Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: New fence was needed to improve Y-12 security

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Much has been made of the decision at the Y-12 National Security Complex to improve security by extending one of our security fences. As the president and general manager of B&W Y-12, the management and operating contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration, I believe it’s important that a few of the facts surrounding this change be understood.

In case you haven’t been following this matter, we moved the boundary fence (also known as the 229 boundary) closer to our main entrance. This was done in response to recent trespassing events at Y-12 in order to strengthen our security posture. The response to this decision has been overwhelmingly positive among the vast majority of the people who take interest in Y-12’s operations. We are gratified by that support. [Read more…]

Y-12 protesters submit witness list, want extra time for jury questioning

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Y-12 Plowshares Protesters

Pictured above at U.S. District Court in Knoxville are the three anti-nuclear weapons protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28. From left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed.

The three protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July want to call a retired bishop, a doctor, a former U.S. attorney general, a civil rights leader, and a retired military officer and diplomat as witnesses in a Tuesday hearing and May 7 trial in Knoxville.

The proposed witnesses include former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, civil rights sit-in participant Robert Booker, doctor Ira Helfand, retired Col. Mary Annette Wright, and retired U.S. Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton.

The three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli—also want six hours, and not 1.5, to question prospective jurors for their May 7 trial in U.S. District Court. [Read more…]

NNSA: President’s budget request includes $326M for UPF at Y-12

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Uranium Processing Facility

The proposed Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Submitted image)

President Barack Obama’s budget request for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 includes $326 million for the Uranium Processing Facility project at the Y-12 National Security Complex, federal officials said this week.

The president’s proposed budget, which still has to be considered by Congress, was released last week. The National Nuclear Security Administration released details on Monday.

The NNSA has also posted highlights of the president’s budget request. [Read more…]

Guest column: It’s not the property tax rate

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There is a persistent plaint that workers at Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory don’t live in Oak Ridge because the property tax rate is so high. Farragut is pointed to as having no city tax at all and therefore highly attractive. Farragut, no less than Oak Ridge, is indeed an attractive area in which to live. It is not because of the property tax rate.

Let’s look at a few of the numbers related to the Oak Ridge city tax rate of $2.39. That rate is applied per $100 of value on 25 percent of the assessed value of residential property. In other words, if one’s home has been appraised at $150,000, the epitome of an “affordable” home, the city property tax is $2.39 per hundred dollars on $37,500, or $896.25. That means that this homeowner is paying just at $75 per month for city services.

Among the services covered by this $75 are police, fire fighters, parks and recreational services, library, street lights, sidewalks, code oversight, street maintenance, and the city’s contribution to the schools. That is $75 per household, not for each person. [Read more…]

Mayor to testify to Congress: Manhattan Project park would honor most significant event of last century

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Tom Beehan

Tom Beehan

A new national historical park that could include Oak Ridge would honor the history of the Manhattan Project, the most significant event of the 20th Century, Mayor Tom Beehan will tell a U.S. House subcommittee in testimony this morning.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret U.S. program to build the world’s first atomic weapons. The three Manhattan Project sites that could be included in the new park are Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash.

Despite what some detractors might say, the proposed park is not about weapons, Beehan wrote in prepared testimony.

“I believe this historical park is about scientific and engineering accomplishments at a time when our country was defending itself, both during World War II and the Cold War,” he said. [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…]

B&W Y-12 names Carl Strock as UPF project director

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Carl Strock

Carl Strock

Retired Lt. Gen Carl Strock has been named Uranium Processing Facility project director for B&W Y-12 at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

He reports to Jim Haynes, B&W Y-12 deputy general manager for projects.

Strock is Bechtel’s former manager of global construction. He joined Bechtel in 2007 after retiring as head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after serving in the U.S. Army for more than 36 years. [Read more…]

Trespassing at Y-12 costs U.S. government thousands of dollars, NNSA says

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There is a greater threat of trespassing at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the National Nuclear Security Administration said last week when it announced plans for a new fence that would block a traditional protest area at the plant’s main entrance.

And the costs of responding to those threats are increasing, the NNSA said.

“Responding to these illegal acts of trespassing has cost the U.S. government thousands of dollars of additional expenses above and beyond what we have to spend to protect the plant during major protests,” the NNSA said in a statement released by spokesman Steven Wyatt on Saturday. “The security-related costs required to respond to protests is very large, but we cannot discuss our specific costs.” [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 ‘pleased’ with union contract extension

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B&W Y-12 released a short statement Saturday saying it was pleased with the contract extension approved by hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Friday.

The 14-month contract extension includes a 2.5 percent wage increase, and it was ratified by members of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council during voting at a union hall on Friday afternoon and evening. The ATLC represents 14 international unions.

“We look forward to continuing our productive relationship ensuring the missions of the National Nuclear Security Administration at Y-12,” B&W Y-12 said in the statement. [Read more…]

Moved to new spot, Y-12 protesters still demonstrate; three arrested

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OREPA Spring Demonstration at Y-12

Protesters say “no” to the proposed Uranium Processing Facility in a demonstration across from the Y-12 National Security Complex on Saturday.  The area traditionally used by the protesters has been blocked by a fence erected this week. Pictured above at left are Greg Boertje-Obed and Michael Walli, two of the anti-nuclear weapons activists who penetrated the high-security Protected Area at Y-12 on July 28.

Forced to move to a new spot, protesters said three people were arrested on Saturday during an annual spring demonstration opposing the proposed Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

An area that has traditionally been used by the protesters near Y-12’s main entrance at Bear Creek and Scarboro roads was enclosed by a fence this week. So the protesters, who oppose Y-12’s nuclear weapons work, demonstrated across the street from the 811-acre plant.

Three of them were arrested during a mile-long march from the Oak Ridge Civic Center, where the demonstration started, and Y-12. They were Larry Coleman, 71, of Knoxville; Buddhist monk Gyoshu Utsumi, 60, of Newport; and Bill Ramsey, 65, of Asheville, N.C. All three were charged with impeding the flow of traffic, and they have been released from the Anderson County Detention Facility on $100-$200 bonds. [Read more…]

Y-12 union workers approve contract extension, 2.5 percent raise

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Y-12 Pipefitters and Electrical Workers at Union Contract Extension

Henry Campbell, left, of the Pipefitters Local 718, and Jim Cromwell and Tony Reach of the IBEW Local 760 at stations where they give out tickets to vote on Friday on a contract extension and wage increase for hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Hourly union workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex have ratified a 14-month contract extension and 2.5 percent wage increase, an official said.

The extension goes into effect April 22 and lasts through June 20, 2014, said Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, which represents 14 international unions.

The contract extension applies to roughly 1,100 union members at Y-12. It will not affect ATLC members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [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…]