Oak Ridge Today

Voce starts today as general manager of Oak Ridge security force

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Michael Voce

Michael Voce

Michael Voce started today as general manager of the National Strategic Protective Services’ protective force contract at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge.

NSPS, a joint venture of Triple Canopy Inc. and Securiguard Inc., announced last month that Voce would start Oct. 1. He replaces general manager Greg McDowell, whose resignation was announced in July.

NSPS is responsible for providing protective force services to the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Joe L. Evins Federal Building. Voce will be responsible for directing the safe and efficient performance of the protective work force and overseeing all administrative operations, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL physicist to discuss sensors, detection technologies

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Bruce Warmack

Bruce Warmack

A physicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss sensors and detection technologies, such as those used in smoke alarms, at a Friends of ORNL meeting on Tuesday.

The talk by Bruce Warmack of the ORNL Measurement Science and Systems Engineering Division is titled “Making machines sense our world.”

The meeting is open to the public, and it starts at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

DOE appoints three new advisory board members

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board Members

New Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board Members Wanda Smith, Noel Berry, and Mary Hatcher are pictured left to right above. (Submitted photo)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management recently appointed three new members to its advisory board.

The agency appointed Noel Berry, Mary Hatcher, and Wanda Smith for two-year terms to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, or ORSSAB, a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides independent advice and recommendations about cleanup conducted throughout the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The board’s Deputy Designated Federal Officer Susan Cange introduced the three to the public at ORSSAB’s September meeting. “Thank you for volunteering your time to serve on the board,” she told them. “It is certainly appreciated by DOE and your fellow board members.” [Read more…]

With shutdown looming, DOE expects to keep operating for now

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

U.S. Department of Energy Forrestal Building

With a potential government shutdown looming, U.S. Department of Energy employees are expected to continue working unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent. Pictured above is DOE’s Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy DOE)

Although a federal government shutdown is looming, the U.S. Department of Energy expects federal employees to continue reporting for work unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent.

“Each component of DOE will continue to operate until prior year balances for funding of federal employees is exhausted,” DOE said in a guide posted on its website. “Their operations under those circumstances will be somewhat modified. For example, travel will generally be curtailed. DOE has some limited transfer and reprogramming authority, which may enable DOE to extend the number of days of funding available in some limited cases.”

The guide said operations will stop once prior-year balances have been spent at most DOE facilities. There would be exceptions for functions related to the safety of human life and protection of property. [Read more…]

ORNL employees to work Tuesday even if federal government shuts down

Posted at
By 3 Comments

Thom Mason

Thom Mason

It’s still not clear if Congress will pass a budget and keep the government open past midnight Monday, but UT-Battelle employees should report to work Tuesday even if the government shuts down, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason said.

Mason addressed the potential government shutdown in a message on staff cuts that he sent to employees Thursday morning.

Mason said ORNL has enough funding to continue operations even if federal employees have to stop work on Oct. 1. [Read more…]

Fiscal prudence requires ORNL to prepare for smaller budgets, director says

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Thom Mason

Thom Mason

Many budget questions remain unresolved heading into the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 and there could be another $100 million drop in funding, so Oak Ridge National Laboratory is implementing plans to further reduce overhead spending and opening a voluntary separation program that could reduce the workforce by up to 475 jobs, Director Thom Mason said Thursday.

Employees can apply for the Voluntary Separation Program, or VSP, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 14. Those employees who are accepted will leave the payroll by Dec. 31.

Lab officials emphasized that they hope the number of staff cuts is smaller than 475. ORNL has about 4,400 to 4,500 employees. [Read more…]

ORNL could trim staff by up to 475, but officials hope for fewer cuts

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Central Campus

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s central campus is pictured above. (Courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory/U.S. Department of Energy)

With the federal budget under pressure, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has permission to reduce its staff by up to 475 employees, but officials hope they don’t have to make that many cuts.

The workforce reduction could come through what is known as a voluntary separation program, or VSP. Those who apply and are accepted would leave the payroll Dec. 31, ORNL Communications Director David Keim said Thursday.

Keim said the lab had to ask the U.S. Department of Energy for permission to make the cuts, and ORNL sought the highest number of possible reductions. [Read more…]

UT receives DOE funds, ORNL help for spent nuclear fuel studies

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

KNOXVILLE—The question of what to do with spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. has never been definitively answered. A University of Tennessee in Knoxville professor has received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop new capabilities for evaluating potential alternatives to directly disposing of used fuel.

The award is part of the DOE’s 2013 Nuclear Energy University Programs which is awarding $42 million to 38 American universities and colleges for nuclear energy research and development projects focused on developing innovative solutions.

A proposal by Steven Skutnik, assistant professor in nuclear engineering, was awarded $755,000 to develop new capabilities for a fuel cycle simulator called CYCLUS by building on an Oak Ridge National Laboratory software package for nuclear fuel modeling called ORIGEN. [Read more…]

No comment from NNSA on next step for Y-12, Pantex contract

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Y-12 National Security Complex Sign

Federal officials declined to comment Wednesday on the next step in the process to award a consolidated contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Federal officials declined to comment Wednesday on the next step in the process to award a consolidated contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office announced in an eight-page decision that it had denied or dismissed three elements of a bid protest filed June 17 by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, a team led by Babcock and Wilcox Co. But it wasn’t clear what would happen next.

“No comment,” Kate Black, a contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a brief e-mail response to a question about the next step on Wednesday afternoon. [Read more…]

GAO denies, dismisses second protest of Y-12, Pantex contract award

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Tuesday rejected a three-part protest filed in June by one of the two teams that lost a competition earlier this year to manage two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas, a contract that could be worth up to $22.8 billion. Pictured above is one of the plants, the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12)

The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Tuesday denied or dismissed three elements of a protest filed in June by one of the two teams that lost a competition earlier this year to manage two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas, a contract that could be worth up to $22.8 billion.

The bid protest was filed on June 17 by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, a team led by Babcock and Wilcox Co. NP2 was one of three bidding teams that sought to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. [Read more…]

UT-Battelle builds second home for ADFAC

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ADFAC UT-Battelle Home

Annie Cacheiro, right, executive director of Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, and Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, speak at a dedication for a home built by volunteers on Jay Lane.

Volunteers from UT-Battelle have completed their second home in two years for ADFAC, a nonprofit agency that helps low-income residents.

Officials and volunteers celebrated last week with a ceremony at the new single-story, two-bedroom home on Jay Lane.

“It’s a blessing,” said Emily Mitchell, 24, the new homeowner. “I know I couldn’t do it on my own.”

Mitchell, who has a two-year-old daughter, now lives on Van Hicks Place. She is the family self-sufficiency coordinator for the Oak Ridge Housing Authority. [Read more…]

FEMA official to participate in session on emergency management culture

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Richard Serino

Richard Serino

A federal emergency management administrator will take part in a Wednesday conference call from Oak Ridge on organizational innovations in emergency management.

Richard Serino, deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will take part in a Think Tank session on how to cultivate innovation in the “white spaces” of emergency management, a press release said. The Think Tank is from 1-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, in the Zach Wamp Auditorium of the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Serino will be joined by Jim Bassham, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and officials from the U.S. Department of Energy.

[Read more…]