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Clark Center Park temporarily closed

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Clark Center Park Beach
The beach at Clark Center Park is pictured in July 2014. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The U.S. Department of Energy has temporarily closed Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge.

The closure was effective Saturday, April 4. It was in response to the stay-at-home order issued by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Thursday, April 2. That statewide order was meant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that cause serious symptoms, lead to hospitalization, and sometimes result in death.

The park closure will remain in effect until further notice, DOE said.

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CNS president working from home as precaution

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Morgan Smith (Photo by CNS)

Note: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m.

Morgan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security, which manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, is working from home as a precaution after being notified that he was in brief contact with someone earlier in the week who self-reported symptoms that could be related to COVID-19.

The person has been tested but the results aren’t back yet, CNS spokesperson Kathryn King said in response to questions Monday.

“Morgan has no symptoms and is actively teleworking as he leads CNS in completing the mission and responding to the demands created by the global coronavirus pandemic,” King said.

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Y-12: UPF buses now only half-filled at most, cleaned and sanitized

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In this picture posted March 3, the roof is being raised at the Uranium Processing Facility Salvage and Accountability Building, and the second elevated deck is being set into place. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

The buses that carry employees to and from the Uranium Processing Facility construction project each day are filled to half of their capacity at most, and the buses are being cleaned and sanitized after each drop-off, a federal contractor said.

Oak Ridge Today asked about the buses after an employee at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where the UPF is being built, tested positive for COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

UPF rotates multiple buses throughout the day to take workers to and from the construction site, said Consolidated Nuclear Security, the federal contractor that manages and operates Y-12 as well as the Pantex Plant northeast of Amarillo, Texas.

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UT-Battelle gets five-year extension to manage ORNL

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign
Photo by ORNL

The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a five-year extension of UT-Battelle’s contract to manage and operate Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The five-year extension took effect Wednesday, April 1, ORNL said in a response to questions.

The value of the extension wasn’t immediately available.

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Several Y-12 employees test positive for COVID-19

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Several employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex have tested positive for COVID-19, the contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly, but the contractor that manages and operates the nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge declined Wednesday to say how many employees are infected.

Oak Ridge Today has reported on two Y-12 employees who were diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. Since then, the news website has received reports that other employees have also tested positive, possibly six total (including the two already reported). But Y-12 said it could not comment on the total number of cases, and the site did not comment on the condition of those employees.

“As of Wednesday, April 1, 2020, several employees at Y-12 have tested positive for COVID-19,” according to a response to questions from Consolidated Nuclear Security, the federal contractor that manages and operates Y-12 as well as the Pantex Plant northeast of Amarillo, Texas.

“Employees who tested positive and those who have been in contact with affected employees are self-isolating per the CDC’s guidelines,” CNS said. “In cases where employees are from the same organization, everyone working in affected buildings may be sent home as a precaution while the areas are sanitized.”

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More than 60 percent of ORNL staff working remotely

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign
Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

More than 60 percent of the 5,200 staff members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working remotely.

No staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, a contagious respiratory disease that has spread around the world and can be deadly. But ORNL does have employees that have been put in self-quarantine by the lab’s medical director. That includes staff members who believe they, or a member of their household, may have come in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or a person who has recently traveled to an area where widespread community spread of COVID-19 has been confirmed. No staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, ORNL said.

The remote work at ORNL is being done by staff members in a wide variety of jobs that include support functions like accounting, auditing, legal, technical editing, project management, and other activities, as well as researchers who can monitor data remotely or who are using the time to write or edit research publications and similar work, ORNL said in a response to questions on Wednesday.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 staff members continue to work on site, largely in facility operations positions that require hands-on tasks or monitoring, the lab said. These include technicians, front-line supervisors, electricians, firefighters, security personnel, and other types of workers.

“Some tasks have been shuffled to accommodate the need to work from home, but we are continuing to fulfill our mission commitments to the U.S. Department of Energy and the nation,” ORNL said.

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Federal cleanup work in Oak Ridge moving to limited operations

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In this photo published in early March, the U.S. Department of Energy said workers had begun taking down the second of four sections of the Centrifuge Complex at East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. Completing this project will move DOE’s Office of Environmental Management closer to its goal of finishing all major demolitions at ETTP by the end 2020, the department said. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

The cleanup work at federal sites in Oak Ridge is transitioning to limited operations today (Wednesday, April 1).

The transition applies specifically to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. OREM oversees cleanup work at DOE sites in Oak Ridge, including East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex.

“The safety and health of the EM workforce—federal and contractor employees—is the top priority of EM leadership across the complex,” DOE headquarters said in response to questions. “As a prudent response to the current situation regarding COVID-19 in Tennessee, effective on April 1, the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is transitioning to limited operations. EM is choosing to take this action out of an abundance of caution.”

Activities that support DOE’s cleanup mission will be limited to those necessary to put projects into a status where they will ensure the safety of the public, workers, and the environment, the Energy Department said.

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Second Y-12 employee tests positive for COVID-19

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

A second employee at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge has tested positive for COVID-19.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, the federal contractor that manages and operates the nuclear weapons production plant, said it learned of the positive test result on Friday.

The second employee is from the same work area as the first employee who tested positive, CNS said Friday night. CNS confirmed the first case on Monday.

The second employee was quarantined earlier this week and remains in isolation at home, and the affected work locations were disinfected earlier this week, CNS said Friday.

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Y-12 reducing UPF bus riders, staggering shifts

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In this picture posted March 3, the roof is being raised at the Uranium Processing Facility Salvage and Accountability Building, and the second elevated deck is being set into place. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

A federal contractor is limiting the number of employees who can ride a bus at one time to the Uranium Processing Facility construction site at the Y-12 National Security Complex and started the process of staggering shifts at the project to help keep workers separated from each other as the world tries to slow the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

The changes at Y-12 were disclosed on Wednesday by the plant operator, Consolidated Nuclear Security, in response to questions from Oak Ridge Today after a plant employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Oak Ridge Today had asked about construction workers being bused to the Uranium Processing Facility construction site from the east side of Y-12 each morning and whether the confirmation of a COVID-19 case at the 811-acre plant would affect those construction bus rides, including by possibly requiring employees to have some physical separation on the bus rides.

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Y-12 worker became ill before testing positive for COVID-19

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Consolidated Nuclear Security employee who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday left work at the Y-12 National Security Complex after becoming ill on Thursday, March 19.

In response to questions on Wednesday, CNS did not say where the employee worked at Y-12 or if they know how the worker was infected.

CNS said the employee has been isolated at home after receiving the positive COVID-19 test result, and the plant’s medical staff are coordinating with the Tennessee Department of Health.

“The employee’s work location was disinfected along with all other locations the employee is known to have visited,” CNS said. “The employee’s activities were reviewed, and everyone who is known to have come into direct contact with the employee in the two days prior to the development of symptoms is being contacted and asked to self-quarantine for 14 days, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines.”

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Y-12 confirms COVID-19 case

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Consolidated Nuclear Security on Monday confirmed a case of a person with COVID-19 at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Information about the case was shared with employees on Monday, March 23.

“The employee is in isolation at home, and affected work areas have been sanitized,” said CNS, which manages Y-12 and another nuclear weapons production plant, the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

At Y-12, CNS said other employees who have been in contact with the affected employee have been asked to self-quarantine.

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ORAU, ORISE permit some work from home

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

ORAU and ORISE—which work for more than 20 different federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—are allowing employees to work from home when possible.

ORAU and ORISE have authorized executives and directors to approve work from home for employees who are able to perform their job responsibilities at home, such as office workers.

Some employees will be required to report to work to continue operations, including in some laboratories, in information technology for computer support, and for security, for example.

ORAU is Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and ORISE is Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

The work-from-home authorization was implemented this week, and ORAU and ORISE don’t have final numbers of the numbers of employees who are or will be working from home.

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