Oak Ridge Today

DOE prepares to ‘recompete’ TRU Waste Processing Center contract

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Transuranic Waste Processing Center

The Transuranic Waste Processing Center is in west Oak Ridge, south of Bethel Valley Road off Highway 95. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge Office)

The U.S. Department of Energy is preparing to “recompete” the contract to manage the Transuranic Waste Processing Center off Highway 95 in west Oak Ridge.

The facility is currently managed by a contractor, Wastren Advantage Inc., and the work is overseen by officials at DOE’s Oak Ridge Office.

DOE has issued a “sources sought notice” to begin performing market research to gauge whether there are small businesses capable of performing the work, the Oak Ridge Office said in the August issue of “Public Involvement News.” [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.

Nuclear goes Hollywood: New film sheds light on old debate

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Pandora's Promise Panel Discussion

Jeff Binder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate lab director of nuclear science and engineering, answers an audience question during a panel discussion following a screening of “Pandora’s Promise” in Knoxville on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

By Scott Jones

About 300 people attended a showing of the new pro-nuclear film “Pandora’s Promise” and heard a panel discussion about nuclear energy on Saturday, including perspectives from Oak Ridge National Laboratory staff.

The lab worked with Regal Entertainment Group to bring the film to the Downtown West theater from July 19-25.

Few phrases carry the ideological weight of the words “nuclear power.” [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…]

ORNL makes low-cost carbon fiber available to American manufacturers

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Carbon Fiber Technology Facility

Operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility is accepting proposals from companies that want to test low-cost carbon fibers manufactured at the pilot scale plant. Pictured here are textile-grade acrylic fibers entering the first of four oxidation ovens, where they gradually turn from white to yellow, auburn, brown, then black. Once fully oxidized, the fiber is ready to run through the higher-temperature furnaces, which convert the oxidized fiber to carbon fiber. (Submitted photo)

Companies interested in testing the latest in low-cost carbon fiber have a new opportunity to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility.

The CFTF, operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of the department’s Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, opened earlier this year to find ways to reduce carbon fiber production costs and to work with the private sector to stimulate widespread use of the strong, lightweight material.

In its first months of operation, the CFTF used traditional raw materials to assure the new pilot scale manufacturing line would produce a commercial-quality product. With that goal accomplished, the facility now will use less expensive “precursor” materials that can be turned into carbon fiber more cost-effectively. [Read more…]

‘Pandora’s Promise’ comes to Knoxville; panel discussion planned Saturday

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“Pandora’s Promise,” a new film about environmentalists’ support of nuclear energy as a solution to global climate change, will be shown in a limited Knoxville engagement this week, starting today (Friday, July 19) and ending Thursday, a media advisory said.

A panel discussion at 8:45 p.m. Saturday will include representatives of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USEC, and the University of Tennessee. It will follow the 7 p.m. showing of the film. [Read more…]

Students benefit from ORNL’s surplus equipment donations worth $1.7 million

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Sydney Burchell

Sydney Burchell, a sophomore at Morristown-Hamblen High School East, uses ORNL’s donated equipment to study waste management at distilleries. She and John Hale, a senior and lead researcher for the project, won first place at the INTEL-International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Ariz. (Submitted photo)

Old or unused laboratory equipment that has outlived its usefulness at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other U.S. Department of Energy sites doesn’t have to sit idle or wind up in the scrap heap. In 2012, ORNL donated $1.7 million worth of surplus property to nonprofits, including local schools, where it is now helping to inspire future scientists.

DOE works with the state of Tennessee to enable the surplus government property to go to school science labs and nonprofit agencies that can make effective use of the equipment.

Local schools have received fume hoods, water baths, centrifuges, and tilt tables, as well as ultrasonic cleaners, balances, and a variety of expensive glassware. The donated tools, outdated at any national lab, are now treasures for high school students, allowing them to conduct STEM research with high quality materials at a reasonable cost. [Read more…]

Forensic tooth doctor featured at community lecture Thursday

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Mike Tabor

Mike Tabor

The 16th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series continues on Thursday, July 18, and it will feature Dr. Mike Tabor, chief forensic odontologist for the Tennessee State Medical Examiner’s Office. He will discuss “Forensic Identification at Ground Zero and Other High Profile Cases.”

The event is sponsored by Friends of ORNL. It’s free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 S. Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge.

The lecture by Tabor starts at 6 p.m., and a reception and a book signing starts at 7 p.m. (snacks will be served). This talk should be of interest to the general public. [Read more…]

Pictures: Rep. Diane Black tours ORNL

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Diane Black Tours CASL

Rep. Diane Black views a 3-D visualization during a tour of the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photos by ORNL’s Jason Richards)

U.S. Rep. Diane Black, a Republican from Tennessee’s 6th District, visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory Monday afternoon.

Black received an overview of the lab’s research and development activities and toured the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, the EVEREST Visualization Lab, the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors facility, the Spallation Neutron Source, and the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility.

Here are a few pictures provided by ORNL. [Read more…]

CASL milestone validates reactor model using TVA data

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CASL VERA Simulation

This CASL visualization shows the thermal distribution of neutrons in Watts Bar Unit 1 Cycle 1 reactor core at initial criticality, as calculated by the VERA program. (Image courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors this week announced that its scientists have successfully completed the first full-scale simulation of an operating nuclear reactor.

Headquartered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, CASL is modeling nuclear reactors on supercomputers to help researchers better understand reactor performance with much higher reliability than previously available methods, with the goal of ultimately increasing power output, extending reactor life, and reducing waste.

Simulation results from the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) program, which was developed by CASL, were compared with actual data provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Tennessee, which confirmed its accuracy. [Read more…]

ORNL wins six R&D 100 awards

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Da Vinci Fuel-in-Oil Measurement System

The Da Vinci Fuel-in-Oil Measurement System is among the six Oak Ridge National Laboratory technologies recognized with a 2013 R&D 100 award. (Submitted photo)

Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received six R&D 100 awards, presented each year by R&D Magazine in recognition of the year’s most significant technological innovations.

“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.”

The six awards bring ORNL’s total of R&D 100 awards to 179 since their inception in 1963. This year, ORNL scientists and engineers received awards for the following technologies: [Read more…]

UT names solar nanotechnology expert, ORNL deputy as Governor’s Chair

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Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Ramamoorthy Ramesh

KNOXVILLE—Ramamoorthy Ramesh, an authority in the physics of functional materials, has been named the 12th University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair. He has also been appointed as deputy director for science and technology at ORNL.

Ramesh will serve as Governor’s Chair for Nanomaterials Engineering, based in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He began on June 1. [Read more…]