Oak Ridge Today

Sara Alert Academic available for universities to use to help monitor COVID-19 cases

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As COVID-19 cases surge across the country, the university system is struggling to contain the spread of the disease and keep classes open. Sara Alert Academic is available now by subscription for university officials to securely automate the monitoring of students, faculty, and staff exposed to or infected with COVID-19 or any infectious disease, a press release said.

The software platform is tailored to the unique needs of universities and colleges, providing an automated workflow to allow health staff to rapidly prioritize and respond to student and staff needs. It customizes what a university will need to streamline the process, such as student identification, housing information, and tracking by university-specific areas, such as campus buildings or sports teams, the press release said.

“Sara Alert Academic provides secure infectious disease monitoring and reporting tailored specifically for universities,” said ORAU Vice President of Research and University Partnerships Ken Tobin. “It can help keep campuses operating safely through increased efficiency in tracking potential exposures and monitoring confirmed cases, leading to earlier containment and isolation, and reduction of burden on limited resources.”

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NNSA administrator resigns

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Lisa Gordon-Hagerty

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, resigned Friday.

The NNSA oversees the work at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and other nuclear weapons sites across the nation. The NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains nuclear warheads, produces fuel for the nuclear navy, and works on nuclear nonproliferation, among other activities.

Gordon-Hagerty, who was also under secretary of energy for nuclear security, became the first woman to lead the NNSA in February 2018.

It’s not clear why she resigned Friday or whether her resignation was voluntary.

Defense News reported that the resignation was driven by almost a year of clashes between Gordon-Hagerty’s office and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, including over budgets.

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ORNL engineer dies of COVID-19

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William “Bill” Lee Collier

An engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory died of COVID-19 on Saturday.

It’s the first death of an ORNL employee due to COVID-19.

The engineer, William Collier, 59, became sick the last weekend of August. He appears to have contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community, the lab said Tuesday.

Collier worked in the Nonreactor Nuclear Facilities Division at ORNL. His obituary said he grew up in Oak Ridge, graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1979, and graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He worked for 37 years at ORNL and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

“The loss of a coworker was a possibility we have feared since the pandemic began, and our hearts go out to their family, friends, and colleagues,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a message to staff members Tuesday. “This news tragically underscores the significance of the lab’s efforts to understand and combat COVID-19 and hardens our commitment to preventing its transmission and spread, through our own behaviors on campus and through research that is aiding the global fight against the virus.”

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Public notice: Draft environmental assessment available for Technology and Training Center

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AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OAK RIDGE ENHANCED TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING CENTER (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Draft Environmental Assessment (EA), which analyzes the potential impacts of constructing and operating the ORETTC to train first responders and other experts in nuclear operations, safeguards, and emergency response.

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Public notice: Final supplement analysis available for earthquake accident analysis at Y-12

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AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL SUPPLEMENT ANALYSIS FOR THE FINAL SITE-WIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX (Y-12 SWEIS), EARTHQUAKE ACCIDENT ANALYSIS (DOE/EIS-0387-SA-04)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Final Supplement Analysis (SA), which presents an analysis of the potential impacts of earthquake accidents at the Y-12 site. Based on the SA, NNSA has determined that no further NEPA documentation is required. Copies of the document are available on the DOE NEPA web page at https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0387-y-12-national-security-complex-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-oak-ridge.

TVC Virtual Summit Thursday afternoon to focus on Oak Ridge, Huntsville

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The second session of the Tennessee Valley Corridor Virtual Summit Series this afternoon (Thursday, July 23) will focus on Oak Ridge and Huntsville, and science and technology in the corridor.

Most of the TVC’s annual $75 billion in federal investments are made in the historic communities of Huntsville and Oak Ridge, a summit advisory said.

You can learn more about the federal missions based in the two cities and how they impact the nation and world during today’s session, the advisory said.

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Y-12 employee dies of health issues related to COVID-19

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William Mark Easterly

A project controls manager at the Y-12 National Security Complex has died of health issues related to COVID-19, the nuclear weapons production plant said Tuesday.

The Daily Times has identified the employee as Mark Easterly of Maryville. The newspaper said Easterly was employed by Bechtel for almost 30 years, and he began working at Y-12 as a project controls manager in March.

His death is the first death due to COVID-19 at a National Nuclear Security Administration site. Y-12 is an NNSA site. The NNSA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Daily Times reported that Easterly’s wife, Brandee, is principal of John Sevier Elementary School in Maryville.

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Updated: Former DOE research director, CROET founder dies at 91

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Joe Lenhard, right, is pictured with Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch at the dedication of Main Street Oak Ridge in July 2016. (Photo courtesy Warren Gooch)

Note: This story was last updated at 11:10 a.m. July 19.

Joe Lenhard, a former U.S. Department of Energy research director and founder of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, died Friday of COVID-19, a family member said. He was 91.

Lenhard died Friday evening at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, his daughter Andrea Lenhard said in a Facebook post.

My father, Joseph Lenhard, died Friday evening at MMC of Covid. He went quickly. Rest in peace, Daddy. You were always my hero.

Posted by Andie Lenhard on Friday, July 17, 2020

Lenhard was a research director for the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. He had oversight of DOE research activities and served as the federal contracting officer for major federal facilities in the city, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to his LinkedIn page. He worked for DOE for about 32 years, from 1957 to 1989.

Lenhard served as president of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce in 1992, and he was chair of the East Tennessee Economic Council in 1993 and 1994.

He helped found CROET in 1994, and he was the founding chairman. CROET helps find ways to re-use former federal property, not just real estate but also equipment and other federal assets. A tribute to Lenhard’s service is noted on a plaque in the Horizon Center Industrial Park in west Oak Ridge.

His daughter Andrea said her father loved the natural world, and she became a biologist and veterinarian because of him. Her father used to take them on long rambles in the woods, Andrea said, and he would pick up animals like snakes and frogs and tell the children what he knew about them.

“He loved nature, and that was very infectious,” she said.

Andrea said Oak Ridge was very important to her father.

“He always wanted to promote Oak Ridge and take care of Oak Ridge,” she said. “He was very devoted to the city.”

Lenhard could often be found walking in local grocery stores. He was very conscious of his health, Andrea said, and he would walk every day at stores that included Walmart, Kroger, and Food City. He would sometimes stop to talk to people, including an Oak Ridge Today reporter.

Andrea said her father was a lot of fun, full of life, and he loved everybody.

She recalled the trips her family used to take to Norris Lake on weekends when she was a child—playing in the water, climbing trees, telling jokes—and she said her father spent as much time as he could with his grandchildren as well.

A statement from the family of Lenhard’s daughter Michele said Joe Lenhard was very supportive of higher education.

“He gave substantial sums of money to the University of Tennessee and Roane State Community College,” the statement said. “Roane State dedicated a room to Joseph Lenhard for his outstanding contributions. Joe came from an economically disproportionate background and saw the benefit of higher education. He wanted to provide educational opportunity for the young people of East Tennessee.”

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Tennessee Valley Corridor Virtual Summit starts Thursday

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Pictured above are Congressman Phil Roe (TN-1) and Tim Thomas, Appalachian Regional Commission federal co-chair.

JOHNSON CITY—On Thursday, July 16, the Tennessee Valley Corridor will be celebrating its 25th anniversary and kicking off this summer’s Virtual Summit series.

During the Summit, you can learn more about the Appalachian Highlands’ most important assets and plans within the region to achieve greater economic growth.

Tune in to the Tennessee Valley Corridor Virtual Summit at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, July 16.

Twenty-Five Years of Innovation Transforming the Region

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ORISE launches new app, redesigned website

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education has unveiled its redesigned ORISE website and new ORISE GO app, providing a wide range of resources on the go, a press release said.

The all-new ORISE GO mobile app offers college students, recent graduates, and postdoctoral students a mobile tool to search and apply for hundreds of science, technology, engineering, and math internships, fellowships, and research opportunities at national laboratories and facilities across the United States, the press release said.

The ORISE GO app also provides a platform to remain engaged, connected, and informed during the ORISE experience—from application, to offer, through the appointment, and even as an ORISE alumni, the press release said. [Read more…]

Japanese supercomputer displaces ORNL’s Summit as world’s most powerful

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A Japanese supercomputer has displaced the Summit supercomputer, pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as the world’s most powerful. Summit is a 200-petaflop IBM system. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)

Note: This story was last updated at 3 p.m. June 24.

A Japanese supercomputer has displaced the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as the world’s most powerful and bumped other U.S. and Chinese machines down one spot on a semiannual list of the fastest systems.

Summit had been ranked the world’s most powerful supercomputer on the semiannual TOP500 list since June 2018. It was bumped to number two when the new TOP500 list was released Monday.

The new top system is installed in Kobe, Japan, and it is named Fugaku. In a high-performance test, it performed at 415.5 petaflops. A petaflop is a quadrillion floating-point operations per second.

Fugaku’s performance was 2.8 times better than Summit’s, according to TOP500. Summit delivered 148.8 petaflops on the high-performance test.

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Photos: Old AMSE building being demolished

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The former American Museum of Science and Energy building on South Tulane Avenue is being demolished, and apartments are planned on the site. (Photo courtesy Mike Mahathy)

The former American Museum of Science and Energy building is being demolished, and apartments are planned on the site.

The apartment project is expected to include seven three-story buildings with 226 apartment units on 10 acres.

Now called Main Street Lofts, the $32 million apartment project has included an agreement to reduce property taxes and the transfer of what had been federal property from the U.S. Department of Energy to the city and then to TN Oak Ridge Illinois, a company affiliated with RealtyLink, the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge.

The apartments are being built as RealtyLink, a South Carolina company, plans to build more new stores across South Tulane Avenue at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

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