Oak Ridge Today

ORNL researcher helps discover new species of cave snail

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Researchers discovered the Tennessee cavesnail, Antrorbis tennesseensis, in caves near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The snail is less than two millimeters long. (Photo credit: ORNL/Nathaniel Shoobs and Matthew Niemiller)

A researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory helped discover a small cave snail.

The new snail species has been named the Tennessee cavesnail, or Antrorbis tennesseensis. Its name honors the state where it was found and the fact that several researchers involved in its discovery are affiliated with the University of Tennessee. A paper describing and naming the species was published in December.

The snail, which is less than two millimeters long, was found in two caves in Roane County a few miles south of the Oak Ridge Reservation. The reservation includes ORNL and parts of the city of Oak Ridge.

The snail is found on or under rocks far inside the caves, usually in streams that aren’t too muddy or silty, ORNL said. Researchers recommended that the species be listed as endangered.

The ORNL researcher is Evin Carter. He is a research associate and wildlife ecologist at ORNL, which is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory. With only a handful of surveys completed so far, Carter has plans to survey the 40 or so other caves on the Oak Ridge Reservation, ORNL said.

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CNS president returned to work last week after work-from-home precaution

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Morgan Smith (Photo by CNS)

Morgan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security, returned to work last week after temporarily working from home as a precaution. Smith worked from home after he was notified that someone that he had been in brief contact with had reported symptoms that could be related to COVID-19.

But a test of that person was negative for COVID-19, and Smith returned to work on Tuesday, April 7, CNS spokesperson Kathryn King said this week.

Smith had no symptoms, King said.

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Forty-nine COVID-19 cases confirmed at NNSA sites

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The National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday said there were 49 confirmed COVID-19 cases at its sites across the country.

The sites include the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. The NNSA, which oversees work at Y-12, did not say how how many COVID-19 cases there have been among Y-12 employees. The plant is not releasing site-specific numbers of confirmed cases because of operational security concerns, the NNSA said.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, which manages and operates Y-12 for the NNSA, has also declined to say how many COVID-19 cases have been confirmed among Y-12 employees. CNS confirmed the first two cases in March and, when asked about additional cases, would only say that there were several.

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Y-12 begins limited operations, transitions to ‘mission critical’ operations

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Note: This story was updated at 11:45 a.m.

On Monday, the Y-12 National Security Complex began limited operations and transitioning to mission-critical operations. The change is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, all non-essential personnel will leave the 811-acre nuclear weapons production plant in Oak Ridge, and employees who can telework will continue to do so.

“Since mid-March, Y-12 has been in a preventive phase of its pandemic plan,” the site in a a response to questions on Wednesday. The response was provided by spokesperson Kathryn King of Consolidated Nuclear Security, a federal contractor that manages and operates Y-12 and another nuclear weapons production plant, the Pantex Plant northeast of Amarillo, Texas.

“With additional cases now confirmed at Y-12 and the growing number of cases in East Tennessee, the plant is transitioning to a ‘containment’ phase that ensures mission-critical operations while further protecting the Y-12 workforce and the community,” the response said. “In the containment phases, all non-essential plant personnel will leave the site until further notice. Employees who are able to telework will continue to do so.”

CNS said all Y-12 processes, systems, and facilities will be maintained in safe and secure configurations. Key mission activities related to stockpile stewardship and modernization, and key infrastructure and reestablishment of production capabilities, will continue.

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Clark Center Park temporarily closed

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Clark Center Park Beach
The beach at Clark Center Park is pictured in July 2014. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The U.S. Department of Energy has temporarily closed Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge.

The closure was effective Saturday, April 4. It was in response to the stay-at-home order issued by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Thursday, April 2. That statewide order was meant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that cause serious symptoms, lead to hospitalization, and sometimes result in death.

The park closure will remain in effect until further notice, DOE said.

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CNS president working from home as precaution

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Morgan Smith (Photo by CNS)

Note: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m.

Morgan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security, which manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, is working from home as a precaution after being notified that he was in brief contact with someone earlier in the week who self-reported symptoms that could be related to COVID-19.

The person has been tested but the results aren’t back yet, CNS spokesperson Kathryn King said in response to questions Monday.

“Morgan has no symptoms and is actively teleworking as he leads CNS in completing the mission and responding to the demands created by the global coronavirus pandemic,” King said.

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Y-12: UPF buses now only half-filled at most, cleaned and sanitized

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In this picture posted March 3, the roof is being raised at the Uranium Processing Facility Salvage and Accountability Building, and the second elevated deck is being set into place. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

The buses that carry employees to and from the Uranium Processing Facility construction project each day are filled to half of their capacity at most, and the buses are being cleaned and sanitized after each drop-off, a federal contractor said.

Oak Ridge Today asked about the buses after an employee at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where the UPF is being built, tested positive for COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

UPF rotates multiple buses throughout the day to take workers to and from the construction site, said Consolidated Nuclear Security, the federal contractor that manages and operates Y-12 as well as the Pantex Plant northeast of Amarillo, Texas.

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UT-Battelle gets five-year extension to manage ORNL

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign
Photo by ORNL

The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a five-year extension of UT-Battelle’s contract to manage and operate Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The five-year extension took effect Wednesday, April 1, ORNL said in a response to questions.

The value of the extension wasn’t immediately available.

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Several Y-12 employees test positive for COVID-19

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Note: This story was updated at 11:45 a.m. April 8.

Several employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex have tested positive for COVID-19, the contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly, but the contractor that manages and operates the nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge declined Wednesday to say how many employees are infected.

Oak Ridge Today has reported on two Y-12 employees who were diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. Since then, the news website has received reports that other employees have also tested positive, possibly six total (including the two already reported). But Y-12 said it could not comment on the total number of cases, and the site did not comment on the condition of those employees.

“As of Wednesday, April 1, 2020, several employees at Y-12 have tested positive for COVID-19,” according to a response to questions from Consolidated Nuclear Security, the federal contractor that manages and operates Y-12 as well as the Pantex Plant northeast of Amarillo, Texas.

“Employees who tested positive and those who have been in contact with affected employees are self-isolating per the CDC’s guidelines,” CNS said. “In cases where employees are from the same organization, everyone working in affected buildings may be sent home as a precaution while the areas are sanitized.”

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More than 60 percent of ORNL staff working remotely

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign
Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

More than 60 percent of the 5,200 staff members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working remotely.

No staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, a contagious respiratory disease that has spread around the world and can be deadly. But ORNL does have employees that have been put in self-quarantine by the lab’s medical director. That includes staff members who believe they, or a member of their household, may have come in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 or a person who has recently traveled to an area where widespread community spread of COVID-19 has been confirmed.

The remote work at ORNL is being done by staff members in a wide variety of jobs that include support functions like accounting, auditing, legal, technical editing, project management, and other activities, as well as researchers who can monitor data remotely or who are using the time to write or edit research publications and similar work, ORNL said in a response to questions on Wednesday.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 staff members continue to work on site, largely in facility operations positions that require hands-on tasks or monitoring, the lab said. These include technicians, front-line supervisors, electricians, firefighters, security personnel, and other types of workers.

“Some tasks have been shuffled to accommodate the need to work from home, but we are continuing to fulfill our mission commitments to the U.S. Department of Energy and the nation,” ORNL said.

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Federal cleanup work in Oak Ridge moving to limited operations

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In this photo published in early March, the U.S. Department of Energy said workers had begun taking down the second of four sections of the Centrifuge Complex at East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. Completing this project will move DOE’s Office of Environmental Management closer to its goal of finishing all major demolitions at ETTP by the end 2020, the department said. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

The cleanup work at federal sites in Oak Ridge is transitioning to limited operations today (Wednesday, April 1).

The transition applies specifically to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. OREM oversees cleanup work at DOE sites in Oak Ridge, including East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex.

“The safety and health of the EM workforce—federal and contractor employees—is the top priority of EM leadership across the complex,” DOE headquarters said in response to questions. “As a prudent response to the current situation regarding COVID-19 in Tennessee, effective on April 1, the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is transitioning to limited operations. EM is choosing to take this action out of an abundance of caution.”

Activities that support DOE’s cleanup mission will be limited to those necessary to put projects into a status where they will ensure the safety of the public, workers, and the environment, the Energy Department said.

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Second Y-12 employee tests positive for COVID-19

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

A second employee at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge has tested positive for COVID-19.

Consolidated Nuclear Security, the federal contractor that manages and operates the nuclear weapons production plant, said it learned of the positive test result on Friday.

The second employee is from the same work area as the first employee who tested positive, CNS said Friday night. CNS confirmed the first case on Monday.

The second employee was quarantined earlier this week and remains in isolation at home, and the affected work locations were disinfected earlier this week, CNS said Friday.

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