Oak Ridge Today

BES Technologies receives DOE small business award

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BEST 2015 DOE Award Photo

John Hale III and Drake Russell (at left and right), director and deputy director of the U.S. DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, congratulate Erik Connard, CEO and owner of BES Technologies LLC, on his company’s receipt of DOE’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year award. (Photo courtesy Y-12/CNS)

 

Mentor-protégé relationship continues to receive federal accolades

BES Technologies LLC recently received the U.S. Department of Energy’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year award.

BES Technologies LLC, or BEST, is a service‑disabled, veteran‑owned small business in its fourth year as a protégé to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS.

CNS and the Y-12 National Security Complex were recognized at last year’s awards ceremony as DOE’s Small Business Mentor of the Year for developmental assistance with BEST under the DOE Mentor-Protégé Program.

This year, it was time for the mentor to shine the spotlight on its protégé by nominating them for this DOE distinction and prestigious award. The resulting award confirms CNS’s glowing assessment that BEST truly lives up to its name, a press release said. [Read more…]

Demonstrator arrested after annual march to Y-12

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OREPA-Rosdatter-Y-12-ORPD-Aug-6-2016-3

Beth Rosdatter of Lexington, Kentucky, in white T-shirt, was arrested on a state misdemeanor charge of obstructing a highway after she walked up to the federal “blue line” and sat on the pavement in front of it at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on East Bear Creek Road on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:45 p.m. Aug. 7.

A Kentucky woman was arrested on a state misdemeanor charge after she walked up to the federal “blue line” at the front entrance of the Y-12 National Security Complex on East Bear Creek Road on Saturday afternoon and sat down on the pavement at the main entrance to the nuclear weapons plant.

Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, said Rosdatter, a 55-year-old mother who has a doctorate in philosophy, did not cross the blue line. Crossing it can result in federal charges.

In an apparent act of civil disobedience, Rosdatter sat in the roadway, on the hot asphalt near the blue line. She appeared to be questioned by Y-12 security officers and the Oak Ridge Police Department and then detained by the ORPD.

Also Saturday, Michael Walli, one of three protesters who broke into Y-12 on July 28, 2012, and splashed blood and sprayed graffiti on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility as part of an effort to protest nuclear weapons, helped lead a two-mile nuclear disarmament march to Y-12 from Alvin K. Bissell Park in central Oak Ridge. Rosdatter’s arrest followed that march.

Walli was released from prison along with his two fellow protesters, Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed, on May 16, 2015, eight days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned their more serious felony sabotage convictions. [Read more…]

OREPA has nuclear disarmament events at A.K. Bissell Park, Y-12 today

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Y-12 OREPA Peace March

About 125 anti-nuclear weapons activists rallied at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2015, before marching almost two miles to the Y-12 National Security Complex. At front from left are JR Dazo of Las Vegas; Ken Jones of Asheville, N.C.; Buddhist monk Denise Laffan of Newport, Tennessee; and Roberto Guzman of Detroit. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance has organized several nuclear disarmament events at Alvin K. Bissell Park and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge today.

There was a names and remembrance ceremony scheduled from 6-9 a.m. today (Saturday, August 6) in front of Y-12, at the intersection of Scarboro and Bear Creek roads. That annual ceremony marks the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War II. Uranium for that bomb, code-named Little Boy, was enriched in Oak Ridge.

From 12:30-3:30 p.m. today (Saturday, August 6), OREPA has a Concert for Peace and Rally for Disarmament at Alvin K. Bissell Park with a March for Abolition that starts at the park. [Read more…]

GemTech Nuclear Security Solutions receives Y-12, Pantex services contract

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GemTech Nuclear Security Solutions has been awarded the professional and technical services contract with Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, a press release said.

GemTech Nuclear Security Solutions, or GemTech NSS, is a joint venture formed by four Oak Ridge-based small businesses: GEM Technologies Inc., CS Engineering, Strata-G LLC, and Spectra Tech Inc., and supported by team subcontractors Navarro Research and Engineering, ABS Consulting, Tetra Tech, Enercon, and Paschal Solutions.

“We are thrilled with the announcement,” said Michael Evans, president and chief executive officer of GEM Technologies Inc., managing partner of GemTech NSS. “GEM has been supporting Y-12 for more than 20 years and Pantex for the past two years. We are committed to providing reliable, safe, secure, quality, cost-effective solutions, and we look forward to partnering with CNS for the next five years to support their mission requirements.” [Read more…]

Y-12 to conduct emergency management exercise on Wednesday

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Y-12-National-Security-Complex-CNS-Sign-Dec-16-2014

The sign at the Scarboro Road entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on December 16, 2014. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Emergency response personnel from the National Nuclear Security Administration and Consolidated Nuclear Security, along with federal, state, and local emergency management personnel, will conduct an emergency management exercise June 8 in and around the Y‑12 National Security Complex.

During this exercise, people in the vicinity of Y-12 may observe personnel simulating response activities and performing environmental monitoring or sampling, but these offsite activities are part of the exercise, a press release said.

This event is part of emergency management exercises conducted on a regular basis by the U.S. Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge. These exercises test the ability of emergency personnel to respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations, and ensure that the public, Y-12 employees, and the environment would be protected in the event of an actual emergency at the Oak Ridge Reservation, the press release said.

Y-12 completes waste removal project two years ahead of schedule

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The Y-12 National Security Complex has completed disposition of 2,247 containers of mixed waste more than two years ahead of a September 2018 deadline, a press release said.

The waste removal was mandated by the Oak Ridge Reservation Site Treatment Plan through a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation commissioner’s order to the U.S. Department of Energy. The disposition of this material is part of a larger effort to dispose of legacy waste materials. Mixed waste is defined as material that consists of hazardous and radioactive waste.

“Removal of legacy waste materials from Y-12 is a key priority for NNSA,” said Geoff Beausoleil, manager of the NNSA Production Office. “Completing this removal project two years ahead of schedule is a significant achievement.” [Read more…]

Y-12’s Edlund named DOE Facility Representative of the Year

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Jeff Edlund

Jeff Edlund

Jeff Edlund, who conducts day-to-day federal oversight of enriched uranium facility operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex, has been named the U.S. Department of Energy Facility Representative of the Year.

“Mr. Edlund represents the NNSA with a passion for the mission and a selflessness that puts the needs of the organization above his own,” said Geoff Beausoleil, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office said. “He sets strong examples for both federal and contractor employees in the areas of safety, security, quality, mission delivery, and cost effectiveness. His leadership in the areas of conduct of operations oversight, NPO integration, and performance culture clearly exceed the normal expectations of Facility Representative Personnel.”

Edlund joined NPO in 2010 as part of the NNSA Future Leaders program. He worked as a safety basis and safety system oversight engineer before becoming a facility representative in February 2014. He received a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Y‑12 receives six NNSA Sustainability Awards

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Y‑12 Waste Management’s proposed strategies for operations of the West End Treatment Facility (seen here) allowed processing of 718,000 gallons of production wastewater and eliminated generation of approximately 14,000 gallons of low-level radioactive waste sludge. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

Y‑12 Waste Management’s proposed strategies for operations of the West End Treatment Facility (seen here) allowed processing of 718,000 gallons of production wastewater and eliminated generation of approximately 14,000 gallons of low-level radioactive waste sludge. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

Site’s efforts earn half of 2016 honors

The National Nuclear Security Administration recently recognized the Y‑12 National Security Complex with six 2016 Sustainability Awards.

“Y‑12 has a long history of being recognized for their environmental accomplishments, and this year was no exception as acknowledged by U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Lieutenant General Frank G. Klotz,” a press release said.

“I want to congratulate the winners of this year’s Sustainability Awards and recognize the team effort needed to implement environmentally responsible and sustainable operations and projects,” Klutz said. “NNSA will continue to build on these successes and pursue new and creative solutions as stewards of the environment and our enduring national security mission.” [Read more…]

Y-12 honors its inventors with Technology Transfer awards

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Y-12 Honors Inventors

Y-12 National Security Complex recently recognized 29 inventors at its annual Tech Transfer award ceremony. The group was awarded 13 patents and submitted more than 30 invention disclosures in the past year. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

Twenty-nine inventors at the Y‑12 National Security Complex were recognized for their technology and innovative accomplishments during the recent 12th annual Technology Transfer Awards Ceremony. The site has a long history of producing technologies initially used at Y-12 and later transferred to the private sector.

Thirteen patents were awarded in Fiscal Year 2015 in areas ranging from a wireless sensor for detecting chemical compounds to an apparatus for safeguarding a radiological source, a press release said.

The inventors also were recognized for bringing forward new ideas in the form of invention disclosures that could one day lead to future patents. These employees were acknowledged for both their creativity and innovative ideas in support of the technology development and transfer mission. The new inventions developed by the honorees will be used to further Y-12’s mission work and will be made available to license to benefit the public through Y-12’s Technology Transfer program, the press release said. [Read more…]

Clinton Middle wins CNS-sponsored Dream It, Do It competition

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Clinton Middle School wins the inaugural Dream It. Do It. Competition May 2016. Front row (left to right): Janet Hawkins, Paige Cooper, Sierra Patrick, Anthony Burkett Hundley, and Kristin Waldschlager of CNS. Back row (left to right): Anderson County Chamber President Rick Meredith, Jack Spangler, Jonathan Lewis, Kelly Myers, and Jason Bohne and Jim Zonar of CNS. (Submitted photo)

Clinton Middle School wins the inaugural Dream It. Do It. Competition May 2016. Front row (left to right): Janet Hawkins, Paige Cooper, Sierra Patrick, Anthony Burkett Hundley, and Kristin Waldschlager of CNS. Back row (left to right): Anderson County Chamber President Rick Meredith, Jack Spangler, Jonathan Lewis, Kelly Myers, and Jason Bohne and Jim Zonar of CNS. (Submitted photo)

 

Clinton Middle School won the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce’s first “Dream It. Do It.” competition.

Clinton Middle School partnered with Eagle Bend Manufacturing in the competition. For their effort, the school received four Go Pro cameras, provided by Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, through corporate funds. CNS is the managing contractor at the Y‑12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.

The awards ceremony was at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus.

The program involved putting eighth-grade students in adult settings, a press release said. Equipped with Go Pro cameras, the students got a firsthand look at a manufacturing world that they might not have considered as a future career. CNS provided the students at Clinton, Lake City, Norris, and Norwood middle schools with the cameras and the mission to capture the diversity of careers and technical innovations in manufacturing by producing a short video. [Read more…]

CNS provides $180,000 in grants to 30 nonprofits

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CNS Y-12 Fierley and Boys & Girls Clubs Likens and Pettyjohn

Mike Fierley (center), CNS employee committee chair, poses with Ann Likens (left) and Jennifer Pettyjohn of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Clinch Valley at the recent grant recipient celebration.

 

Expanding the availability of school supplies for children in distressed areas. Providing door-to-door transportation to senior citizens who can’t get to medical providers. Pairing at-risk children with horses rescued from abuse. These are just a few examples of the outstanding work going on in East Tennessee and supported by the Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC Y-12 Community Investment Fund.

The employee-directed fund provided grants totaling $180,000 to 30 nonprofit organizations in 10 East Tennessee counties. The fund is administered by the East Tennessee Foundation, or ETF, which issued a call for grant proposals in December. More than 70 East Tennessee nonprofits responded. The winning agencies were honored at a reception on May 4 at New Hope Center in Oak Ridge.

CNS is the managing contractor at Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. CNS began its partnership with ETF last year, organizing the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of Y-12 employees who reviewed applications and recommended grants to support nonprofit organizations with projects that addressed one or more of the committee’s four focus areas: education, senior citizens, veterans, and youth. [Read more…]

Reichert: CNS hiring for more than 1,150 positions this fiscal year

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Michelle Reichert

Michelle Reichert

From CNS Connect with Michelle Reichert

The NNSA is planning for Pantex and Y-12 to perform a greater amount of mission work in the upcoming years. This increased workload will help ensure the safety and reliability of our nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, provide capabilities to draw down global weapons inventory, reduce the spread of nuclear weapons and terrorism, and provide highly specialized fuel for the nuclear navy.

Pantex and Y-12 are two of our nation’s key production facilities, and we form the cornerstone of the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise. While we always look to maximize your valuable skill sets to meet mission needs, our future mission success also requires creating new jobs.

As Morgan (Smith) mentioned when he shared the 9 in 90 list, we are completing the study and implementing the plan to address increased demand for our products and services in Fiscal Year 2017 and beyond. As a result of this plan, CNS is hiring for more than 1,150 positions this fiscal year. These new employees will include production, operations, and trades workers; security personnel; and science, engineering, and technology professionals, totaling 650 positions at Pantex and 500 positions at Y-12. To date (as of early March), we have successfully filled 507 positions. As part of our 9 in 90 Plan, we are striving to fill 300 positions within the next few months. [Read more…]