Oak Ridge Today

UT-Battelle fulfills $250,000 pledge to Emory Valley Center campaign

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Emory Valley Center and UT-Battelle Check Jan 2017

On hand for UT-Battelle’s check presentation at the new facility construction site are, from left to right, Shirley Raines, Emory Valley Center board vice president; Dottie Thompson and Gene Caldwell, EVC capital co-chairs; Jennifer Enderson, EVC president; ORNL’s Jeff Smith and Leigha Humphries; Tennessee senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally; and Janet Wood, EVC vice president of community engagement. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

UT-Battelle, the managing contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, made the final installment of a $250,000 pledge by presenting a $50,000 check in late December to the Emory Valley Center, a community facility that serves people with disabilities, a press release said.

UT-Battelle made the pledge in 2011 when the Emory Valley Center, which provides services and support for adults and children with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities, began a building program to replace its aging structure. The center’s new building is now under construction.

ORNL Deputy Director for Operations Jeff Smith and Community Relations Manager Leigha Humphries presented the check to Jennifer Enderson, the center’s president. [Read more…]

ORNL: Crystallization method offers new option for carbon capture from air

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Using X-ray diffraction, ORNL’s Radu Custelcean analyzed the molecular structure of the simple guanidine compound and was surprised to find carbonate, a crystal that forms when carbon dioxide from air reacts with water. (Image credit: ORNL/Genevieve Martin)

 

By Sara Shoemaker, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found a simple, reliable process to capture carbon dioxide directly from ambient air, offering a new option for carbon capture and storage strategies to combat global warming.

Ambient air is air that completely surrounds.

Initially, the ORNL team was studying methods to remove environmental contaminants such as sulfate, chromate, or phosphate from water. To remove those negatively charged ions, the researchers synthesized a simple compound known as guanidine designed to bind strongly to the contaminants and form insoluble crystals that are easily separated from water.

In the process, they discovered a method to capture and release carbon dioxide that requires minimal energy and chemical input. Their results are published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. [Read more…]

UCOR, DOE cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, earns 94 percent of award fee

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UCOR workers take down the final portion of Building K-27, achieving Vision 2016, a DOE goal to remove all of the former uranium enrichment buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park by the end of 2016. K-27 was the fifth and final gaseous diffusion building to be demolished at the site. Successful demolitions of the four other buildings were completed from 2006 to 2015. (U.S. Department of Energy photo)

 

UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, received about $3.4 million for its performance from April through September 2016, or 94 percent of the total award fee available, federal officials said.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, recently issued the six-month fee determination scorecard for UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, after completing its evaluation.

“Contractor award fee evaluations determine what will be paid based on performance against stated objectives in accordance with annual award fee plans,” the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in the EM Update electronic newsletter on December 29. “EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments to further transparency.”

According to UCOR’s scorecard, the company received an overall rating of “very good” for project management and “high confidence” for cost and schedule based on cost and schedule indexes, the newsletter said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management cuts costs by $5.4 million

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Sue Cange, who was manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and is now EM principal deputy assistant secretary in Washington, D.C., is pictured above at the end of demolition of the K-27 Building on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, has cut costs by $5.4 million, federal officials said.

OREM is one of several U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management, or EM, sites that reduced costs by more than $100 million in fiscal year 2016, which ended September 30.

The costs were reduced in response to a challenge from EM leaders to free more funding for cleanup, DOE said in a December 29 EM Update electronic newsletter.

The Savannah River Operations Office realized more than $34.1 million in cost reductions, officials said. It was followed by the Richland Operations Office with more than $31.6 million; Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office with more than $16.8 million; Office of River Protection with more than $12.7 million; Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management with $5.4 million; and Idaho Site with more than $4 million.

“Reducing our costs by more than $100 million is a tremendous accomplishment, and we are going to continue to look for ways to work smarter and identify further savings in fiscal year 2017,” EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Sue Cange said. [Read more…]

Photos: American Museum of Science and Energy property, future Main Street home

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The U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge had a signing ceremony Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, at Pollard Technology Conference Center for the transfer of the roughly 17-acre American Museum of Science and Energy site. Pictured above at center is U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is at right, and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, an Ooltewah Republican, is at left. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge had a signing ceremony Friday for the transfer of the roughly 17-acre American Museum of Science and Energy site. The property will be transferred from DOE to the city, and then to a company affiliated with RealtyLink, the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge at the former Oak Ridge Mall. Within about a year, AMSE will move to a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at the former mall site. The AMSE site could be developed and the museum building demolished.

Here are photos from the Friday signing ceremony and of the AMSE property and the museum’s future home.

See a story from the signing ceremony here. [Read more…]

With transfer agreement signed, plans call for developing AMSE site, relocating museum, demolishing building

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The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 3.

With a property transfer agreement signed, new businesses could be built on the 17 acres that now house the American Museum of Science and Energy, the museum will be relocated, and the AMSE building could be demolished, officials and a business executive said Friday.

The changes are allowed under an agreement approved by federal officials, unanimously approved by the Oak Ridge City Council in December, and signed by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in a Friday morning ceremony at Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

The U.S. Department of Energy said the transfer of the museum property, owned by the federal government, will allow the City of Oak Ridge to “explore future innovative development and economic stimulus opportunities.”

“From the Manhattan Project of World War II to the cutting-edge materials research of today, Oak Ridge has long played a vital role in American science and security,” Moniz said. “This agreement will ensure that Oak Ridge’s history is preserved and shared while providing the city a new opportunity to create jobs and strengthen the local economy.”

When the transfer is completed, DOE public outreach and education missions that are now conducted at AMSE and focused on Oak Ridge history, science, and national security will continue in renovated space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The former mall is being redeveloped as Main Street Oak Ridge.

DOE said the AMSE property transfer will save more than $2 million in deferred maintenance costs at the museum and greatly reduce operating expenses. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory responded to Gatlinburg fires

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Fire Department Chief Officers Daron Long, Larry Lewis, and Danny Parker (in navy polo shirts) are pictured above in the Incident Command Center. (Photo by ORNL)

 

By U.S. Department of Energy

The Great Smoky Mountains, which are normally wet and hazy, had been in a particularly prolonged drought when a fire started near a popular lookout several miles from the resort town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, just before Thanksgiving. Park officials warily watched the slowly spreading blaze, which was in nearly vertical and mostly unreachable terrain.

At the close of the holiday weekend, a weather system moved in, whipping up gale-force winds hours ahead of the rain. The wind supercharged the fire, driving eerie, thick smoke down the basin toward the town. By Monday night, the homes, resorts, and businesses surrounding Gatlinburg were in the middle of a firestorm as flames destroyed structure after structure. Downed power lines sparked separate fires.

On the evening of November 28, park and city officials reached out to firefighters in the region for support as flames engulfed entire neighborhoods. By the time quenching rains arrived, the 17,000-acre forest fire had burned 1,700 structures—many of them homes—and took 14 lives.

Firefighters from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, located about 50 miles away, were among those who answered the call. With an immediate go-ahead from the ORNL Site Office, the ORNL Fire Department, or ORNLFD, dispatched resources to assist responders in Gatlinburg and neighboring Pigeon Forge. [Read more…]

CareerLink showcases internships, research opportunities for minorities at ORNL

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ORISE, ORNL host 43 faculty and undergraduates from minority institutions for networking event

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, or ORISE, recently partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to host a CareerLink Event Day that provided a full day of networking and workshops for faculty and undergraduate students from minority institutions.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists Programs and held at ORNL, this inaugural event benefitted 43 distinguished faculty and undergraduate students from historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, and minority education institutions, or MEIs, who are interested in career opportunities with DOE or its national labs.

“Events like this help excite and educate faculty and students from our nation’s minority education institutions about STEM-related careers,” said Craig Layman, associate director with ORISE. “Students learn more about the critical mission areas of ORNL and, at the same time, network with potential mentors who are among ORNL’s top scientists and engineers.” [Read more…]

Secret City Pocket Guide unveiled in anticipation of the 75th anniversary of Oak Ridge, DOE

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The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association has unveiled a new guide to the historic sites of the “Secret City” of Oak Ridge. The Manhattan Project, Secret City Pocket Guide was prepared by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Oak Ridge Schools.

The 44-page guide measures only 4 inches by 7 inches in size, so it easily fits in your pocket, a press release said. It tells the story of the Manhattan Project’s first major nuclear site, Oak Ridge—created less than a year after the Pearl Harbor attack. The guide is priced at $5.

The new guide is packed with historic photos, an introduction to the new national historical park, a driving map of Oak Ridge’s heritage sites, and fascinating factoids on the people who built one of the most amazing technical achievements in history, the press release said.

The guide’s author, Martin McBride, is a member of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association Board and a retired nuclear safety division director from the U.S. Department of Energy. [Read more…]

DOE secretary to attend AMSE land transfer ceremony on Dec. 30

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Note: This story was last updated at 12:10 p.m.

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will attend the land transfer ceremony for the American Museum of Science and Energy property in Oak Ridge next week.

The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, December 30. Also expected to attend are U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and City of Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch.

It’s a signing ceremony to formally transfer the roughly 17-acre AMSE site from the U.S. Department of Energy to the City of Oak Ridge.

Under an agreement unanimously approved by Oak Ridge City Council on December 13, the city is then expected to transfer the property in two phases to a company set up by RealtyLink, the South Carolina firm building Main Street Oak Ridge at the site of the former Oak Ridge Mall. [Read more…]

Energy Communities Alliance publishes recommendations for Trump transition team

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The Energy Communities Alliance, an organization whose members include local governments adjacent to or affected by U.S. Department of Energy activities, has submitted its transition priorities and recommendations for the incoming Trump administration. They are included in “A Roadmap for Successful Local Government and Community Engagement.”

The document includes nine key priorities, each with their own set of recommendations, for the new administration to adopt as it engages in discussions regarding ongoing U.S. Department of Energy operations and performance, a press release said.

Here are the nine priorities, grouped into three areas: [Read more…]

First of its kind, Oak Ridge’s federal re-industrialization program celebrates 20 years

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A rendering of East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in 2020, when cleanup there is scheduled for completion. ETTP offers robust infrastructure and multiple parcels spanning hundreds of acres, capable of attracting and supporting large-scale industry, according to DOE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

 

Note: This is an edited version of a story by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

A re-industrialization program that was the first of its kind and converts federal property to private-sector use celebrated 20 years this month.

The re-industrialization program was designed to attract new industries and jobs to a former uranium enrichment complex.

Through the program, the U.S. Department of Energy has transferred hundreds of acres to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, or CROET, and the City of Oak Ridge to create two private-sector industrial parks, the 1,200-acre Heritage Center and the 1,000-acre Horizon Center.

Heritage Center is at the former K-25 site, which was built during World War II and was once used to enrich uranium in west Oak Ridge. Horizon Center is a few miles east of Heritage Center. [Read more…]