A historical walk through Jackson Square with the Manhattan Project National Historical Park has been rescheduled to February 10 due to the winter weather in January.
The walk with the National Park Service is titled “Building America’s Secret City: Ranger Walk Through Jackson Square.” It is now scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, February 10.
“Explore what it took to shape the farms and mud of East Tennessee into the Atomic City,” an event notice said.
[Read more…]Lunch with the League on Tuesday will feature candidates for Anderson County chancellor.
It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Anderson County will have its primary election on March 5. The four candidates for chancellor in the Republican primary will be James W. Brooks Jr. (the incumbent), Daniel Forrester, Evan Hauser, and Roger Miller, a press release said.
Brooks was appointed chancellor in April 2023 by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee after former Chancery Court Judge M. Nichole “Nicki” Cantrell resigned.
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Employees of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory donated more than $828,000 to local nonprofits through the lab’s employee giving programs in 2023, a press release said.
ORNL’s managing contractor, UT-Battelle, provided an additional $139,600 in support of employee efforts, bringing the total to more than $967,000.
In addition, ORNL employees recorded more than 1,497 volunteer hours while serving 56 nonprofits, the press release said. With the value of these volunteer hours estimated at $36,232, total employee-led contributions for 2023 were valued at more than $1 million.
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Workers have finished major pre-demolition work on a wartime building at Y-12 National Security Complex.
The deactivation work at the Beta-1 building included removing asbestos; old, brittle thorium-contaminated piping; and more than two million gallons of water.
The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR have been working toward the deactivation milestone since 2020, a press release said. Workers finished deactivating the above-ground floors of the Beta-1 facility in December. Now, only deactivation work in the basement remains before the teardown can begin. Demolition of Beta-1 is expected to begin in 2026.
Beta-1 was built in 1944 to enrich uranium for the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. That federal project built the world’s first atomic bombs. Beta-1, a 210,000-square-foot, two-story building, was later converted to laboratory space for fusion-energy technology.
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Oak Ridge Schools will be closed again on Monday due to unsafe road conditions, and City of Oak Ridge offices will open three hours late.
The schools were closed four days after the holiday last week due to the winter weather, as were many other schools, offices, and businesses. Some roads were also briefly closed. The winter weather has included more than eight inches of snow, freezing temperatures, below-zero wind chills, and slippery roads and sidewalks.
On Sunday, the Oak Ridge Police Department and City of Oak Ridge said many roadways were still very icy despite being treated and plowed.
“Conditions are expected to worsen once the sun goes down,” they said. “Stay home, if possible.”
The schools said temperatures are projected to warm on Monday.
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Freezing rain Thursday night affected roads in the region, and crashes, road closures, and icy roads were reported.
The Oak Ridge Police Department said the rain had turned most roads to ice.
“We advise that you do not travel as conditions may worsen throughout the night,” the ORPD said about 10 p.m. Thursday.
Friday morning, the department said police officers had responded to several weather-related crashes.
“The roads have had minor improvements,” the ORPD said. “However, there are still a large amount of troubled areas.”
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The Tennessee Valley Authority said heavy snow and bitter cold temperatures are creating record-high demand for electricity across the Southeast.
“As a result, the Tennessee Valley Authority is asking customers to be aware of their power consumption, specifically between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. (Central Time) on Wednesday,” a press release said.
“TVA is actively monitoring weather conditions, and our power system remains stable,” the press release said. “Conservation requests are often used in the power industry to help lower demand during a specific time and does not indicate TVA is experiencing emergency conditions. If you are experiencing an outage, please check with your local electric provider for more information.”
[Read more…]City of Oak Ridge offices and facilities, Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Anderson County Courthouse will be closed Wednesday due to winter weather.
Only essential personnel are to report in the City of Oak Ridge. The Oak Ridge City Council work session scheduled for Tuesday night was canceled.
In Anderson County, crews have been working around the clock, but side roads are still in bad condition as are parking areas.
“The temperatures are expected to be very low tonight, and the main roads that are currently passable will most likely be ice in the early morning hours,” a press release said.
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Wind chills below zero are expected through Tuesday night through noon Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.
A wind chill advisory went into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday and will continue until lunchtime Wednesday.
The low Tuesday night is forecast at 1 degree Fahrenheit, with a wind around 5 miles per hour and wind chill values between -2 and -7.
The high on Wednesday is supposed to be near 28 with wind chill values between -8 and 2.
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Oak Ridge Schools will be closed again on Wednesday due to the winter weather.
The school system had been closed Tuesday as well due to the weather.
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Oak Ridge crews are working to clear roads and repair water line breaks.
The Oak Ridge Public Works Department worked through the night to clear main roads, according to the city government. Melton Lake Drive and South Illinois Avenue are back open.
The department will begin to plow side streets once main roads are good for driving, the city said.
“While every city street was brined or treated before the storm, it was no match for this amount of snow combined with continued low temperatures,” the city said.
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The Anderson County Courthouse is closed Tuesday due to winter weather.
Anderson County was under a winter storm warning until Tuesday morning, with more snow expected Monday night, a press release said. With lows tonight expected to be 14 degrees Monday night, and a high on Tuesday expected at 25 degrees, “the snow and ice will create unsafe for conditions for citizens and county employees,” the press release said.
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