Oak Ridge Today

NNSA Administrator D’Agostino retiring in January

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Thomas P. D'Agostino

Thomas P. D’Agostino

Thomas P. D’Agostino, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, announced his retirement today.

In a statement Friday, D’Agostino said he will retire Jan. 18, the end of President Barack Obama’s first term. He has been NNSA administrator and under secretary for nuclear security for more than five years. He was also deputy administrator for defense programs for two years.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site. The NNSA is a separate agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

D’Agostino has had 36 years of federal service, rising through the ranks of the U.S. Navy and then leading nuclear security efforts at DOE.

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Y-12 protesters say fence hole remains after break-in, officials say it’s repaired

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Hole in Y-12 Perimeter Fence

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance says three protesters crossed into the Y-12 National Security Complex through this hole the trio cut in a perimeter fence before dawn on July 28, and OREPA alleges that the hole had not been repaired as of Monday. (Submitted photo)

More than four months after three protesters broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex, a hole that the trio cut in a perimeter fence still hasn’t been repaired, an Oak Ridge group said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which has supported the Y-12 protesters, said two OREPA members went to the nuclear weapons plant on Monday and, after 15 minutes of walking, found the spot where the protesters had cut through an outer fence. It was open from the ground up to a spot about four feet high—a hole large enough for a person to squeeze through, the group said.

But in a statement Thursday afternoon, federal officials said the fence has been repaired.

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With ‘fiscal cliff’ looming, ORNL says it’s as well-prepared as it can be

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As President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner continue their high-stakes negotiations over tax revenues and spending cuts, officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory say they have prepared as best they can for automatic spending cuts that could go into effect in January.

“We have been preparing for increased budget pressures for several years now and have taken a number of steps to reduce our costs, including workforce restructuring, benefits changes, reduction in energy consumption, and other operational costs,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a statement Monday. “Since we don’t know exactly how any cuts would be allocated by the various governments agencies that fund ORNL, we can’t really say with certainty what the impacts would be, other than to say we are as well-prepared for uncertainty as we can be.”

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Y-12 protesters’ trial rescheduled to May

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The federal trial against the three protesters accused of sneaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and vandalizing a uranium storage building has been reset to May 7.

It had most recently been set for Feb. 26, 2013. But the U.S. Attorneys’ Office said last week that the date would likely change after a federal grand jury in Knoxville returned new three-count indictments against the three defendants—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael R. Walli.

The new indictments, which supersede earlier three-count indictments from August, added a more serious charge of injuring national defense premises. That charge carries a longer prison sentence of up to 20 years.

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Opposed to nuclear weapons work, Y-12 protesters refused to plead guilty

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The Fruit of Justice is Peace Slogan on HEUMF at Y-12

Three anti-nuclear weapons activists who sneaked into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 allegedly splashed human blood and, quoting Proverbs, sprayed paint on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. The protesters also hammered the building, causing it to chip, and strung up crime scene tape. (Submitted photo)

The three protesters who vandalized a uranium storage building at Y-12 National Security Complex in July said they would not accept a plea deal from the federal government earlier this year, even though prosecutors threatened to charge them with more serious sabotage crimes.

“We chose to exercise our constitutional right to a jury trial and refused to bow down to their threats,” the trio said in a statement released Wednesday. “We remain convinced that making and refurbishing nuclear weapons at Y-12 is both illegal under U.S. and international law, and it is also immoral. Ultimately, we are required to follow the law of love and our consciences.”

Calling themselves Transform Now Plowshares, the three protesters—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli— allegedly cut through fences at Y-12 before dawn on Saturday, July 28, entered a high-security area where deadly force is authorized, and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Knoxville returned a new charge against the trio for this summer’s unprecedented intrusion. The new count of injuring national-defense premises carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years, longer than any of the earlier potential penalties.

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Y-12 protesters face new national defense charge, longer prison sentence

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Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above allegedly cut through fences and vandalized a uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and now face federal charges of property destruction, property depredation, and injuring national defense premises. From left to right the three are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

A new federal charge has been added against the three protesters who allegedly cut through fences at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on a uranium storage building.

A three-count indictment returned against Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli adds a new count of injuring national-defense premises, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a Wednesday morning press release. The new charge carries a longer prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Knoxville on Tuesday supersedes the earlier three-count indictment from August.

The new indictment does not include the earlier trespassing charge. However, it does include the previous charges of property destruction and property depredation. Including all the charges, the protesters, who are opposed to Y-12’s nuclear weapons work, now face jail sentences of up to 35 years and fines of up to $750,000.

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NNSA exceeds nuclear weapons dismantlement goal

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The National Nuclear Security Administration announced today that it exceeded its goal for dismantling nuclear weapons in the federal fiscal year that ended in September.

In a press release, the NNSA said it had reached 112 percent of its goal, although it didn’t give specific information on the number of dismantled weapons.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is one of the NNSA sites involved in the dismantlement work.

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Guest column: UPF project at Y-12 not real Santa, ‘windfall’ short-term

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By Pat Fain and Leslie Agron

Sometime in about a year or so, when the $6.5 billion build at the Uranium Processing Facility building at the Y-12 National Security Complex gets under way, Oak Ridge could see a decided increase in revenue from sales taxes. The windfall should come to the city over a short period, but then it will then end.

During those years, however, there may be some who think that Santa Claus has taken up residence in Oak Ridge. This piece is to advise you in advance, that should you hear that sort of sentiment down the pike, it is time to check in with some five-year-olds. They will quickly remind you that Santa has always lived at the North Pole with elves and flying reindeer.

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Despite nuclear shutdown, Y-12 meets warhead refurbishment schedule

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Despite a two-week shutdown in August, the Y-12 National Security Complex completed its work on a nuclear warhead refurbishment program by the end of September, the end of the federal fiscal year.

Questions were raised about the production schedule after a July 28 security breach by three anti-nuclear weapons activists, and a two-week shutdown in nuclear operations that quickly followed.

But Steven Wyatt, National Nuclear Security Administration public affairs manager at Y-12, said then that the plant still expected to meet its production milestones for the year.

Ellen Boatner, spokeswoman for managing and operating contractor B&W Y-12, confirmed on Wednesday that the work had been completed on time.

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Medal of Honor recipient visits Y-12

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Col. Bruce Crandall at Y-12

Pictured with Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall, a Medal of Honor recipient, at the Y-12 National Security Complex History Center are Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Don Naab, left, Y-12’s Ray Smith, and WSI-Oak Ridge Deputy General Manager Jim Rackstraw. Rackstraw served with Crandall in Vietnam. (Photo by B&W Y-12)

Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall visited the Y-12 National Security Complex last week. Now retired from the U.S. Army, Crandall is one of 80 living Medal of Honor recipients.

Awarded the nation’s highest award for military valor, Crandall flew more than 900 combat missions during the Vietnam War. His bravery in rescuing wounded soldiers and bringing supplies to ground troops was memorialized in the book, “We Were Soldiers Once … And Young,” and in the film “We Were Soldiers.”

He was in East Tennessee to promote the 2014 Medal of Honor Convention, which will be hosted in the Oak Ridge-Knoxville area, and to promote the school program Character Counts.

Y-12 cleaning technology licensed by local engineering firm

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Y-12 SIMWyPES Cleaning Technology

MK Technologies CEO and founder Mike Carroll and director of strategic development and acquisition Chris Van Beke met Y-12 chemist and inventor Ron Simandl in his Y-12 laboratory to see the SIMWyPES production process along with a sampling of its numerous applications. From left, Simandl shows Van Beke and Carroll two of a variety of items enhanced with SIMWyPES technology. (Submitted photo)

A Knoxville engineering resources firm recently became the newest licensee of technology developed at the Y-12 National Security Complex, a press release said.

MK Technologies Corporation is now the exclusive commercial patent licensee of SIMWyPES, a method of enhancing cleaning items so they leave dry surfaces ultraclean.

The environmentally friendly method of removing contamination on a nanoscale level incorporates a highly effective nontoxic proprietary treatment that transfers no residue to cleaned surfaces. A variety of items including cloths, swabs, polishers, filters, and sponges can be treated. The company plans to start production in 2013.

Y-12 senior chemist Ron Simandl had the lead in inventing this technology, which was originally developed to remove residual amounts of unwanted particulates from dry, solid surfaces. Engineered to permeate the cleaning medium suited to the job at hand, it can be employed to remove submicron particles in a wide range of manufacturing industries in which surface cleanliness and air purification are critical.

The method also has a wide range of household applications, several of which are of particular interest to the licensee. Specific uses around the home include removing brake dust and dry road dirt from alloy wheels, preparing surfaces for painting, filtering air flow, dry-mopping floors, and dusting.

Simandl, a 35-year Y-12 employee, holds 11 U.S. patents. Two of his inventions have won R&D 100 awards, one of which was for this newly licensed technology.

The coveted R&D 100 awards, considered “Oscars of Invention,” are given annually to the world’s top 100 innovations as determined by R&D Magazine. SIMWyPES earned the award in 2008.

Regarding the method’s development, Simandl noted that “the trick was finding the right combination of ingredients.”

MK Technologies CEO and founder Mike Carroll said: “This technology is synergistic with our existing products that improve safety in industrial processes and safely remediate and handle toxic materials. We also plan to use it to create more effective filters for use in medical facilities to help prevent the spread of infection and in public spaces to help contain the spread of diseases or biological agents. We are especially excited about uses that benefit the everyday consumer. This technology will help make personal environments safer and will make cleaning activities more effective. Its versatility is impressive.”

DOE inspector finds no evidence of cheating, but questions testimony

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Federal investigators found no evidence that WSI Oak Ridge tried to cheat on a test at the Y-12 National Security Comple this summer, but they also questioned the credibility of contractors who testified that there was no intent to cheat.

A copy of the test was found in a WSI Oak Ridge patrol vehicle on Aug. 29, one day before it was scheduled to be given to security guards. It was part of an inspection by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security that followed the July 28 security breach at Y-12.

In a special report this month, U.S. Department of Energy Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman said the test, as well as answers to test questions, had been distributed to many WSI Oak Ridge employees, including captains, lieutenants, and security police officers, “the very people whose knowledge was to have been evaluated.” At best, Friedman said, the transmission, review, and distribution of the test demonstrated a lack of due care and negligence.

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