Oak Ridge Today

Nuclear safety board to discuss aging Y-12 buildings, new Uranium Processing Facility

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will meet in Knoxville in October to discuss, among other things, the risks associated with continuing to operate old buildings involved in weapons work at the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, and the progress made in the past year to incorporate safety into the design of the multi-billion dollar Uranium Processing Facility.

The federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will meet in Knoxville in October to discuss, among other things, the risks associated with continuing to operate old buildings involved in weapons work at the Y-12 National Security Complex—and the progress made in the past year to incorporate safety into the design of the multi-billion dollar Uranium Processing Facility.

The day-long meeting, which is open to the public, will include two sessions on Oct. 22 at the Knoxville Convention Center. [Read more…]

Former UPF project manager remembered as talented engineer, gifted leader

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Phillip "Phil" W. Schuetz

Phillip “Phil” W. Schuetz

Phil Schuetz, a former project manager for the multi-billion dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, died Saturday, officials said.

No formal funeral service will be held, but at Schuetz’s request, a celebration of life is being planned for September, Y-12 officials said.

“I was saddened to hear of the passing of Phil Schuetz,” UPF Federal Project Director John Eschenberg said in a Monday statement. “I was honored to work with him for many years at three different sites. He set the example of professionalism for us all with an incredible work ethic and his infectious spirit. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.” [Read more…]

DOE summer bus tours end Aug. 30

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DOE Public Bus Tour

This year’s public bus tours of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge end on Aug. 30. (Photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

The public bus tours of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge facilities end Aug. 30. It’s the last day of the 2013 season.

The tours include stops at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and East Tennessee Technology Park, and they provide historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 65 years.

So far this season, 1,148 visitors from 43 states have participated in the summer tour, a press release said. [Read more…]

NNSA: Two Y-12 security police officers injured in accidental discharge of firearm

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

Two security police officers received minor injuries this past evening when a firearm accidentally discharged at the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above. (Submitted photo)

Two security police officers received minor injuries as a result of an accidental discharge of a firearm at the Y-12 National Security Complex last evening, a federal spokesman said Sunday.

The two employees received first aid on site and were taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, where they were treated and released, said Steven Wyatt, public affairs manager for the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office at Y-12. [Read more…]

Picture: NNSA’s acting administrator visits ORNL

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Bruce Held Visits ORNL

From left are Brent Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate laboratory director of global security; Johnny Moore, the U.S. Department of Energy’s site office manager at ORNL; Bruce Held, acting under secretary for nuclear security and administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration; and ORNL director Thom Mason in the lobby of Building 5300 at ORNL. (Photo by ORNL’s Jason Richards)

Bruce Held, acting under secretary for nuclear security and administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration, visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday for a brief discussion with ORNL Director Thom Mason; Johnny Moore, the U.S. Department of Energy’s site office manager at ORNL; and Brent Park, ORNL’s associate laboratory director of global security.

Picture: Acting NNSA administrator visits Y-12 National Security Complex

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Bruce Held Visits Y-12

Bruce Held, center, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex with NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart, left, and Captain Geoffrey deBeauclair, Held’s military aide. (Submitted photo)

Bruce Held, the acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, visited the Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday.

Held toured the site and conducted an “all hands” meeting at the site’s New Hope Center to talk to federal and contractor employees.

Held is a retired clandestine operations officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, a former national security adviser to President Bill Clinton, former counterintelligence chief at Sandia National Laboratories, and former director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. [Read more…]

UPF Project Office moves into former Answer Financial building

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UPF Project Office

Employees working on the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex have consolidated in office space at 90 Union Valley Road across from Y-12, moving there from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information and 1099 Commerce Park.

An office building once used by Answer Financial on Union Valley Road is now home to employees working on the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The UPF employees now located at 90 Union Valley Road, which is across Scarboro Road from Y-12, were previously split between offices at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information and 1099 Commerce Park, said Bridget Correll Waller, Y-12 community and government relations manager. The new consolidated offices include space for UPF federal staff, project managers, and workers in procurement, security, quality assurance, project services and project controls, and Environment, Safety and Health, or ES&H. [Read more…]

Hoping to improve global security, UT launches Radiochemistry Center

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KNOXVILLE—Hypothetical scenario: A nuclear bomb is detonated in one of America’s most populated cities. Just as at a crime scene, the officials need to find the culprit.

Currently, the process of analyzing weapons debris to understand the performance or design of the device is painstakingly slow. But new research to be conducted at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville seeks to improve radiochemistry and nuclear forensics to enhance global security.

The new Radiochemistry Center of Excellence is being established through a $1.2 million grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration for the first year, with the potential for a total of $6 million for five years. The center will focus on research and education to advance UT and NNSA laboratories such as the nearby Y-12 National Security Complex, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The center will begin operating immediately. [Read more…]

Y-12 neutron detector wins R&D 100 Award

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Y-12 Neutron Detector

Ashley Stowe, Y‑12 senior development chemist, working with Fisk University, developed a single-crystalline device that will be used in handheld nuclear nonproliferation and homeland security applications. (Submitted photo)

A Y-12 nuclear nonproliferation technology offering significant possibilities in the homeland security field was among those listed on the R&D Magazine 51st Annual R&D 100 Awards. The honor salutes the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace during the past year.

The LISeTM, a high-efficiency thermal neutron detector based on the 6LiInSe2 crystal, is the first large, single-crystal semiconductor of high resistivity that contains lithium and directly detects thermal neutrons with high efficiency. The single-crystalline device will be used in handheld nuclear nonproliferation and homeland security applications to find fissile materials. Its simpler, more compact design, and higher efficiency are key improvements that will appeal to users. [Read more…]

Peace group wants fence removed from longtime Y-12 protest area

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Y-12 Fence on Scarboro Road

The temporary fence erected at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex encloses an area, pictured above, that has been used for protests and vigils for years. An Oak Ridge organization that wants to eradicate nuclear weapons has asked a federal court to order the removal of the fence before an Aug. 6 ceremony.

Calling it an assault on their First Amendment rights, an Oak Ridge organization has again asked a federal court to order officials to remove a fence that blocks an area long used for protests, vigils, and demonstrations in front of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which opposes Y-12’s nuclear weapons production work, filed the preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Friday. The lawsuit, which amends a complaint filed in April, names new U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz as the sole defendant.

OREPA wants the U.S. Department of Energy to reopen a small grass field near Y-12’s main entrance at East Bear Creek and Scarboro roads before an annual Aug. 6 demonstration. If it is left in place, the temporary fence erected April 1 would cause “irreparable harm” to First Amendment rights—including the rights of free speech, peaceful assembly, and the ability to petition the government for a redress of grievances, OREPA said. [Read more…]

US, international partners remove last highly enriched uranium from Vietnam

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Vietnam HEU Removal

A worker prepares a special container carrying highly enriched uranium before loading onto a cargo plane for repatriation to Russia. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

Official in the United States, Vietnam, and Russia announced this month that they have removed 11 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, or HEU, from the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute in Dalat, Vietnam.

“With this shipment, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam became the eleventh country from which all HEU has been removed since President Obama’s 2009 announcement in Prague of an international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world,” the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration said in a press release. “The U.S. will work with our international partners to remove the remaining HEU from another country by the end of 2013 in support of this global effort and the goals of the Nuclear Security Summits.” [Read more…]

NNSA national labs, Y-12 earn 11 R&D 100 awards

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Four National Nuclear Security Administration sites—Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia national laboratories, along with the Y-12 National Security Site—have received a total of 11 of R&D 100 Awards from R&D Magazine. The 2013 awards recognize a variety of technologies created by researchers, scientists, and engineers from throughout the nuclear security enterprise.

“My sincere congratulations to the winners of this year’s R&D 100 Awards,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “The scientists and engineers who developed these award-winning technologies at the cutting-edge facilities across our national labs are keeping Americans at the forefront of the innovation community and assuring our nation’s economic competitiveness and national security.” [Read more…]