Oak Ridge Today

Weigel’s proposed at Union Valley

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A Weigel’s store site plan for about 3.6 acres at South Illinois Avenue and Union Valley Road, as presented to the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

A new Weigel’s store has been proposed along South Illinois Avenue.

The 6,600-square-foot store would be on about 3.61 acres at the intersection with Union Valley Road.

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Over the past decade (about 10.75 years), we have published 14,906 articles on Oak Ridge Today.

That’s about 1,386 posts per year, or close to four per day, every day.

We’re trying to bring you as much news as we can with a small staff, mostly one person.

If you value what we do and have done, please consider subscribing. You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month. A subscription gives you access to subscriber-only stories. These are generally the stories that are exclusive or require more time, effort, and money. A subscription also helps to keep us going. Reporting the news requires a significant amount of time and money.

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New apartments possible on South Illinois

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The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, will consider a rezoning request that could allow about 400 apartments on about 32 acres along South Illinois Avenue headed toward Knoxville. (Map by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a rezoning request that could allow about 400 apartments on roughly 32 acres along South Illinois Avenue.

The property is bordered by South Illinois Avenue, Mitchell Road, and Centrifuge Way (at the top of the hill headed out of Oak Ridge to Knoxville on South Illinois).

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MartinFed acquires Xcel Engineering

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MartinFed, based in Alabama, has acquired Xcel Engineering Incorporated, located in Commerce Park in Oak Ridge.

MartinFed, based in Alabama, has acquired Xcel Engineering Incorporated of Oak Ridge.

“The acquisition of Xcel Engineering is a strategic move for MartinFed as it continues to expand its presence in the federal marketplace,” a press release said.

MartinFed is based in Huntsville, Alabama. The company offers services to federal agencies and contractors in cybersecurity, information technology, training, contract vehicles, and engineering and technical solutions, according to its website.

Xcel Engineering, which is located in Commerce Park, provides information technology and engineering services. The services include IT staffing and solutions, environmental engineering, and project management and consulting, the press release said.

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Rueter named to Tennessee Chamber board

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Ken Rueter

The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry has appointed Kenneth J. Rueter, who leads a federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, to its Board of Directors for a three-year term.

Rueter is president and chief executive officer of United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR). UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s prime contractor for environmental cleanup on the Oak Ridge Reservation. It is a partnership of Amentum, Jacobs, and Honeywell.

The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the state’s oldest and most prominent statewide business trade association, impacting public policy on behalf of business and manufacturing for more than a century, a press release said.

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Power to TRISO at Horizon could cost $13 million

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This map shows the potential route of 69-kilovolt overhead power lines for the TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge, starting at the substation (SUB) on the south side of Highway 95/58 (lower right), continuing up Novus Drive (center right), crossing onto Horizon Center land, and then running east (to the right) on the back side of Site 6 (open area at upper right).

Building a new substation and electrical lines to supply power to a nuclear fuel company could cost $13 million, Oak Ridge officials said in December.

The nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, needs about 32 to 35 megawatts of electricity at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. That would make the company the city’s biggest electrical customer. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex get most of their power directly from Tennessee Valley Authority.)

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Oak Ridge wins two tourism awards

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Pictured above are, from left, Rebecca Williams and Barbara Ferrell of the Lavender Festival; Katy Watt, president of Explore Oak Ridge; and Mark Ezell, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourism at a recent awards ceremony. (Photo courtesy Explore Oak Ridge/City of Oak Ridge)

Oak Ridge has won two awards for promoting tourism in middle East Tennessee, an area that includes the Knoxville metropolitan area.

The Oak Ridge Lavender Festival was awarded the 2022 Best Annual Festival or Event Award, a press release said.

Explore Oak Ridge was awarded the Excellence in Tourism Award for Best Advertising or Marketing Campaign for the “Katie the Calutron Girl” marketing promotion.

The 2022 awards were presented by the Middle East Tennessee Tourism Council in a December 1 ceremony. The METTC promotes tourism activities and represents a 16-county region including Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cooke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott, Sevier, and Union counties.

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NRC will prepare environmental statement for nuclear fuel facility

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TRISO-X has proposed a nuclear fuel fabrication facility on 110 acres at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. (Photo from TRISO-X environmental report to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Friday that it will prepare an environmental impact statement for a proposed nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge that could help power advanced reactors for electrical and chemical use, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The project could partially benefit from last year’s federal infrastructure law, specifically about $1.1 billion appropriated for a clean energy supply.

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Lawsuit filed by terminated employee who refused COVID-19 vaccine

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The Howard H. Baker Jr. United States Courthouse is pictured above in Knoxville on Jan. 19, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A lawsuit was filed this year against a federal contractor in Oak Ridge that terminated an employee after she refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

In her lawsuit, the former employee argued that it is illegal under state law to compel her to provide proof of vaccination if she objects to the vaccine.

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City seeks spending authority for Horizon Center power

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Nuclear fuel company TRISO-X needs electrical power for a manufacturing facility in Horizon Center by December 2024, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department wants the authority to spend up to $3 million to help make that possible. (Image by City of Oak Ridge)

Nuclear fuel company TRISO-X needs electrical power for a manufacturing facility in Horizon Center by December 2024, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department wants the authority to spend up to $3 million to help make that possible.

If approved by Oak Ridge City Council, the money would be used to design and build a new electric substation and distribution network to provide power to Lot 6 on the back side of Horizon Center, which is on the west side of town. The work would include engineering design, land surveys, site clearing, the purchase of materials, and acquiring permits and other required items.

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IDB endorses overhead power lines for Horizon Center project

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An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, at Horizon Center. The company’s site is pictured above on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route that could be less controversial to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company at Horizon Center.

Environmental advocates, ecologists, and trail users had objected to an earlier proposal to run overhead power lines along a U.S. Department of Energy patrol road on the back side of Horizon Center. Among other objections, those lines would have been relatively close to the Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement, and opponents said the power lines would have decreased the area’s recreational value.

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Test reactor would help with decarbonization, supporters say

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Kairos Power has proposed a Hermes test reactor at the Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. A model of the test reactor is pictured at a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. Dec. 1.

A nuclear test reactor proposed in west Oak Ridge could help as the United States tries to lower carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the effects of climate change, supporters said during a public meeting last week.

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