Oak Ridge Today

Y-12, Pantex complete transition to new contractor

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Y-12 Aerial Photo June 2012

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above in June 2012. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

The National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office and Consolidated Nuclear Security have completed one of the largest and most complex contract transitions in the history of the U.S. Department of Energy.

On July 1, Consolidated Nuclear Security, or CNS, assumed the responsibility for managing and operating the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. CNS replaces B&W Y-12, which had operated Y-12 since 2000, and B&W Pantex, which also had operated Pantex since 2000. The contract includes a total annual operating budget of $1.5 billion and employment of about 8,000 in Tennessee and Texas.

Steve Erhart

Steve Erhart

“The new contract will allow NNSA to continue the safe and secure maintenance of the nuclear weapons stockpile; provide enriched uranium for naval, research, and isotope production reactors; and, support nonproliferation activities to reduce the global nuclear threat,” said Steve Erhart, NNSA Production Office manager. “The conclusion of this transition will bring much needed stability to the thousands of men and women who play an important role in our enduring national security mission. All contract transitions create some change and uncertainty. But, throughout this process, the highly skilled professionals at Pantex and Y-12 have remained focused and dedicated to the safe and secure completion of the mission.”

The consolidated contract will yield significant savings to the U.S. taxpayer over the life of the contract as NNSA and CNS develop more efficient ways of doing business, a press release said. A portion of the generated savings are to be reinvested into aging infrastructure at both sites to improve the working conditions for the Pantex and Y-12 workforce. [Read more…]

Moore named AMSE director

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David Moore

David Moore (Photo courtesy ORNL)

David Moore has been named director of the American Museum of Science and Energy. The museum, owned by the U.S. Department of Energy, showcases the history of the Manhattan Project and the current scientific, energy, and national security missions carried out by DOE facilities in Oak Ridge.

Moore will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the museum at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge, including exhibits, programs, and community outreach. He has 40 years of experience in public affairs, fundraising, higher education, and museum operations, most recently as president and chief executive officer of the Yanks Air Museum Foundation in California, a press release said.

“The Oak Ridge story is one of the most compelling in the world,” Moore said. “I look forward to helping the Oak Ridge community promote both its history and the fascinating and important work conducted here today.”

Moore joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory in April as a consultant and assumed director’s duties on July 1. ORNL operates AMSE for DOE. [Read more…]

Railroad tracks removed from South Illinois, Emory Valley

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South Illinois Avenue Railroad Track Removal

A work crew from Rogers Group removes unused railroad tracks from South Illinois Avenue just south of Lafayette Drive and Scarboro Road on Saturday night. After the tracks were removed, the railroad crossing was repaved, and the road reopened on Sunday.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 6:30 p.m.

Unused railroad tracks that crossed Briarcliff Avenue, Emory Valley Road, and South Illinois Avenue were removed on Thursday and Saturday night.

Railroad company CSX split the traffic control costs with the city and paid to remove the tracks, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Gary Cinder said. In exchange, the city agreed to repave the roadways as part of street maintenance. The crossing lights were removed as well so that commercial vehicles, including school buses, no longer have to stop at the abandoned crossings and, in the case of school buses and other vehicles that carry children, open and close their doors before proceeding.

The project has been in the works for two years.

“We’re thrilled to finally get to this stage,” Cinder said last week. “It’s been a long time coming.” [Read more…]

ORNL researchers Simpson, Snead, Tuskan named corporate fellows

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ORNL Corporate Fellows Michael Simpson, Lance Snead, and Gerald Tuskan

Michael L. Simpson, Lance L. Snead, and Gerald A. Tuskan have been named corporate fellows of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Michael L. Simpson, Lance L. Snead, and Gerald A. Tuskan have been named corporate fellows of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Among the lab’s highest honors, the corporate fellow designation recognizes the researchers’ significant accomplishments and continuing leadership in their scientific, engineering, and technological fields. With their addition, the number of active corporate fellows at ORNL is now 29 researchers, a press release said.

“Our new corporate fellows—Mike, Lance, and Jerry—are recognized leaders in the fields of nanotechnology, materials research, and bioscience, respectively,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said. “Their careers represent the span of ORNL research from fundamental science to real-world technologies for the nation’s critical needs in energy and the environment.” [Read more…]

NNSA Production Office: Waltzer receives Gold Medal Award

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AMARILLO, Texas—Karl Waltzer, acting deputy manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, has received the NNSA Gold Medal Award in recognition of his distinguished achievements in support of national security programs.

Waltzer was presented the award during a recent visit by NNSA Administrator and retired Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz to the Pantex Plant, located near Amarillo, Texas. Waltzer is retiring after completing 35 years of government service.

The NNSA Production Office, or NPO, oversees operations at the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

During the ceremony at Pantex, Waltzer was recognized for his outstanding and dedicated leadership and performance, a press release said. [Read more…]

New AMSE director to start July 1, ORNL to operate museum

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AMSE Sign

The American Museum of Science and Energy is on South Tulane Avenue. (Photos by Sara Wise)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is taking a more active role in Oak Ridge’s American Museum of Science and Energy. ORNL’s Director of Communications David Keim said the lab hopes to find better ways to tell the city’s historical story while reducing costs.

He said that the museum’s current contract with Enterprise Advisory Services Inc. would not be renewed at the end of this month, when ORNL will begin operating AMSE. He said preparations are being made to ensure a seamless transition.

Keim said that the transition was made after a team of museum professionals came to the area. After seeing many of Oak Ridge’s historical sites, such as the former K-25 site and ORNL’s first graphite reactor, they called the sites “remarkable” and the historical story “enormous,” according to Keim.

One of the professionals recommended hiring another museum professional to help with the transition period. David Moore was interviewed and hired to assess the museum as a consultant on a one-year term for ORNL, beginning April 15. [Read more…]

URS names new UCOR president, project manager

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Ken Rueter

Ken Rueter

URS Corporation has named new leaders at UCOR in Oak Ridge and SRR at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

Ken Rueter has been named president and project manager of UCOR, a partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. The URS-led consortium is responsible for the cleanup of the U.S. Department of Energy’s East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in Oak Ridge.

Rueter will become president and project manager on Aug. 1. He will replace Leo Sain, who will lead the URS Decontamination and Decommissioning and Waste Management Strategic Business Group, which is based in Oak Ridge.

“Ken’s prior leadership in UCOR’s successful deactivation and decommissioning of the K-25 facility will be invaluable as we continue the D&D of the K-27 and K-31 gaseous diffusion facilities,” said Randall A. Wotring, president of federal services for URS. “I am confident he will build on the UCOR team’s recent accomplishments as well as his previous experiences at the East Tennessee Technology Park to ensure we continue to make safe progress for our DOE client.”

In a press release, URS said Rueter has 26 years of experience in the nuclear industry focusing on high-hazard nuclear operations, project management and integration, construction, and risk management. In his new assignment, he will be the senior executive for UCOR responsible for all deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) activities at the East Tennessee Technology Park. He was previously president and project manager of Savannah River Remediation LLC, or SRR, and prior to his role there, he was the chief operating officer for UCOR. [Read more…]

UCOR recognizes eight small businesses at awards breakfast

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Chuck Fleischmann at UCOR Small Business Awards

Chuck Fleischmann at the UCOR Small Business Awards breakfast. (Photo by Lynn Freeny/U.S. Department of Energy)

UCOR presented awards to eight small businesses at its second annual Small Business Awards ceremony at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge.

UCOR is a partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, and it is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation. The company works with a variety of small businesses to perform cleanup work. During this fiscal year, 80 percent of subcontracted work, totaling $78.2 million, has gone to small businesses, a press release said.

“Small business has played an integral part in our success,” said Matt Marston, UCOR chief operating officer. “We’ve received excellent support from numerous small businesses. While it is difficult to select just a few to honor, we are pleased to recognize these particular companies who have excelled in their support of our work during the past year.”

The small business award categories and winners are: [Read more…]

Guest column: B&W Y-12 improved Y-12, made a big difference in the community

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David Bradshaw

David Bradshaw

By David Bradshaw

It has been almost 14 years since B&W Y-12 LLC took over operation of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Soon a new contractor will be in charge. Thanks to the work of the B&W Y-12 team and many others, they will inherit a very different and much improved facility.

One only needs to approach Y-12 to see the changes. The first thing you will see is the New Hope Center, built as a public-private partnership and located just outside the secure gates of Y-12 to make sure public access is easy. It has conference space, an outstanding auditorium, and a museum that highlights everything from Y-12’s critical role in the Manhattan Project, to the NASA “moon box” built by Y-12, to Y-12’s role in winning the Cold War. Y-12 had always been a secret place and this space built with the public in mind was a major change.

The modernization process is even more obvious inside the gate. Y-12 completed and opened the new Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. It’s a state of the art building. The new Uranium Processing Facility will be just as impressive with design work well underway. Both facilities allow the U.S. Department of Energy to close down old buildings that date back to the Manhattan Project. With the HEUMF and UPF in place, Y-12 will be far more efficient with operations not only more secure, but centralized in one place instead of being spread out over several locations. [Read more…]

ORNL awarded two Energy Frontier Research Centers

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David Wesolowski and Yanwen Zhang

Pictured above are David Wesolowski, left, director of the Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures, and Transport Center; and Yanwen Zhang, director of the Energy Dissipation to Defect Evolution Center. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be home to two Energy Frontier Research Centers announced this week by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. The Department of Energy awarded a total of $100 million to 32 EFRC projects to accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to build the 21st-century energy economy. 

“Today, we are mobilizing some of our most talented scientists to join forces and pursue the discoveries and breakthroughs that will lay the foundation for our nation’s energy future,” Secretary Moniz said. “The funding we’re announcing today will help fuel scientific and technological innovation.”

The two ORNL EFRCs are a renewal of the Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures, and Transport (FIRST) Center, which is led by David Wesolowski, and a new award to the Energy Dissipation to Defect Evolution (EDDE) Center, led by Yanwen Zhang.

ORNL scientists also partnered on successful proposals to lay the groundwork for fundamental advances in solar energy, electrical energy storage, carbon capture and sequestration, materials and chemistry by design, biosciences, and extreme environments. Those proposals include three new projects (led by the Georgia Institute of Technology, the State University of New York–Stony Brook, and Pennsylvania State University) and three renewals (led by Washington University in St. Louis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). [Read more…]

DOE advisory board welcomes new student representatives

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Aditya Chourey and Claire Rowcliffe

Aditya Chourey of Oak Ridge High School and Claire Rowcliffe of Hardin Valley Academy, are the new student representatives to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board for Fiscal Year 2014-15. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board welcomed two new student representatives, Aditya Chourey and Claire Rowcliffe, at its May meeting. They will serve on the board through April 2015.

ORSSAB is a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides recommendations to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

“We’re very happy to welcome two new student representatives to the board,” said Dave Adler, the board’s DOE alternate deputy designated federal officer, as he introduced the students to the board. “Thank you for coming to work with us for a year. It’s great you’ll be taking the time from your high school schedules to be part of the board.” [Read more…]

ORISE recognized by EPA as Federal Green Challenge award winner

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ORISE Logo

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education received a 2014 Federal Green Challenge award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for improving its water consumption levels and its electronic sustainability and recycling efforts in 2013 by the highest percentage increase compared to the previous year in the Southeast region. ORISE is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities for the U.S. Department of Energy.

According to the EPA website, the 2014 Federal Green Challenge award winners are recognized “for their outstanding efforts and for their leadership in reducing the environmental footprint of federal government activities.”

“ORISE reduced its water consumption by 60 percent in 2013 with the majority of the improvement resulting from a more efficient, automated sprinkler system with a moisture sensor used for some of its landscaping, which would only irrigate when the soil was dry,” said Tom Wantland, director of ORAU’s environment, safety, and health programs. “If moisture from rain was present, the irrigation system would automatically detect it, and the system would not operate.” [Read more…]