U.S. Department of Energy Archives - Page 39 of 107

Site prep could start this year for mercury treatment plant at Y-12

Posted at 10:02 am April 28, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Mercury Treatment Facility that will be at the east end of Y-12 National Security Complex could start operating in 2022. (Image by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m.

Site preparation could start later this year for the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex as the U.S. Department of Energy prepares for demolition and cleanup work at the nuclear weapons plant.

DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, expects to complete demolition and cleanup work at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in 2020. It will then focus on the large-scale demolition work at Y-12.

Among the Y-12 buildings that could be demolished are Alpha 4, Alpha 5, and Beta 4, all large buildings where mercury, a toxic metal, was once used. The buildings used mercury to separate lithium for nuclear weapons. The lithium separation operations started in 1955 and ended in 1963.

But before that cleanup work can begin, OREM needs the Mercury Treatment Facility. The plant was first announced at a press conference featuring U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, about four years ago, in May 2013.

“This water treatment plant is a major step in addressing one of the biggest problems we have from the Cold War era—mercury once used to make nuclear weapons getting into our waterways,” Alexander said at the time. [Read more…]

USW, UCOR offer hazardous waste response training to local high school students

Posted at 5:53 pm April 24, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Students from three Morgan County high schools receive certificates after completing 40-hour HAZWOPER training. Also pictured are Joseph Miller, Director of the Morgan County Career and Technical Center, and Sarah Seavers, counselor. (Photo by UCOR)

Students from three Morgan County high schools are now trained in hazardous waste emergency response thanks to a 40-hour class offered by the United Steel Workers in partnership with URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, a press release said.

Participants in the class, commonly called HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response), were from Coalfield High School, Sunbright School, and Wartburg Central High School. Twenty students attended the training, which was held at the Morgan County Career and Technical Center in Wartburg from March 27 to April 3.

“We were very excited to participate with USW and UCOR to offer this hazardous waste training class,” said Joseph Miller, director of the center. “As a result of this training, our students have earned a credential that will allow them to more easily transition from school to the work force.” [Read more…]

General Assembly approves bill that would establish CROET as ETTP manager

Posted at 4:35 pm April 21, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The East Tennessee Technology Park, now known as Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above in this aerial photo from 2015. The large building that extends from left to right at left-center is the former K-27 Building, where demolition work was completed in August 2016. (Photo courtesy CROET)

The Tennessee General Assembly has approved legislation that would establish the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, or CROET, as the manager of the 1,300-acre East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The legislation was sponsored by Tennessee Senator Ken Yager and Representative Kent Calfee, both Kingston Republicans. It has been sent to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam for his signature.

East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, is also known as Heritage Center and the former K-25 site. It once housed the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could.

The ETTP site, once used to enrich uranium, is slowly being cleaned up. K-25 operations ended in 1985, and the site was permanently shut down in 1987. Now, it is being slowly converted into a large industrial park. Proponents hope it will become one of East Tennessee’s prime locations for new industry, the press release said.

CROET President Lawrence Young said the state legislation “is the latest step in efforts by the Department of Energy and CROET to reindustrialize the former K-25 site and help diversify the region’s economy.” [Read more…]

ORNL to collaborate with five small businesses to advance energy tech

Posted at 2:51 pm April 21, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Five small companies have been selected to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to move technologies in commercial refrigeration systems, water power generation, bioenergy, and battery manufacturing closer to the marketplace.

The firms are among 38 selected to participate in the third round of DOE’s Small Business Vouchers, or SBV, pilot, a press release said. SBV helps provide access to the world-class capabilities of the DOE national labs for American small businesses and bring next-generation energy technologies to the marketplace faster, the press release said.

“Innovation drives American competitiveness and creates new jobs for a stronger economy and a brighter, cleaner future for our nation,” said Moe Khaleel, associate lab director of energy and environmental sciences at ORNL. “ORNL is helping small businesses tackle fundamental science challenges and to carry out the research needed to accelerate the delivery of solutions to the marketplace.”

DOE has connected 12 of its national labs with 76 small businesses since the first round of SBV, a Technology-to-Market program launched in September 2015, the press release said. With Friday’s announcement, 114 small businesses have been partnered with the labs enabling them to tap into the intellectual and technical resources needed to overcome critical technology challenges for their advanced energy products and gain a global competitive advantage, the release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Environmental Management has community budget workshop on Wednesday

Posted at 2:08 pm April 6, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has a community budget workshop on Wednesday.

The annual workshop is scheduled from 4:30-6 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, in the U.S. Department of Energy Building 2714-G at 235 Laboratory Road in Oak Ridge.

Topics include the federal budget process, near-term priorities and plans, a question-and-answer session with the audience, and how to build on Oak Ridge’s recent cleanup successes.

ORISE unveils new website, provides one location for resources such as STEM internships, fellowships

Posted at 12:08 pm April 4, 2017
By Pam Bonee Leave a Comment

A screenshot of the new ORISE website.

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, or ORISE, has unveiled its new website, providing one location for a wide range of resources, a press release said.

The new ORISE website offers a portal for students and graduates looking for STEM internships, fellowships, and other professional development opportunities; information on scientific peer review; medical consultation for radiation incidents through the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site, or REAC/TS; worker health studies; environmental and radiological assessments; lab services; and much more ORISE information, the press release said. (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.)

“A great deal of user research was performed before work on the actual website began, including conducting focus groups with people who the website is designed to target,” said ORISE Director Jim Vosburg. “We used this research to design the website for ease of navigation and to match the design and content with what our target audience wants and needs.”

The website navigation is primarily based on users identifying themselves, such as students and graduates, educators, scientists, health and environmental professionals, so they can quickly navigate to the areas they want to visit, the press release said.

Top-level navigation also features ORISE capability areas and assets, which allows users to more precisely locate the content that interests them, the press release said. [Read more…]

DOE’s public bus tour began in March, continues through November

Posted at 4:50 pm April 2, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A U.S. Department of Energy public bus tour in August 2012. (File DOE photo/Lynn Freeny)

Visitors see Oak Ridge’s past and present

The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2017 Oak Ridge facilities public bus tour began March 3 and continues through November 27. 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, a press release said.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular destination for tourists visiting the area, the release said. Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted more than 40,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour tour allows visitors to see the Oak Ridge Reservation and learn historical facts and updates on the world-class missions underway in Oak Ridge.

The bus tour itinerary includes: [Read more…]

Fireworks suspected, reward offered in wildfire in west Oak Ridge on Saturday

Posted at 9:52 am March 28, 2017
By John Huotari 3 Comments

The U.S. Department of Energy is offering a reward for a wildfire on federal property on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017, west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive. Fireworks are suspected as the cause. (Photo courtesy DOE/City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge is offering a $500 reward for information that helps resolve what happened in a wildfire on federal property in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, a press release said. Fireworks are suspected as the cause of the fire.

The brush fire was reported on U.S. Department of Energy land at about 12:27 p.m. Saturday, March 25, west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive. It was below, or to the south of, a water tower near Whippoorwill Drive. There are homes just to the north of the water tower, and there are homes east of Wisconsin Avenue.

When firefighters arrived Saturday afternoon, they could not locate a fire, but there was smoke in the area, DOE said in a press release Tuesday.

“While the engine was looking for the fire, a hiker came down the trail and reported the fire was located several hundred yards off the road in the woods,” the press release said. “Engine 1 crew began hiking toward the reported location and was able to find the fire. At that time, the fire was approximately five acres and growing.”

The Oak Ridge Fire Department immediately requested assistance from the Tennessee Division of Forestry to respond with bulldozers to cut fire lines around the fire. The battalion chief also requested representatives from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Division of Forestry, since the fire was burning on U.S. Department of Energy property. [Read more…]

Wildfire that burned 18 acres in west Oak Ridge is contained

Posted at 8:10 pm March 25, 2017
By John Huotari 1 Comment

A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017. The fire was on the Oak Ridge Reservation, U.S. Department of Energy land, south of Whippoorwill Drive and west of Wisconsin Avenue, in the area below (to the left of) the water tower pictured above. Smoke from the fire is visible near the water tower. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon.

The fire was reported on the Oak Ridge Reservation, U.S. Department of Energy land, at about 12:27 p.m. Saturday. It was west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive.

Firefighters initially reported it as about a five-acre fire in a cut between two ridges, said Ray Burney, Oak Ridge Fire Department captain. There is a trail down there, Burney said.

The fire was below East Ridge Boundary Road near a water tower in west Oak Ridge. It emitted smoke that could be seen hanging over neighborhood streets and above the trees from several miles away.

At about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oak Ridge Fire Department crews were cutting fire lines with hand rakes, Burney said. To contain fires, firefighters rake down to the dirt in a containment line that is about three to four feet wide. [Read more…]

ORNL researcher receives Innovator of Year award for energy efficiency work

Posted at 11:15 am March 24, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Roderick Jackson is principal investigator on the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) Demonstration Project, a model for energy-efficient systems that link buildings, vehicles, and the electrical grid. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Researcher Roderick Jackson of Oak Ridge National Laboratory was awarded an Innovator of the Year award in 2017 at the Young, Gifted, and Empowered Awards, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Jackson was recognized for his groundbreaking work in building energy efficiency innovation, DOE said in a story published Tuesday by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Jackson is the lead at ORNL’s Building Envelope Systems Research Group, and he leads the partnership between the Building Technologies Office, or BTO, and ORNL on building envelope projects, DOE said. Jackson works with both BTO’s Emerging Technologies and Residential Buildings Integration programs.

Jackson also serves as the technical lead for the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) demonstration project. As part of that project, ORNL and others unveiled a vehicle and house in September 2015 that had been built using large-scale 3D printers at the lab’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley. The 210-square-foot solar-powered house and printed utility vehicle, or PUV, can provide power to each other. The house is one of the world’s first 3D printed homes.

The home and vehicle are part of a project designed to answer “what if” questions that could lead to innovations in building and car construction and energy use, storage, and consumption.

DOE said the Young, Gifted, and Empowered awards are in their third year, and they recognize exceptional young African-American professionals from Mississippi who are champions in the arts, business, philanthropy, education, innovation, and leadership. The honorees are between the ages of 25-45 and have demonstrated a noteworthy commitment to excellence and community service and a high level of character, leadership, and innovation, DOE said. [Read more…]

Energy Secretary Perry honors Oak Ridge’s EM program with two awards

Posted at 5:44 pm March 23, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, right, presents Wendy Cain, left, with DOE’s Federal Project Director of the Year award for 2016. He also presented the Oak Ridge K-31 Facility demolition team with the Department’s Achievement Award. The employees received the awards at the 2017 DOE Project Management Workshop in Washington, D.C., on March 22. (Photo by DOE)

At a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry honored the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s Wendy A. Cain as Federal Project Director of the Year for 2016, and a team under Cain’s oversight won a U.S. Department of Energy Achievement Award.

Cain, who oversees the cleanup portfolio at the East Tennessee Technology Park, was described as the best of DOE project management leadership. She earned the award by demonstrating exceptional leadership and project management acumen while overseeing the demolition of a former uranium enrichment facility. Her leadership, attention to detail, empowerment of team members, and fostering of open communications enabled the demolition of the K-31 Building at ETTP almost four months ahead of schedule and about $4 million under budget, a press release said.

“This is an incredible honor for Wendy and the Environmental Management program in Oak Ridge,” said Jay Mullis, acting manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. “Everyone who works with Wendy knows how deserving she is of this distinguished award. She brings an impeccable work ethic and commitment to achieve our mission every day, and is representative of all the dedicated and skilled federal and contractor employees executing the important cleanup mission here.” [Read more…]

ORAU welcomes four new institutions to university consortium

Posted at 9:05 am March 23, 2017
By Oak Ridge Associated Universities Leave a Comment

ORAU recently welcomed Arizona State University and Yale University as its newest sponsoring institutions during the 72nd annual meeting of its Council of Sponsoring Institutions. Oakland University and Villanova University were named new associate members.

“We are honored to have these four institutions joining our growing university consortium,” said Andy Page, ORAU president and chief executive officer. “Membership in ORAU’s consortium broadens the already diverse opportunities these universities provide for students and faculty researchers in many critical areas of science and technology.”

ORAU includes 120 sponsoring institutions across the nation and in England. Now in its 70th year, ORAU originally was formed under the auspices of the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies and consisted of 14 southern academic institutions.

An ORAU sponsoring institution is a nonprofit institution of higher learning granting doctoral degrees in multiple science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, fields. Associate members are institutions of higher learning offering bachelor’s, master’s, or a limited number of doctoral degrees in the STEM fields. [Read more…]

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