday

May 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 97-0 vote on May 16, and on Monday, Ernest Moniz will visit Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the first time as energy secretary.

Moniz will meet with the media at the Spallation Neutron Source.

A former under secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, Moniz was sworn in as the nation’s 13th Secretary of Energy on May 21. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Alexander unveils his four principles for clean, cheap, reliable energy

May 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

It’s been five years since U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander called for a new Manhattan Project for energy independence, and during a Wednesday update, the senator said four “grand principles” should guide America’s energy policy.

The senator said his principles—which include research and development, free market forces, and cheaper, clean energy—would “end an obsession with taxpayer subsidies and strategies for expensive energy.” They would instead focus on “doubling research and allowing marketplace solutions to create an abundance of clean, cheap, reliable energy,” Alexander said during a Wednesday afternoon speech at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit in Oak Ridge.

The senator called for doubling research funding and ending long-term subsidies for “big oil” and “big wind.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Roane County, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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