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Officials from Oak Ridge area attend DOE intergovernmental meeting

Posted at 8:10 pm December 28, 2012
By City of Oak Ridge 1 Comment

State and local officials from Oak Ridge and Anderson and Roane counties recently attended the U.S. Department of Energy’s Annual Intergovernmental Conference in New Orleans. Participants met with federal, state, and local leaders from DOE sites across the nation, including top managers overseeing DOE’s Environmental Management, or EM, program.

Two senior DOE officials were keynote speakers at the conference. David Huizenga, senior advisor for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, provided an update on the EM program, which is responsible for environmental restoration, waste management, and long-term stewardship at DOE sites across the complex.

Neile Miller, recently named acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and acting undersecretary for nuclear security, addressed the relationship between NNSA and EM, and how the programs work together at sites with multiple missions like Oak Ridge.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Anderson County, DOE, EM, environmental management, Intergovernmental Conference, Oak Ridge, Office of Intergovernmental Programs, Roane County, Tom Beehan, U.S. Department of Energy

Supercomputers, materials and bears: ORNL marks eventful 2012

Posted at 4:05 pm December 28, 2012
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1 Comment

Jeff Nichols and Titan at ORNL

ORNL’s newest supercomputer, Titan, seen here with associate lab director for computing and computational sciences Jeff Nichols, took the top spot in November’s Top500 rankings. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory regained the lead in high-performance computing, enjoyed record-setting recognition for its research, and became a showpiece for renewable energy technology during 2012.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science reciprocated with favorable marks in its annual appraisal of managing contractor UT-Battelle. DOE cited the laboratory’s operation of its scientific user facilities, its “delivery of impactful science,” and a successful workforce restructuring to reduce operating costs.

“The dedicated efforts of our laboratory staff in all phases of science and technology and operational support have resulted in an excellent record of delivering science to the nation in 2012,” said ORNL Director Thom Mason. “ORNL will continue to set the pace in research toward a clean and secure energy future.”

ORNL’s 2012 included achievements in both research and support.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Science, Top Stories Tagged With: 2012, biomass-fueled steam plant, community outreach, DOE, Herb Mook, High Flux Isotope Reactor, high-performance computing, Jaguar, Mars Curiosity, National Academy of Engineering, Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, Onnes Prize, ORNL, R&D 100 Awards, Radiation Safety Information Computation Center, renewable energy, research, science, scientific computing, Spallation Neutron Source, Steven Zinkle, Thom Mason, Titan, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, UT-Battelle, workforce restructuring

UCOR ships 15,000 loads of waste from K-25

Posted at 8:00 am December 24, 2012
By UCOR Leave a Comment

K-25 Building Demolition Debris

Some of the debris from the demolition of K-25’s east wing. (Submitted photo)

UCOR has shipped 15,000 loads of demolition debris from the K-25 Building at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the company announced last week.

The 15,000 loads represent approximately two million square feet of the deteriorated former gaseous diffusion building, built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That square footage is the equivalent of 40 NFL football fields combined.

The material has been sent to the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility in Oak Ridge for permanent disposition.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, Heritage Center, K-25, K-25 Building, Manhattan Project, Mark Ferri, UCOR, uranium enrichment, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC

Y-12 employees help make holiday merrier for many

Posted at 12:51 pm December 22, 2012
By Y-12 National Security Complex Leave a Comment

Bicycles from Y-12 Workers

Bicycles and helmets provided by Y-12 workers await distribution to area charitable agencies. (Submitted photo)

Nearly 50 workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex served as Santa’s elves in the Y-12 Employees’ Society’s 2012 Angel Tree program. The society collaborates with various charitable agencies to help provide holiday gifts for families deemed eligible for assistance by their county’s Department of Human Services.

The elves, working with donations provided by hundreds of Y-12 co-workers, did the additional footwork needed to fulfill the holiday gift wishes of 497 children in Anderson, Roane, Morgan, Loudon, Scott, and Monroe counties. Coordinated this year by Y-12 employee Jessica Smith, the program is now in its seventh year.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Angel Tree, B&W Y-12, Christmas in July, elves, fundraising, gifts, holidays, Jessica Smith, Santa, Y-12 Employees’ Society’s 2012 Angel Tree, Y-12 National Security Complex

NNSA Administrator D’Agostino retiring in January

Posted at 1:13 pm December 21, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Thomas P. D'Agostino

Thomas P. D’Agostino

Thomas P. D’Agostino, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, announced his retirement today.

In a statement Friday, D’Agostino said he will retire Jan. 18, the end of President Barack Obama’s first term. He has been NNSA administrator and under secretary for nuclear security for more than five years. He was also deputy administrator for defense programs for two years.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site. The NNSA is a separate agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

D’Agostino has had 36 years of federal service, rising through the ranks of the U.S. Navy and then leading nuclear security efforts at DOE.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Thomas P. D’Agostino, Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 protesters say fence hole remains after break-in, officials say it’s repaired

Posted at 12:09 pm December 20, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Hole in Y-12 Perimeter Fence

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance says three protesters crossed into the Y-12 National Security Complex through this hole the trio cut in a perimeter fence before dawn on July 28, and OREPA alleges that the hole had not been repaired as of Monday. (Submitted photo)

More than four months after three protesters broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex, a hole that the trio cut in a perimeter fence still hasn’t been repaired, an Oak Ridge group said Wednesday.

In a statement, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, which has supported the Y-12 protesters, said two OREPA members went to the nuclear weapons plant on Monday and, after 15 minutes of walking, found the spot where the protesters had cut through an outer fence. It was open from the ground up to a spot about four feet high—a hole large enough for a person to squeeze through, the group said.

But in a statement Thursday afternoon, federal officials said the fence has been repaired.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Top Stories, Y-12 Security Breach Tagged With: B&W Y-12, Greg Boertje-Obed, Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, Megan Rice, Michael Walli, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, OREPA, Ralph Hutchison, security breach, Steven Wyatt, Transform Now Plowshares, Y-12 National Security Complex, Y-12 protesters

One-of-a-kind waste incinerator in ‘safe shutdown’ at ETTP

Posted at 10:21 am December 20, 2012
By UCOR Leave a Comment

Filling the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator

Workers fill the sumps at the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator with grout, as part of the work to close it. (Submitted photo)

A one-of-a-kind waste incinerator, which began operations at the East Tennessee Technology Park more than 20 years ago, has been safely shut down.

When the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator, or TSCAI, began operations in 1990, the intent was to run it for five years to prove the technology worked. It was the only incinerator in the nation permitted to burn certain hazardous and radioactive wastes.

Operations ceased in December 2009, after a safe and successful run that saw the facility burn 35 million pounds of liquids and solids from DOE sites across the United States—even some from Hawaii.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, EPA, ETTP, Oak Ridge Reservation, TDEC, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the Environmental Protection Agency, Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator, TSCAI, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, UCOR Project Manager Mary Magleby, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC

With ‘fiscal cliff’ looming, ORNL says it’s as well-prepared as it can be

Posted at 2:38 pm December 19, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

As President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner continue their high-stakes negotiations over tax revenues and spending cuts, officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory say they have prepared as best they can for automatic spending cuts that could go into effect in January.

“We have been preparing for increased budget pressures for several years now and have taken a number of steps to reduce our costs, including workforce restructuring, benefits changes, reduction in energy consumption, and other operational costs,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a statement Monday. “Since we don’t know exactly how any cuts would be allocated by the various governments agencies that fund ORNL, we can’t really say with certainty what the impacts would be, other than to say we are as well-prepared for uncertainty as we can be.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Bob Corker, Congress, DOE, fiscal cliff, House Speaker John Boehner, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Management and Budget, OMB, ORNL, President Barack Obama, sequestration, spending cuts, U.S. Department of Energy, White House, Y-12 National Security Complex

One hundred Westcott photos now on AMSE website

Posted at 6:00 am December 18, 2012
By American Museum of Science and Energy Leave a Comment

Ed Westcott Photo on AMSE Website

The 100th photo from a collection of World War II pictures taken by James Edward Westcott, the official U.S. Army Manhattan Project photographer, was added to an American Museum of Science and Energy website today.

During the past year, the World War II images taken in Oak Ridge by James Edward Westcott, the official U.S. Army Manhattan Project photographer, have been scanned one image at a time every Tuesday and Thursday into the American Museum of Science and Energy’s website.

Today, the AMSE website will add the 100th photograph. The picture shows people waiting in line outside the telephone office in Oak Ridge, and it was taken by Westcott in 1944.

“The photos of Oak Ridge taken by Ed Westcott during the Manhattan Project years are invaluable to the preservation of the story of a unique moment in the United States history,” said Julie Kellis, AMSE collections curator.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: American Museum of Science and Energy, AMSE, Ed Westcott, James Edward Westcott, Julie Kellis, Manhattan Project, photographer, World War II

UT study predicts extreme climate in eastern United States

Posted at 6:29 pm December 17, 2012
By University of Tennessee 2 Comments

From extreme drought to super storms, many wonder what the future holds for the climate of the eastern United States. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville does away with the guessing.

Results show the region will be hotter and wetter.

Joshua Fu, a civil and environmental engineering professor, and Yang Gao, a graduate research assistant, developed precise scales of cities that act as a climate crystal ball, seeing high-resolution climate changes almost 50 years into the future.

The study found that heat waves will become more severe in most regions of the eastern United States and that both the Northeast and Southeast will see a drastic increase in precipitation.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: climate, eastern United States, Emory University, Environmental Research Letters, extreme weather, heat waves, Jaguar, Joshua Fu, Kraken, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Center for Computational Sciences, National Institute for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, precipitation, temperatures, University of Tennessee, UT, UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Computational Sciences, Yang Gao

New leader named to UT-ORNL Supercomputer Center

Posted at 11:11 am December 12, 2012
By University of Tennessee Leave a Comment

Tony Mezzacappa

Tony Mezzacappa

Tony Mezzacappa, a leader in the field of astrophysics and supernova science, has been named director of the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Mezzacappa is a world leader in computational astrophysics and a pioneer in the field of supernova science. He is a UT-Battelle Corporate Fellow and group leader for theoretical physics in the Physics Division at ORNL.

He is also a joint professor in the UT Department of Physics and Astronomy. With this new position, Mezzacappa will become the department’s Newton W. and Wilma C. Thomas Endowed Chair in Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: computational astrophysics, JICS, Joint Institute for Computational Sciences, National Institute for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Physics Division, supernova science, Tony Mezzacappa, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, UT, UT Department of Physics and Astronomy, UT-Battelle Corporate Fellow

U.S. Rep. Fattah of Pennsylvania tours ORNL

Posted at 9:29 pm December 11, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Pennsylvania Democrat, with Oak Ridge National Laboratory Associate Lab Director Jeff Nichols in front of the Titan supercomputer, ranked the world’s fastest in November. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Pennsylvania Democrat, visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory today.

While at the lab, Fattah visited the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, BioEnergy Science Center, Spallation Neutron Source, Center for Nanophase Materials Science, and Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.

He spoke with lab leadership about ORNL’s research in areas that include advanced manufacturing, materials research, supercomputing and biofuels; the transfer of ORNL technology to the private sector; science, technology, engineering and math education; and other topics.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Science, Top Stories Tagged With: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Pennsylvania, tour, U.S. Rep. Fattah

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