The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office is initiating a series of controlled burns of grassland areas on the Oak Ridge Reservation for prescribed burning at the East Tennessee Technology Park and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during March and April.
On March 15, weather permitting, controlled burns are taking place:
Workers load a mercury-contaminated tank onto inspection saddles. (Image courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/UCOR)
Five mercury projects being performed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were completed in February, with URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, issuing the final reports.
The projects ranged from planning new facilities and planning for cost-effective disposition of mercury-contaminated media, to removing old, abandoned tanks containing mercury. All are part of getting ready for an upcoming major focus on mercury cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
In the area of Y-12 known as the West End Mercury Area, or WEMA, multiple facilities produced a lithium isotope fundamental to the development of the hydrogen weapon. Mercury was used in that process. In those facilities, various amounts of mercury are present in the process pipes and equipment, drains and sumps, soil surrounding the facilities, storm sewers, and stream sediments.
An artist’s rendering of what the East Tennessee Technology Park could look like after cleanup and historic preservation activities are completed. (Image courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/UCOR)
The pre-qualification window for companies to bid on the professional site design for a museum at the East Tennessee Technology Park closed in February. Eight firms that specialize in museum planning and exhibit design responded to the pre-qualification request.
Planning for the museum is one of several activities under way to commemorate ETTP’s history, including a history center located on the second floor of the Oak Ridge Fire Station and an observation tower overlooking the K-25 Building footprint.
The museum will house artifact and historic materials removed from the K-25 Building, which was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons. The building and ETTP, often referred to as the K-25 site, were also used to enrich uranium after the war.
On Saturday, Feb. 23, students from throughout the state of Tennessee descended upon Pellissippi State College’s Blount County Campus to compete in this year’s U.S. Department of Energy’s annual Tennessee Science Bowl competition.
Fifty-five high school teams representing 25 Tennessee counties answered competition questions covering broad disciplines including chemistry, biology, earth and space science, mathematics, physics, and energy. However, in the end, Summit High School from Spring Hill, Tenn. edged out their competitors to win first place.
Chuck Spencer
Operating costs have already been cut by 7 percent at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and all employees are expected to report to work on Friday, even if automatic federal spending cuts go into effect at midnight.
The federal cuts could reduce lab funding by 5 percent to 8 percent, ORNL Director Thom Mason said. That could translate into $70 million to $100 million in funding cuts, depending upon how the reductions are allocated.
Meanwhile, at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the automatic spending cuts could lead to furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have said between 700 and 1,000 employees could be furloughed for up to six months.
But in a Feb. 14 message to employees, B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer did not say how many employees might be affected.
Cheryl “Shelly” T. George
In celebration of Black History Month, the Oak Ridge Chapter of Blacks in Government is sponsoring the Annual BIG Scholarship Luncheon on Thursday, a press release said.
It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.
The keynote speaker will be professor and author Cheryl “Shelly” T. George. She will discuss the 2013 Black History Month theme “Honoring Freedom: 150 Years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 50 Years after the March on Washington.”
Joan Cronan
Joan Cronan, University of Tennessee women’s athletic director emeritus and consultant and adviser to the chancellor, will be the keynote speaker at a women’s workshop in March.
The 2013 Oak Ridge Women’s Workshop is co-sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Federal Women’s Program and the Federally Employed Women Oak Ridge Chapter.
The Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge, one of the U.S. Department of Energy sites to be guarded under a $182 million protective force services contract announced Thursday.
Federal officials announced Thursday that they have awarded a $182 million contract to protect U.S. Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge, including the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, and the rest of the Oak Ridge Reservation, not including the Y-12 National Security Complex.
The five-year contract was awarded to National Strategic Protective Services LLC, or NSPS.
“We are pleased to welcome NSPS as a part of the Department of Energy team in Oak Ridge,†said Larry Kelly, Oak Ridge Office manager. “We evaluated the proposals and it was clear to us that NSPS is the right company for this difficult and important job.â€
NSPS will replace WSI Oak Ridge, which has provided protective force services in Oak Ridge since 2000.
Hospital staff members and federal workers and contractors will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in two separate events on Wednesday, Jan. 16, and Monday, Jan. 21.
The U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office has its annual event Wednesday morning at the American Museum of Science and Energy.
The program is titled “50 Years Later: The Evolution of the Dream.” It’s scheduled from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, and it’s open to the public.
Larry Kelly
Larry Kelly, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office, will be the featured speaker on Thursday, Jan. 10, at a joint meeting of two local nonprofit organizations. His speech is titled “Managing resources on the Oak Ridge Reservation in a changing environment.”
The talk is sponsored by Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Midtown Community Center Wildcat Den, and it is open to the public.
