Oak Ridge Today

IMPACT Services cleanup scheduled to end Friday

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IMPACT Services Waste

The last of more than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste at the former IMPACT Services site at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge was scheduled be shipped out today.

It’s considered a success story—a one-year, $1.2 million state project to ship out more than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste from a company that has declared bankruptcy—and it’s scheduled to end Friday, officials said last week. The last waste, stored in an open-air shed at the site, was scheduled to be shipped out today, but it has been delayed a day or two.

The project began in May 2012 after IMPACT Services Inc., a company that processed low-level radioactive waste, declared bankruptcy. The company had operations on property leased from the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee at the northwest corner of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

In the past year, state and contractor officials said during a tour last week, a total of roughly 1.6 million pounds of waste and equipment has been shipped out, including to other processors and sites in Oak Ridge, Florida, and a landfill in Clive, Utah. The waste has been shipped from the site in 1,200 containers on some 220 truck shipments. [Read more…]

Officials celebrate opening of $40 million Volkswagen distribution center in Roane County

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Volkswagen Southeast Regional Distribution Center Opening

Volkswagen, Roane County, and Tennessee officials celebrate the opening of a $40 million parts distribution center in eastern Roane County on Tuesday.

ROANE COUNTY—A new $40 million Volkswagen distribution center in eastern Roane County will distribute domestic auto parts to a global market for the Passat, which is made in Chattanooga, the company said Tuesday.

The Southeast Regional Distribution Center started operating on a limited basis as a redistribution center in April. It serves five other depots in the United States, as well as warehouses in Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

Later, it will include a parts distribution center for 110 Volkswagen and Audi dealers in the Southeast. [Read more…]

State announces first Select Tennessee Certified Sites, including Horizon Center area

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Tennessee Certified Site at Horizon Center

The Select Tennessee Certified Site is pictured above at Horizon Center. (Submitted photo)

NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced on Tuesday the first six Select Tennessee Certified Sites.

As previously reported on Oak Ridge Today, one of the sites is at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge.

The Select Tennessee program was launched in June 2012 with the goal of helping Tennessee communities prepare available sites for investment and expansion. The program sets a consistent and rigorous standard upon which companies can rely in making critical location decisions. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Chamber will lay off some workers, Economic Partnership to become dormant

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Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will lay off some employees, and its support corporation, the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, will become dormant.

Its funding has been cut, and the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is laying off some employees, an official said Monday.

It will be a smaller organization, and the Chamber’s support corporation, the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, will become dormant, its work absorbed by the Chamber, said Parker Hardy, president and chief executive officer of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

Hardy declined to name the employees who will be laid off or say how many workers might be affected, although he said the information could be shared later. [Read more…]

Federal decision on new protest of Y-12, Pantex contract due Sept. 25

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Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

Federal officials have a Sept. 25 deadline to rule on a new protest filed last week by one of the two teams that lost a contract competition earlier this year to manage two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.

The new bid protest was filed on June 17 by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, a team led by Babcock and Wilcox Co. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has 100 days to respond to the latest protest but could issue a decision earlier.

The bid protest is related to the consolidated management and operating contract at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. [Read more…]

IMPACT Services cleanup coming to end with one million pounds shipped

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IMPACT Services Waste

The last of more than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste at the former IMPACT Services site at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge will be shipped out next Thursday.

Considered a success story, the one-year, $1.2 million state project to ship out more than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste from the west Oak Ridge site of a company that declared bankruptcy about one year ago will end next week.

Already, about 1.1 million pounds of waste in about 1,200 containers have been shipped off the Heritage Center site, including to other processors and sites in Oak Ridge, Florida, and an EnergySolutions landfill in Clive, Utah, officials said during a Thursday morning tour.

A half-dozen shipments remain between now and Friday, June 28, said Judy Hardt, project manager for SAIC, which is performing the on-site work under a contract with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. [Read more…]

UCOR presents awards to small businesses

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UCOR Small Business Awards

UCOR presented awards to eight small business at its Inaugural Small Business Awards ceremony, held Wednesday, June 12, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge.

UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation, and it has subcontracted more than 70 percent of its work to small businesses, exceeding its subcontracting commitment to DOE, a press release said. [Read more…]

Banking for small business seminar June 27

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The Tennessee Small Business Development Center will present a workshop from 2 to 3:30 p.m. June 27 on banking for small business.

Topics will include: [Read more…]

Free workshop for small business owners June 27

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The Tennessee Small Business Development Center will offer a free workshop for small business owners and entrepreneurs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 27.

The seminar discussion includes the forms of business organization, tax requirements, business licenses, business planning, and financing options, with additional discussion about Small Business Administration loan guarantee programs. [Read more…]

State certification means 110-acre Horizon Center site is ready for development

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Tennessee Certified Site at Horizon Center

The Select Tennessee Certified Site at Horizon Center is pictured at center above. A 28-acre portion of the parcel at left has been identified as a primary data center site. (Submitted photo)

Tennessee officials have identified 110 cleared acres in Horizon Center as one of the first sites in the state to be named a certified site, meaning the property has met certain rigorous standards and is ready for development.

It’s now the second certified site in Horizon Center, a business park on State Route 95 in west Oak Ridge.

The 110-acre site has been designated as a Select Tennessee Certified Site by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. [Read more…]

RSI named regional small business subcontractor of the year

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Tom Beehan and Rick Ferguson at RSI Solar Ceremony

Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, left, and RSI Vice President Rick Ferguson at a May 2012 ceremony for an RSI solar farm at Heritage Center. (Photo courtesy Lynn Freeny/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office)

The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Restoration Services Inc. of Oak Ridge as Subcontractor of the Year in Region IV, which includes eight southeastern states.

RSI was recognized for its hard work, innovative ideas, and dedication to the community, a press release said.

“The SBA is pleased to recognize your achievements and your role in driving our nation’s economic growth,” said John Shoraka of the SBA Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. The SBA announced regional awards as they prepared to celebrate the 50th anniversary of National Small Business Week from June 17-21. [Read more…]

NNSA declines to comment on new protest over Y-12, Pantex contract

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Y-12 National Security Complex

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex at Scarboro and Bear Creek roads.

Federal officials and a contracting team declined to comment Tuesday on a new protest filed over the competition to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced Monday that its contracting team, Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, has filed a new protest with the Government Accountability Office related to the consolidated Y-12 and Pantex contract.

The new protest came about five months after earlier protests filed by NP2 and another contracting team, Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions LLC. Those protests were filed in January, after the National Nuclear Security Administration announced it had awarded a contract valued at about $23 billion to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, to manage and operate Y-12 and Pantex. [Read more…]