Oak Ridge Today

President Truman’s grandson to discuss decision to bomb Japan in World War II

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Clifton Truman Daniel

Clifton Truman Daniel

In a speech later this month, the oldest grandson of former president Harry S. Truman will discuss his grandfather’s decision to use the world’s first atomic weapons at the end of World War II, a momentous decision that depended, at least in part, on work done in Oak Ridge.

Clifton Truman Daniel will also share insights about his grandfather’s life after Truman left the White House, and Daniel will discuss a family trip to Japan in 2012 for the 67th anniversary of the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Daniel will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday, March 28. His speech is hosted by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s open to the public, and tickets are $20.

[Read more…]

‘Girls of Atomic City’ author will be at March 19 lecture, book signing

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Denise Kiernan

Denise Kiernan

A March 19 community lecture will feature an author who has written about Oak Ridge women and the second world war.

Denise Kiernan is author of “The Girls of the Atomic City—the Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II.”

She will be the featured speaker during the Tuesday, March 19, lecture, which starts at 6 p.m. at the American Museum of Science and Energy. It’s part of the 16th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

[Read more…]

Manhattan Project national park bill reintroduced

Posted at
By 2 Comments

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has reintroduced legislation to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park would also include Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash. All three sites played important roles in the top-secret World War II program to build the world’s first atomic weapons.

“The Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in American history, and the facilities at Oak Ridge continue to be an important source of jobs and research for Tennessee and the rest of the country,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.

The legislation was introduced Thursday.

[Read more…]

Sequester scenarios: DOE contractors in Tennessee could furlough 1,400, lose $90 million

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Daniel B. Poneman

Daniel B. Poneman

The federal funding cuts that went into effect March 1 could result in 1,400 furloughs or layoffs for U.S. Department of Energy contractors in Tennessee, an official said this week. The furloughs could start as early as April 1.

There could also be spending reductions of about $90 million for DOE contractors in the Volunteer State, DOE Deputy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman said in a March 5 letter to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.

Funding for contractors at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge could be cut by roughly $41 million, and more than 1,000 contractor employees could be furloughed, Poneman said.

[Read more…]

Rotary International president visits Oak Ridge for peace forum

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Sakuji Tanaka

Sakuji Tanaka

When Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka of Japan visits Oak Ridge on Friday and Saturday, he will talk about and hear innovative ideas on how to achieve peace through service.

On Friday, Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give Tanaka a tour of ORNL. At 3 p.m., the RI president will tour the Secret City Commemorative Walk built by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. City Manager Mark Watson, who is president-elect of this Rotary club, will present a gift to Tanaka, who will make some remarks.

At 3:45 p.m. Tanaka will then visit the International Friendship Bell, where he will be welcomed by Oak Ridger Jack Bailey, district governor of RI District 6780, which encompasses 65 clubs in East Tennessee. Shigeko Uppuluri will present a history of the bell and give a bell replica to Tanaka, who will make remarks and ring the bell.

[Read more…]

ORNL’s Reeves wins microscopy society’s outstanding technologist award

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Shawn Reeves

Shawn Reeves

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Shawn Reeves has been awarded the 2013 Outstanding Technologist Award in Physical Sciences from the Microscopy Society of America.

She is a member of the microscopy group in ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division.

Reeves, a Lenoir City resident, will receive the award during the plenary session of the Microscopy and Microanalysis Annual Meeting in Indianapolis this summer.

Five mercury cleanup projects wrapped up in February

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Mercury-contaminated Tank Cleanup

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.

[Read more…]

Eight firms show interest in designing ETTP museum

Posted at
By 1 Comment

ETTP After Cleanup

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.

[Read more…]

President Obama nominates MIT scientist for energy secretary

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

President Barack Obama has nominated a physicist and director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to serve as his next energy secretary.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ernest J. Moniz would replace Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, as secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. Chu announced Feb. 1 that he would not serve a second four-year term in the Obama administration.

[Read more…]

UCOR: Highest-risk components safely removed from K-27

Posted at
By 1 Comment

NaF Trap Removed at K-27

Ernie Gunter, left, and Michael Shirks watch as a NaF trip is lifted through the roof of K-27. (Submitted photos)

UCOR has removed the highest-risk components remaining in the K-27 building at East Tennessee Technology Park, a press release said.

Six components known as NaF, or sodium fluoride, traps have been removed by crane, the press release said.

The K-27 building is a “sister” to the mile-long K-25 gaseous diffusion process building, which is now nearly demolished, the release said. Both are Manhattan Project buildings built to produce materials for nuclear weapons. As work is completed at K-25, crews are shifting to K-27.

[Read more…]

Summit High School wins 2013 DOE Tennessee Science Bowl

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

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.

[Read more…]

Y-12 officers detain bike rider on North Patrol Road

Posted at
By 5 Comments

Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

Security officers at the Y-12 National Security Complex detained an Oak Ridge man riding a bicycle on the North Patrol Road Saturday afternoon.

The bike rider, Brent Lee, 39, of Normandy Road, was spotted by members of a Y-12 canine team performing a routine random patrol of the area, authorities said.

He was detained at 2:07 p.m. Saturday and turned over to the Oak Ridge Police Department on Scarboro Road, authorities said.

ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said Lee was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor. He was cited and released.

[Read more…]