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Opinion: Alexander discusses ETTP demolition, development; Oak Ridge cleanup work

Posted at 9:21 am September 1, 2016
By Lamar Alexander Leave a Comment

Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

By Lamar Alexander

This week marked the end of an era. The last of the five uranium enrichment buildings in Oak Ridge has been cleaned up, making land available for new companies and new jobs coming to East Tennessee.

Tennessee should be extremely proud of the men and women who have worked for more than a decade to complete the demolition and cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

The story of how these buildings first came to be built is by now a familiar one. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Senator Kenneth McKellar, the Tennessean who chaired the Appropriations Committee, to hide $2 billion for a secret project to win World War II. McKellar replied, “Mr. President, I have just one question: Where in Tennessee do you want me to hide it?”

They hid it in Oak Ridge, on 2,200 acres along the Clinch River, where they quietly built K-25, the largest building in the world, to enrich uranium through gaseous diffusion—a complicated and now mostly obsolete process. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, City of Oak Ridge, cleanup projects, Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, demolition, Denise Kiernan, East Tennessee Technology Park, Franklin D. Roosevelt, gaseous diffusion, K-25, Kenneth McKellar, Lamar Alexander, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Corridor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority, The Girls of Atomic City, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium enrichment, World War II, Y-12 National Security Complex

Historic day: Last wall to be demolished at last of big five uranium-enriching buildings at ETTP (K-25)

Posted at 4:51 pm August 25, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-27 Demolition Aug 17 2016 Freeny

The last wall of the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium at the former K-25 site will be demolished Tuesday. A section of the K-27 Building, the last to be demolished, is pictured above on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

The last wall of the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium at the former K-25 site will be demolished Tuesday.

Demolition on the last building, the K-27 Building, started in February.

The other four buildings—K-25, K-29, K-31, and K-33—were demolished between 2006 and 2015. All five of the huge buildings once used a process called gaseous diffusion to produce highly enriched uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants, starting during World War II and continuing through the Cold War. The largest was K-25, a mile-long U-shaped building.

When K-27 demolition is complete, it will be the first time that all of a site’s uranium-enriching gaseous diffusion buildings will have been cleaned up anywhere in the world, officials said.

“Demolition eliminates environmental hazards and prepares the land for productive reuse through deindustrialization,” a media advisory said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Front Page News, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic weapons, Cold War, East Tennessee Technology Park, enrich uranium, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, Heritage Center, highly enriched uranium, K-25, K-25 site, K-27 Building, K-27 demolition, K-29, K-31, K-33, Manhattan Project, nuclear power plants, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, World War II, X-10, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex

Demolition work on K-27, last of big 5 uranium-enrichment buildings, to be complete this month

Posted at 1:07 am August 4, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-27-Demolition-May-2-2016-3-Freeny

Demolition work should be complete this month on K-27, the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, officials said in July 2016. (DOE photo/Lynn Freeny)

 

Demolition work should be complete this month on K-27, the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, officials said last week.

Demolition work started on K-27 in February.

Like the other four buildings that have already been demolished, the four-story, 383,000-square-foot K-27 building once used a process known as gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium.

The demolition is part of Vision 2016. That’s the plan by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, or EM, to remove all five gaseous diffusion buildings from the site by the end of the year.

Federal officials said it’s the first time in the world that a uranium enrichment complex has been cleaned and removed. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic weapons, demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, EMWMF, enrich uranium, enriched uranium, Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, gaseous diffusion, Heritage Center, K-25, K-25 site, K-27, K-29, K-31, K-33, Manhattan Project, nuclear power plants, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium enrichment, uranium enrichment complex

DOE: Oak Ridge’s Building K-27 being torn down quickly

Posted at 1:46 am June 7, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

K-27 Demolition

Crews are moving at an impressive pace on Building K-27, completing more than 65 percent of the demolition since February. (Photo by DOE)

 

In February 2016, demolition crews started tearing down the K-27 gaseous diffusion building.

Now, only months later, the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR have already completed demolition on more than 65 percent of the four-story, 383,000-square-foot facility, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

K-27 is the last of five large gaseous diffusion facilities to be torn down at the East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, which was formerly known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant and often referred to as the former K-25 site.

“Due to the heavy contamination and state of the 1940s facility, K-27 was one of the environmental management’s highest cleanup priorities,” the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in a May 31 newsletter. “The progress taking down the facility moves EM closer to fulfilling its Vision 2016—the removal of all five gaseous diffusion buildings from the site by year’s end. It is not only a significant goal for EM and Oak Ridge, but it will also mark the first time in the world that a uranium enrichment complex has been cleaned and removed.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic weapons, Building K-27, demolition, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, K-25, K-25 site, K-27 Building, K-29, K-31, K-33, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, OREM, UCOR, URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, Vision 2016, Wendy Cain, World War II

Solar plant at Heritage Center honored with sustainability award

Posted at 3:47 pm May 31, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Heritage-Center-Solar-Array

An aerial view of Oak Ridge’s third solar array development at Heritage Center, which was built by a team honored with a U.S. Department of Energy Sustainability Award. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

 

A solar power plant in west Oak Ridge is one of two projects recognized with 2016 Energy Sustainability Awards by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Teams at the two DOE Environmental Management, or EM, sites were recognized for spearheading projects that have saved taxpayer dollars while promoting efficiency and smart use of DOE resources, a press release said.

“The DOE Sustainability Performance Office highlighted efforts at the Oak Ridge and Savannah River sites as outstanding contributions to the department’s goal of improving environmental, energy, and economic performance while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the press release said.

UCOR, the prime contractor for Oak Ridge’s EM program, helped the small business subcontractor Restoration Services Inc. team with community partners to build a one-megawatt utility scale photovoltaic power generating project called Powerhouse Six that became operational in April 2015. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Andrew Albenesius, Betsy Child, Caroline Barber, Cathy Hickey, City of Oak Ridge, Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, DOE, DOE Sustainability Performance Office, DOE-Savannah River, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Gil Hough, Gill Sallade, John Harley, John Seale, Parodio Maith, Perry Spurling, Powerhouse Six, Rick McLeod, RSI, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, Savannah River Site, Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization, solar array, solar plant, SRSCRO, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Sustainability Award, UCOR, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, Vis Solis Inc.

Budgeting for a clean future in Oak Ridge

Posted at 11:02 am April 7, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Karen-Thompson-DOE-Cleanup-Budget-Development-March-2016-1

Karen Thompson, OREM’s branch chief for Planning and Baseline Management Branch, spoke to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board at its March 9, 2016, meeting on developing the FY 2018 budget. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board)

 

By Ashley Huff

Developing a budget for the massive cleanup efforts undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, requires advanced planning and careful prioritization of the program’s near-term and long-term goals. DOE’s vision for a clean future largely depends upon funding designated for the Oak Ridge site by Congress each fiscal year.

Appropriations for Oak Ridge cleanup comprise only a part of the overall budget for DOE’s EM Program, which includes a number of additional sites also dealing with the lingering inheritances of the Manhattan Project. The Oak Ridge site has traditionally fared well both in the president’s request and in the actual appropriations determined by Congress. OREM experienced a $36 million increase in its enacted budget for Fiscal Year 2014, meaning the site received $36 million above what the president even requested for the Oak Ridge cleanup mission. In FY 2015, the site received $46 million above the president’s request. For the current year, OREM welcomed a generous “plus-up” from Congress. Appropriations for FY 2016 were $102 million above President Obama’s request for the program.

“The additional funding of $102 million above the president’s request for FY 2016 has allowed OREM to accelerate progress on spending priorities already well established,” said Karen Thompson, OREM’s branch chief for Planning and Baseline Management Branch, who spoke to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board at its March 9 meeting on developing the FY 2018 budget. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 4, appropriations, Ashley Huff, budget, cleanup, Congress, Dave Adler, demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, K-27, Karen Thompson, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge cleanup, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, OREM, ORSSAB, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

Four more spring nature walks set on Oak Ridge Reservation

Posted at 8:25 pm April 2, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Herpwalk-2015

Children learn to identify a corn snake during a 2015 nature walk on DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation. (ORNL photo)

 

Four more nature walks are planned this spring on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation beginning with a wildflower walk at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 10.

Participants will see many native spring wildflowers in the woods along the bluffs of Watts Bar Lake during the 3.5-hour walk. Limited to 25, walking will be off trail in moderately rough terrain of one to two miles. Participants need to have good balance and stamina, dress in layers, wear sturdy shoes, and bring bug spray and water.

Reservations must be made no later than Thursday, April 7, by contacting Tracy Clem at (865) 574-5151 or bodinetm@ornl.gov. If bad weather forces postponement of an event, it will be announced on ORNL’s Information Line at (865) 574-9836 at least two hours before the scheduled start of the walk. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Recreation, Sports, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: East Tennessee Technology Park, Freels Bend, Heritage Center Greenway Powerhouse, nature walk, Oak Ridge Reservation, ORNL, Tracy Clem, Trent Jett, U.S. Department of Energy, Watts Bar Lake

Controlled burns scheduled on DOE Oak Ridge Reservation

Posted at 1:15 pm March 16, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Controlled burns of grassland areas are scheduled starting this week and continuing through April at East Tennessee Technology Park and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The controlled burns were announced by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

Beginning this week and continuing through April, the controlled burns will take place, weather permitting, at: [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, State, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: controlled burns, East Tennessee Technology Park, native plant, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, ORNL, Tennessee Division of Forestry, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, U.S. Department of Energy

UCOR awards three small business contracts worth close to $1 million

Posted at 11:41 am March 15, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

UCOR has awarded three contracts worth nearly $1 million to small businesses for services associated with the cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

One contract was awarded to ESG Construction LLC of Knoxville, and two were awarded to Construction Technology Specialists Inc., or CTSI, which is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

ESG was awarded a contract for $450,000 to replace the heat-trace controls at the Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A general and electrical contractor, ESG is an Small Business Administration-certified Historically Underutilized Business, or HUBZone, firm. Work is expected to be completed by the end of the year. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: cleanup, Construction Technology Specialists Inc., CTSI, East Tennessee Technology Park, ESG Construction LLC, ETTP, Freda Hopper, historically underutilized business, HUBZone, Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Small Business Administration, small businesses, UCOR

TVC announces sessions, speakers for 2016 Summit at Tennessee Tech

Posted at 10:05 pm March 10, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

TVA 2016 National Summit

On June 1-2, more than 300 community, academic, and government leaders from the five-state region will gather at Tennessee Tech University for the 2016 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit to focus attention on the vital role entrepreneurs provide in turning the brain power and technologies from the region’s universities and federal programs into new business start-ups and the expansion of existing businesses.

The Summit is themed “Where Entrepreneurs and Technology Meet.” The event will be hosted by Tennessee Tech University President Phil Oldham in cooperation with U.S. Representative Diane Black.

The Summit will include two main sessions. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, College, East Tennessee Technology Park, Education, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 2016 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit, Andy Page, Diane Black, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Phil Oldham, Research Electronics International, Tennessee Tech University, Tennessee Valley Corridor, Tom Jones, Where Entrepreneurs and Technology Meet

Traffic could be affected by large electric condensers being moved from ETTP

Posted at 9:45 am March 8, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-27-ETTP-Switchyard-Oct-20-2015

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded at $2.1 million fixed-price contract to a small business based in Michigan, CTI and Associates, to perform asset recovery and demolition work at the old electrical switchyard at ETTP. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

Traffic on Highway 58 and Highway 95 could be affected for two weeks starting Thursday by large, slow-moving equipment removing parts from a former electrical switchyard at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

The work is being done by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. It’s part of the ongoing cleanup work at ETTP, the former K-25 site.

Workers are removing, disposing, and recycling components from a former ETTP electrical switchyard, known as K-732 Switchyard.

“For the next two weeks, this project requires the use of a specialized trailer on public highways to transport three large condensers that each weighs approximately 110 tons,” a press release said. “Motorists transiting the area during this time should be alert for slow-moving vehicles and expect occasional delays.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Office, Police and Fire, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: CTI and Associates, demolition, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, electrical switchyard, ETTP, ETTP electrical switchyard, K-25 site, K-27 Building, K-732 Switchyard, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Office, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Reservation Landfill, Tennessee Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Energy

Environmental assessment for Oak Ridge airport finds no significant impact

Posted at 2:54 pm March 1, 2016
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Oak Ridge Airport Development Plan

The Heritage Center airport development plan is pictured above in a file image from August 2015. (Cropped image from DOE Draft Environmental Assessment)

 

An environmental assessment has been completed for the transfer of 170 acres at Heritage Center for a general aviation airport in west Oak Ridge, and the assessment found no significant impact, officials said Tuesday.

The assessment was completed by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The land would be transferred to the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.

In August, officials said conditions are subject to change, but plans then called for starting construction on the airport at the former K-25 site in 2018. An estimate at that time said the airport could cost between $30 million and $40 million.

The airport would have a 5,000-foot runway that would accommodate general aviation aircraft including corporate jets, private airplanes, and emergency medical services aircraft. A development plan shows the airport at the south side of Heritage Center along Oak Ridge Turnpike, or State Route 58. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: airport, Becky Huckaby, Bill Marrison, DOE, Downtown Island, general aviation airport, Heritage Center, Jeff Smith, K-25 site, McGhee Tyson, Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, MKAA, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Sue Cange, U.S. Department of Energy

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