Oak Ridge Today

DOE responds to SSAB’s waste disposal recommendation

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Submitted

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has responded to a recommendation made earlier this year by the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board.

In May, the federally appointed citizens’ panel recommended that DOE continue to plan for additional on-site waste disposal capacity on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, or ORR, for low-level radioactive and chemically hazardous waste.

DOE currently operates the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, or EMWMF, a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Bear Creek Valley near the Y-12 National Security Complex. When the facility began accepting waste in 2002, it was expected to handle all projected low-level waste from cleanup operations on the ORR. However, with the amount of demolition and work left to complete, EM requires additional disposal capacity onsite.

DOE has conducted a study to develop, screen, and evaluate alternatives for an additional waste disposal facility, with a working name of EM Disposal Facility, or EMDF. ORSSAB’s recommendation encouraged the agency to continue working toward adding disposal capacity and proposed recommendations for a new facility.

The ORSSAB encouraged DOE to minimize the need for additional on-site capacity when possible. In its response, DOE said it was examining the final cover design of the EMWMF to allow for extended capacity. The waste acceptance criteria for other so-called “sanitary landfills” on Chestnut Ridge are being evaluated for possible modifications to allow a wider variety of waste. [Read more…]

DOE, ORNL, state conduct emergency preparedness exercise Aug. 20

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Emergency responders from the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory—along with federal, state, and local emergency management personnel—will conduct an emergency exercise on Wednesday, August 20, at ORNL.

The public may observe emergency responders simulating response activities and performing environmental monitoring or sampling in the area surrounding the Oak Ridge Reservation. These activities are part of the exercise.

The exercise will begin at approximately 8 a.m. Eastern time and conclude around noon.

This event is one of a series of emergency exercises conducted regularly by the DOE facilities in Oak Ridge. The exercises test the ability of emergency personnel to respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations and ensure that the public, site employees and the environment would be protected in the event of an actual emergency at the facilities.

ASM International elects ORNL researchers Paranthaman, Pint fellows

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Parans Paranthaman and Bruce Pint

From left are Parans Paranthaman and Bruce Pint. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

The professional society ASM International has elected two researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the rank of fellow. A former ORNL researcher was also elected.

The materials engineering professional society cited Mariappan Parans Paranthaman “for the development of novel epitaxial buffer layers on textured templates, enabling high critical current density superconductor films, and for developing mesoporous architectures destined for high performance energy storage applications.”

Paranthaman, a distinguished researcher in the lab’s Chemical Sciences Division, has a joint faculty appointment with the University of Tennessee’s Bredesen Center in Knoxville as a professor. He is also a distinguished UT-Battelle inventor who has authored or co-authored more than 350 publications and has been awarded 28 U.S. patents. His awards include four R&D 100 Awards and three national and two regional Federal Laboratory Consortium awards for developing high performance second-generation superconducting wires for electric-power applications.

Bruce Pint, a researcher in the Materials Science and Technology Division, was cited for “groundbreaking contributions to the fundamental knowledge of high temperature oxidation mechanisms in alloys and coatings, and for contributions to heat resistant alloy design and development through the incorporation of minor elements to control and improve high temperature stability and overall oxidation resistance.” [Read more…]

Second meeting on AMSE features regional museum executives

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

The American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

 

The second in a series of community meetings on the American Museum of Science and Energy will feature executives from regional museums and attractions. They will discuss how their museums were established and developed, and how each is currently managed and operated.

The executives who are participating are:

  • John Joslyn, owner/operator of The Titanic Museums in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri;
  • Leah Ross, executive director of Birthplace of Country Music Museum and Association in Bristol, Virginia, and Tennessee; and
  • Ellie Kittrell, executive director of The MUSE Knoxville (formerly The Discovery Center).

The community meeting is sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge and the American Museum of Science and Energy Foundation. It’s scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, August 19, at AMSE. [Read more…]

UCOR donates $50,000 for UT faculty fellowship

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

UCOR UT Check Presentation

Pictured at the check presentation ceremony, from left, are J. Wesley Hines, head of the UT Department of Nuclear Engineering; Wayne Davis, dean for the UT College of Engineering; Matt Marston, UCOR chief operating officer; fellow Jason Hayward; and Jimmy Cheek, UT chancellor. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

 

UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, presented the University of Tennessee with a $50,000 check this week for a faculty fellowship in the university’s College of Engineering.

This check was the latest installment of a $250,000 commitment UCOR, a partnership between URS and CH2M Hill, has made to the university, a press release said.

“As a cleanup contractor of a nuclear site, UCOR is committed to ensuring continued excellence in nuclear education,” said Matt Marston, UCOR chief operating officer. “This fellowship is an important step to fulfilling that commitment.”

The recipient of the fellowship, Jason Hayward, is an assistant fellow in the College of Engineering’s Department of Nuclear Engineering. Since arriving at the University of Tennessee in 2008, Hayward has focused on research in the areas of detector science and development of gamma ray and neutron imaging for applications in nuclear security, neutron scattering science, and medical imaging, the press release said. [Read more…]

ORAU hosts Graduate Student Recruitment Fair

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Neil Brown at ORAU Graduate School Recruitment Fair

Neil Brown, right,, a senior majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, discusses his research during the 15th annual ORAU Graduate School Recruitment Fair. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

Following a full day of poster sessions where they presented the outcome of summer research projects completed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, more than 200 students from across the United States gathered at ORNL Thursday for the 15th annual ORAU Graduate Student Recruitment Fair.

Each year, the event is timed to correspond with the ORNL poster session to leverage the students’ excitement over their summer research achievements and to encourage enthusiasm for further expanding their education.

With representatives from the nation’s premier research graduate programs available in one room, the fair provided students the ability to explore possible future educational opportunities, as well as compare and contrast graduate programs. [Read more…]

DOE wants Clark Center Park to remain recreational if transferred to city

Posted at
By 8 Comments

Clark Center Park Water View

A view of Melton Hill Lake near a boat ramp and between two picnic areas at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge.

 

The U.S. Department of Energy wants to ensure that Clark Center Park remains a “recreational park asset” if it is transferred to the city of Oak Ridge, an official said this week.

That ought to be good news to park supporters. Some of them have expressed concern that the 80-acre park could be turned into a gated community or a waterfront development featuring “McMansions” if DOE turns the property over to the city.

John C. Shewairy, assistant manager for administration in DOE’s Oak Ridge Office, said federal officials are interested in transferring the property to the city as a “public benefit conveyance.”

“Given the park’s benefit to the citizens of Oak Ridge, the option we currently favor would be to transfer ownership to the city at no cost, provided that the property remains a recreational park asset for the public,” Shewairy said. “We are focused on this possible option.” [Read more…]

OREPA has names, remembrance ceremony at Y-12 on Wednesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

OREPA Peace Cranes at Y-12

Sharon O’Hara-Bruce of Lake Orion, Mich., ties a peace crane to a fence set up in front of the Y-12 National Security during a ceremony last year recalling the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, near the end of World War II.

An Oak Ridge peace organization will mark the 69th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, with a names and remembrance ceremony across from the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on Wednesday morning.

It’s an annual ceremony for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance that commemorates the bombing of Hiroshima near the end of World War II. Uranium for that bomb, code-named Little Boy, was enriched in Oak Ridge.

The Names and Remembrance Ceremony will be held directly across from the East Bear Creek Road entrance to Y12, starting at 6 a.m. and continuing until 9 a.m., a press release said.

“The ceremony, intended to be a solemn and non-confrontational remembrance, is an effort to join our voices to the voices of the hibakusha—the dwindling band of courageous survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima to say ‘Never again!'” the press release said. “We remember so we do not repeat.” [Read more…]

Wounded veteran finds new way to serve by training for career in 3D printing

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Joseph Grabianowski

Joseph Grabianowski

New training program prepares veterans, others to enter advanced manufacturing workforce

While 26-year-old wounded veteran Joseph Grabianowski has inspired Americans with his harrowing war story, someday he may be nationally known for building highly efficient exhaust systems for cars and trucks using 3D printing technology.

Grabianowski—pictured at left at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in front of a 3D printer holding a 3D-printed DOE seal and the plastic material from which it was made—is part of the Energy Department’s inaugural Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advanced Manufacturing Internship. The pilot program is designed to provide accelerated, hands-on career training for veterans and next-generation engineers to prepare them to immediately enter the workforce of the growing advanced manufacturing industry.

Grabianowski stepped on an IED while deployed with his Army unit in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in May 2012. Damage from the blast required a rare, radical amputation of his lower body. He had long dreamed of being a U.S. Marshal but knew his path would now lead in a new direction. In a December 2013 interview with USA Today, Grabianowski said, “I still love my country…even though I can’t go be a marshal now, I can still go do something that would be a good service to my country.”

Barely two years later, his successful recovery is a testament to his personal will and determination. This self-proclaimed techie now envisions a career for himself in what he calls the “future of manufacturing,” which is additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. Through this pioneering program offered by the Energy Department’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Pellissippi State Community College, and ORNL, Grabianowski is receiving the training needed to make his career goals a reality and prepare him to succeed in the additive manufacturing world.

“Where this industry is going to boom is right here in Oak Ridge,” Grabianowski said, “and the best engineers in the field are available through this program to teach me.” [Read more…]

Honors: ORNL retiree receives top national award from Women in Nuclear

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Peggy Emmett ORNL Researcher

Peggy Emmett (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory retired researcher Peggy Emmett is the recipient of the 2014 U.S. Women in Nuclear Leadership Award, the organization’s highest honor. The award caps a 51-year distinguished career for Emmett, who was recently recognized at a ceremony in Boston.

The award is in recognition of a U.S. WIN member who has made significant contributions and demonstrated leadership in the organization’s three core values: supporting an environment in nuclear energy and nuclear technologies in which both women and men are able to succeed; providing a network through which women in these fields can further their professional development; and providing an organized association through which the public is informed about nuclear energy and nuclear technologies.

Members of the award committee noted Emmett’s contributions to the education of the next generation and encouragement of STEM careers as evidenced by her creation of the SHADES program as well as numerous other activities. SHADES, a statewide project initiated in 1991, is a series of math and science programs for middle school-age girls and their math and science teachers. The program’s goal is to show girls that the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields are fun and interesting and provide excellent career opportunities. [Read more…]

Greener, cheaper fuel possible thanks to ORNL-UT breakthrough

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Michael Hu

Michael Hu

KNOXVILLE—Sticker shock at the gas pump could soon be a thing of the past thanks to research being conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Among the key components in processing fuels, particularly bio-friendly ones, are the membranes that aid in the process of separating unwanted compositions such as water from the fuel or hydrocarbon from aqueous phase.

“We can help wallets and help profits at the same time,” said Michael Hu, a joint faculty member of ORNL and the College of Engineering’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “If we can improve that separation process it will mean a reduction in cost to make, a reduction in cost to supply, and a reduction in cost to buy.”

The breakthrough technology being brought to life by the research team combines nanotextured pores with superhydrophobic or superhydrophillic—or, in plain terms, super water-repulsing and water-attracting—substances. [Read more…]

Cain named portfolio federal project director for ETTP cleanup

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Wendy Cain

Wendy Cain (Photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has named Wendy Cain as its new portfolio federal project director for cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park.

As the portfolio federal project director, Cain oversees all the cleanup, demolition, waste disposal, and land transfers at the site. At the forefront, Cain is directing the removal of the K-31 and K-27 buildings, which are the final uranium enrichment facilities at ETTP. In this position, she will oversee the site’s cleanup completion estimated for 2022 and the area’s transfer to private industry.

“Wendy was selected based on her proven track record and experience with some of our largest and most complex cleanup projects,” said Sue Cange, the acting manager of the Oak Ridge Office of EM. “We look forward to continuing our outstanding progress at ETTP through her leadership.” [Read more…]