Oak Ridge Today

Peace activists will remember Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings, call for ban on nuclear weapons

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Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, is pictured above during a rally at Alvin K. Bissell Park on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Peace activists will have events in Oak Ridge and Knoxville starting Saturday and ending Wednesday that will recall the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II, and the activists will call for a ban on nuclear weapons.

The events have been organized by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. OREPA has events each August remembering the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II. The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime. Code-named “Little Boy,” the bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the end of the war.

OREPA has scheduled a Saturday event called “And We Are Saying Peace.” It will start at 12:30 p.m. with a concert and theater presentation at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. Those who attend will call on the United States to join the countries that passed a legal treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons at the United Nations on July 7, a press release said.

The Saturday event will also mark the conclusion of a peace pilgrimage from Asheville, North Carolina, to Oak Ridge, led by the Buddhist order Nipponzan Myohoji, the press release said. The walk left Asheville last Sunday and is expected to arrive at Bissell Park on Saturday. The final leg will leave Solway at 9 a.m. Saturday. [Read more…]

House, Senate committees recommend funding to reduce Y-12’s Protected Area

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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)

 

Appropriations committees in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have recommended funding for a project that could reduce the Protected Area at the Y-12 National Security Complex by about 50 percent.

The House Appropriations Committee approved an energy and water appropriations bill on Wednesday, July 12, that recommended $23.4 million for the project, the West End Protected Area Reduction project, in fiscal year 2018, which starts October 1. That would be up from $2.5 million in fiscal year 2017. (See page 135 here.) If approved, the House bill would direct the National Nuclear Security Administration to give quarterly project updates to the appropriations committees in both houses of Congress “until such time as the NNSA can demonstrate a commitment to move the project forward.” (See page 105 here.)

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an energy and water appropriations bill on Thursday, July 20, that recommended $5 million in fiscal year 2018. (See page 119 here.) That money is recommended to continue the design work for the project, according to a report on the Senate bill. (See page 98 here.)

The Trump administration did not request any funding for the project, and it’s not clear what level of funding might eventually be approved. [Read more…]

Federal funding of $28 million recommended for Y-12 fire station

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A fire engine is parked in front of the existing fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

A fire engine is parked in front of the existing fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

The Trump administration and congressional appropriations committees have agreed that $28 million in federal funding should be provided for a new fire station at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The current fire station at Y-12 was built in the 1940s, and it is located within the most highly protected area of the nuclear weapons plant and close to the most hazardous operations, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. Y-12 is an NNSA site.

“Seismic, tornado, hazardous material release, and security events could render the fire station inaccessible,” the NNSA said in a budget request submitted to Congress for fiscal year 2018, which starts October 1. (See page 271 here.)

Emergency planning assessments show that many hazardous materials releases would “have a very short travel time” before affecting the fire station, the NNSA said. Also, it’s critical to allow off-duty personnel to access the fire station since they augment the on-duty staff, the NNSA said.

The new fire station would be a single-story building of about 35,000 square feet. It would be located on the east end of Y-12, said Steven Wyatt, spokesperson for the NNSA Production Office in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Y-12 honors its inventors with Technology Transfer awards

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The Y-12 National Security Complex recently recognized 33 inventors at its annual Tech Transfer award ceremony. The group was awarded 10 patents in the past year. (Photo by CNS)

The Y-12 National Security Complex recently recognized 33 inventors at its annual Tech Transfer award ceremony. The group was awarded 10 patents in the past year. (Photo by CNS)

 

Inventors at the Y-12 National Security Complex were awarded honors for their innovative technology accomplishments during the recent 13th annual Technology Transfer Awards Ceremony. The site has a long history of producing technologies that are transferred to the private sector, Y-12 said in a story posted on its website in June.

Ten patents were awarded in fiscal year 2016 in areas ranging from an apparatus for characterizing aerosols to several unique material processes, Y-12 said.

Thirty-three inventors also were recognized for bringing forward new ideas in the form of invention disclosures that could one day lead to future patents.

“These employees were acknowledged for both their creativity and innovative ideas in support of the technology development and transfer mission,” the story said. “The new inventions developed by the honorees will be used to further Y-12’s mission work and will be made available through license to benefit the public through Y-12’s Technology Transfer program.” [Read more…]

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC honored for small business achievement

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From left to right, Ryan Johnston and Lisa Copeland, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC Small Business program managers, and Cindy Morgan, senior supply chain manager, receive an award for Facility Management Contractor Small Business Achievement of the Year from Christy Jackiewicz, Acting Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. (Photo by CNS)

From left to right, Ryan Johnston and Lisa Copeland, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC Small Business program managers, and Cindy Morgan, senior supply chain manager, receive an award for Facility Management Contractor Small Business Achievement of the Year from Christy Jackiewicz, acting director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. (Photo by CNS)

 

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC was recently honored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. The company received an award for Facility Management Contractor Small Business Achievement of the Year at the 16th Annual Small Business Forum and Expo.

The Facility Management Contractor Small Business Achievement of the Year award recognizes the tangible, annual, organizational results of a DOE facilities management contractor, Y-12 said in a story posted on its website in June.

“These results are measured in terms of dollars and percentage increases in small business procurement activity, as well as policies, programs, and procedures that promote small business use,” Y-12 said. [Read more…]

Federal lawsuit asks for environmental review of new UPF design

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Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, is pictured above during a rally at Alvin K. Bissell Park on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration have violated a federal environmental law, and the civil complaint asks for an environmental review of the new design for the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the largest federal construction project in Tennessee since World War II.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia by several public interest organizations—Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, and Natural Resources Defense Council of Washington, D.C.— and four people: Ed Sullivan of Oak Ridge, and Ralph Hutchison, Jack Carl Hoefer, and Linda Ewald, all of Knoxville.

The defendants are Energy Secretary James Richard “Rick” Perry and NNSA Administrator Frank G. Klotz.

The complaint alleges that the NNSA is taking, but failing to consider, grave risks with safety and the potential environmental impacts of the nation’s nuclear weapons program, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.

It says the NNSA has refused to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement, or SEIS, to consider important new information about the serious vulnerability of the new design for UPF, which is supposed to be completed by 2025 for no more than $6.5 billion. [Read more…]

EPA picks Oak Ridge to apply for new loan program for new water plant

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The Oak Ridge Water Treatment Plant is pictured on Pine Ridge above the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has invited the City of Oak Ridge to apply for a new federal loan program for the city’s proposed new water plant, a press release said.

The City of Oak Ridge water plant is one of 12 projects in nine states to apply for more than $2 billion in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Loans, the EPA said in a press release Wednesday. The projects were selected from a group of 43 projects that submitted letters of interest to EPA in April 2017.

“Rebuilding America’s infrastructure is a critical pillar of the president’s agenda,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These large-scale projects will improve water quality for 20 million Americans, especially those communities that need it the most—such as rural and urban communities.”

The press release said the City of Oak Ridge will design and construct a new 16 million-gallons-per-day membrane treatment plant and associated equipment to replace the existing decades-old conventional treatment plant, which is currently at capacity and beyond its useful life.

Among the city’s water plant customers are Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex.

“This project will provide sufficient capacity to meet the city’s water needs by continuing the production and delivery of safe potable drinking water to its customers,” the EPA press release said. [Read more…]

Y-12‘s Biology Complex would be top priority if excess cleanup funding available

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Y-12 Biology Complex aerial

An aerial view of the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Plans call for eventually demolishing the complex. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

If excess funding is available, the federal cleanup program in Oak Ridge has a top priority: the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The budget request submitted to Congress by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, May 23, included $225 million for high-risk excess contaminated facilities at Y-12 and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

It’s not clear how much of that money might be used in Oak Ridge, if the president’s budget request were approved. Officials said the allocations would be determined by U.S. Department of Energy headquarters.

But the Oak Ridge cleanup program, known as environmental management, has taken steps to ensure that some projects here, such as the planned demolition of Y-12’s Biology Complex, are “in a good position” if money becomes available.

On Friday, Jay Mullis, acting manager for the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said the Biology Complex would be a primary priority if Y-12 gets some portion of the $225 million proposed by the Trump administration.

“Provided there is excess funding, that would be the building we would go after,” the Oak Ridge EM program said. [Read more…]

Senate bill also rejects Trump’s science cut, increases funding instead

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Energy Secretary Rick Perry, left, talks to reporters after touring Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility on Hardin Valley Road on Monday, May 22, 2017. Also pictured is U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, center, a Tennessee Republican, and ORNL Director Thom Mason. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, center, a Tennessee Republican, is pictured above with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, left, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley on Monday, May 22, 2017. Also pictured is former ORNL Director Thom Mason. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An appropriations bill approved by a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday rejects the Trump administration’s proposal to cut $919 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science in the fiscal year that starts October 1.

Instead of cutting, the Senate bill would actually increase funding for the Office of Science, boosting it to $5.55 billion in fiscal year 2018. That would be again a record funding level in a regular appropriations bill, according to U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican who often advocates for the federal sites in Oak Ridge and chairs the Senate subcommittee.

Like the Senate this week, the House Appropriations Committee last week also rejected President Donald Trump’s request to cut DOE’s Office of Science.

Unlike the Senate bill, though, the House bill would keep funding flat at $5.39 billion, the same as in the current fiscal year. That level of funding was also a record in a regular appropriations bill, Alexander said in May.

The Office of Science is the nation’s largest supporter of research in the physical sciences.

The president’s budget request, submitted to Congress on May 23, would cut Office of Science funding by about 17 percent, dropping it to $4.47 billion.

Keeping Office of Science funding flat, or even increasing it, could be important to several of the federal sites in Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is an Office of Science lab, and the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, or OSTI, is an Office of Science unit. [Read more…]

House bill keeps DOE Office of Science spending flat, increases NNSA funding

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Photo by ORNL

 

Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

A House bill approved Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s proposed funding cut of about $900 million for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

Instead of cutting, the House Appropriations Committee bill would keep spending flat for the Office of Science, holding it at $5.39 billion in the next fiscal year, the same as in the current fiscal year.

That could be good news for DOE Office of Science laboratories and offices here, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, or OSTI.

Separately, the House bill recommends a funding increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration. That’s something that the Trump administration had also proposed. The NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within DOE, and its activities include nuclear weapons work, nuclear nonproliferation efforts, and naval reactors. The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site.

“Issues of national and economic security are continually on the forefront of the minds of all Americans,” said U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge. “Last week, the House Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, approved the Fiscal Year 2018 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. I was proud to help direct additional funding towards the national security programs at Y-12.

“Additionally, funding levels included in this legislation will allow for cleanup of high risk excess facilities at Y-12. This is the first step in a long process, and I want to assure my constituents that I will continue fighting to ensure that Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and environmental management activities get the funding needed to continue their critical missions.” [Read more…]

DOE/NNSA test mobile nuclear facilities with Army during national security exercise

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Personnel from Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory participate in simulated radiation contamination and perform large drum packaging operations. (Photo by NNSA)

Personnel from Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory participate in simulated radiation contamination and perform large drum packaging operations. (Photo by NNSA)

 

Experts from across the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration recently teamed up with the U.S. Army at Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, to exercise the capabilities of two rapid response facilities critical to national security.

For six weeks in May and June, interagency partners practiced the operations and procedures necessary to deploy the Mobile Plutonium Facility and Mobile Uranium Facility as part of Exercise Corvina Loco, the NNSA said in a story published on its website in June.

“These two assets would allow the U.S. to package and safely remove nuclear materials quickly,” the NNSA said. [Read more…]

President’s budget would close NOAA lab that has Oak Ridge division

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:20 a.m. July 13.

The Trump administration’s budget request for the next fiscal year would close a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration air research laboratory that has a division in Oak Ridge, according to budget documents posted online.

The budget request for fiscal year 2018, which starts October 1, would close NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory, or ARL, which has headquarters in College Park, Maryland. The Air Resources Laboratory has satellite campuses in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Mercury, Nevada. Those satellite campuses would also close, according to the documents, which were posted by the NOAA Budget Office.

The Oak Ridge campus is on South Illinois Avenue, in a historic building that was once an emergency hospital and then a health department. It now houses the Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, or ATDD. The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division is one of several field divisions of the Air Resources Laboratory. The ARL in turn is part of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

There are 33 employees at the Oak Ridge campus, including NOAA and ORAU workers. The primary focus of the ATDD is to maintain NOAA’s Climate Reference Network, a network of weather stations across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, to monitor climate change.

The Oak Ridge division also works with other NOAA groups that study the formation of tornadoes, using unmanned aerial vehicles to understand tornado formation. It also works with the Air Resources Laboratory headquarters on air quality modeling and forecasting.

The NOAA budget request, which has not been approved by Congress, proposes zeroing out funding and employment at the Air Resources Laboratory, cutting base funding from about $4.7 million and 34 full-time equivalents (FTE) to $0 and zero FTE. President Donald Trump submitted his administration’s budget request to Congress on Tuesday, May 23. [Read more…]