Oak Ridge Today

ORNL’s Richard Haire receives American Chemical Society’s Seaborg Award

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Retired Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher and UT-Battelle Corporate Fellow Richard Haire has received the 2013 Glenn T. Seaborg Award by the American Chemical Society. The Seaborg Award is one of the top recognitions in the field of nuclear chemistry.

Known for his forefront, fundamental studies of the actinide family of elements, Haire, while at ORNL, concentrated on the transplutonium elements produced in the U.S. Department of Energy research reactor, the High Flux Isotope Reactor, or HFIR. He developed novel experimental techniques and emphasized the use of systematic comparisons, which focused on the role of electron configurations in the chemistry and physics of these elements. [Read more…]

DOE says president’s budget invests in innovation, clean energy, national security

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Daniel B. Poneman

Daniel B. Poneman

A U.S. Department of Energy official on Wednesday said the president’s $28.4 billion budget request for DOE emphasizes a “continued commitment to an all-of-the-above energy strategy that prioritizes investments in innovation, clean energy technologies, and national security.”

President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 on Wednesday. It still has to be considered by Congress.

U.S. Deputy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman said the proposed budget request for DOE is part of an administration-wide effort to “strengthen the American economy with energy that is cleaner, cheaper, and creates sustainable jobs. [Read more…]

DOE Oak Ridge Office awards $14 million contract for roads, grounds, maintenance

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Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office recently awarded a $14 million contract to Knoxville-based small business Environment, Safety, and Health Inc. for roads, grounds, and maintenance services on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation.

“The Oak Ridge Reservation includes 105 miles of roads and thousands of acres of land that require upkeep, and maintaining their functionality is vitally important to our operations,” said DOE-ORO Manager Larry Kelly. “We require a responsive and professional organization to carry out this mission, and we have that with ES&H.”

ES&H Inc., the incumbent contractor since 2008, will continue to provide services in support of roads, grounds, and maintenance on the 33,500-acre Oak Ridge Reservation and will employ 18 people in support of the contract. [Read more…]

Alexander questions energy secretary nominee about Oak Ridge mercury cleanup

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Tuesday questioned energy secretary nominee Ernest Moniz on whether the cleanup of mercury contamination in Oak Ridge would be a priority under his leadership, a press release said.

“One of the biggest cleanup problems we have from the Cold War era is mercury contamination of waterways in Oak Ridge,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.

The release said Alexander also asked Moniz to support a planned water treatment facility.

Alexander was referring to about 200,000 gallons of mercury that arrived at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge during the 1950s and 1960s, when the United States was developing nuclear weapons as a defense against the Soviet Union. Alexander said it will cost billions of dollars to clean it up. [Read more…]

Y-12 fence that blocks protest area to remain up for now; judge questions lawsuit jurisdiction

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Y-12 Fence on Scarboro Road

The temporary fence erected at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex encloses an area, pictured above, that has been used for protests and vigils for years. Despite a court challenge Friday, the fence will stay up for now.

KNOXVILLE—The temporary fence that blocks a traditional protest area at the Y-12 National Security Complex will stay up for now.

A group that has used the grass field and small parking lot for protests and vigils near the Y-12 entrance at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads had sought to have the fence removed before an annual spring demonstration on Saturday. Workers started erecting it on Monday.

But the arguments about the fence and its alleged violations of the protesters’ First Amendment rights took a surprise turn in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Friday.

District Judge Curtis L. Collier quickly raised a question about whether the court has jurisdiction to address the complaint filed Wednesday by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, its board members, and people affiliated with the nonprofit organization. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge carbon fiber plant could lower cost of strong, lightweight material

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Carbon Fiber Technology Facility

Gary R. Lownsdale of Plasan Carbon Composites, right, talks to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, center, near a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 hood at the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility on Tuesday as federal, University of Tennessee, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory officials listen.

A unique manufacturing plant in west Oak Ridge that started operating about six weeks ago can make 25 tons of carbon fiber each year. It’s material that could be used for prototype parts in products ranging from cars and airplanes to wind turbine blades and natural gas tanks.

The $35 million Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Horizon Center Business Park is designed to “scale up” laboratory research on low-cost carbon fiber, make enough material to help industrial partners build prototype carbon-fiber composite parts, and develop a skilled manufacturing workforce.

Carbon fiber is strong and lightweight, but it is also expensive and that has limited its use.

Officials hope to use the 42,000-square-foot Carbon Fiber Technology Facility to change that. They want to make producing carbon fiber as cost-efficient as manufacturing steel or aluminum. [Read more…]

DOE, ORNL to celebrate carbon fiber facility, announce manufacturing initiative

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Officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory will celebrate a unique carbon fiber facility on Tuesday morning.

DOE will also announce a new U.S. manufacturing initiative during the ceremony at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Horizon Center Business Park in west Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

NSPS now provides security services at DOE sites in Oak Ridge

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National Strategic Protective Services LLC announced Monday morning that it now provides guard services at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge.

NSPS won the protective force services work under a five-year, $182 million contract announced in January. The company will guard the East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Joe L. Evins Federal Building, and part of the Oak Ridge Reservation. [Read more…]

After 13 years guarding federal facilities, WSI leaves Oak Ridge

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WSI Oak Ridge

Friday was the last day for many employees at security company WSI Oak Ridge, which lost its contracts to protect federal facilities after the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

After 13 years of protecting federal facilities, WSI Oak Ridge has left the Secret City.

Friday was the last day for many employees at WSI, and the contract ended Sunday, spokeswoman Courtney Henry said.

Formerly known as Wackenhut Services Inc., the company once provided up to 1,000 security police officers and support staff at federal facilities that included East Tennessee Technology Park, the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex.

But WSI lost its contract to guard Y-12, a National Nuclear Security Administration site, after the July 28 security breach, and it did not win a separate contract to protect local U.S. Department of Energy sites, including ETTP, ORNL, the Federal Building, and the rest of the Oak Ridge Reservation. That contract was awarded to National Strategic Protective Services LLC, or NSPS. [Read more…]

Letter: WSI leaves Oak Ridge with ‘flags flying’

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To the Oak Ridge Community:

As WSI Oak Ridge completes its transition to the new security contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Protective Force contract, I wanted to take this opportunity to say farewell.

We have provided protective nuclear security services to DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration in the valley for the past 13 years, and are proud that our employees have answered our nation’s call to duty in an exceptionally worthy manner. The WSI Oak Ridge Protective Force has led the DOE Security Complex in professionalism, mission performance, and innovation. [Read more…]

Guest column: Questions remain on Oak Ridge cleanup funding

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David Martin

David Martin

By David Martin, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board chair

There is great uncertainty on what the looming federal budget cuts will be and what effect they will have on funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management, or EM, program at the Oak Ridge Reservation. We can be confident that budget cuts are coming. It is going to take a coordinated effort on the part of the DOE-Oak Ridge EM, regulators, and stakeholders to minimize the impact on current and future remediation projects, and on the men and women who carry out this work.

Right now DOE-EM is operating on a temporary six-month budget. This budget covers just the first half of Fiscal Year 2013 and is based on half of the FY 2012 budget. We should know soon how changes in the federal budget affect Oak Ridge EM for the second half of 2013. This still leaves the 2014 budget in question. [Read more…]

DOE appoints two new members to advisory board

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Robert Craig

Robert Craig

Belinda Price

Belinda Price

The U.S. Department of Energy appointed two new members to its Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board.

Susan Cange, deputy manager for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, introduced Robert Craig and Belinda Price as the latest appointees at the board’s meeting on March 13. [Read more…]