Oak Ridge Today

ORNL has reception for Zacharia, departing deputy director

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Thomas and Sindhu Zacharia

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a reception for departing Deputy Director Thomas Zacharia, front center, on Wednesday afternoon. Also pictured, at front left, is Zacharia’s wife Sindhu, and in the background are ORNL’s Sylvia Davis and University of Tennessee Executive Vice President David Millhorn. (Photos by ORNL’s Jason Richards)

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory had a reception Wednesday afternoon for deputy director Thomas Zacharia and his wife Sindhu, who are leaving at the end of the month.

Zacharia, ORNL deputy for science and technology, is leaving to take a leadership position at a science and education foundation based in Doha, Qatar.

He has worked for the lab for 26 years.

Zacharia will become executive vice president of research and development for the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.

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ORAU seeks applicants for Extreme Classroom Makeover

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Oak Ridge Associated Universities has set a Sept. 7 deadline for local teachers who intend to apply for an Extreme Classroom Makeover contest.

Teachers within 50 miles of Oak Ridge can compete in the fifth annual contest, which awards $25,000 worth of new educational technologies as well as training and support.

This year, eligible teachers include those who teach math and science to public school children from 3rd grade to 10th grade.

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Federal official says Y-12 security breach demands swift, strong action

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A rapid response was required after the unprecedented security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex last month, a federal official said this week.

And the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration have both taken aggressive steps to restore and enhance security at the plant, the nation’s main production facility for many nuclear weapons components, the official said.

“Secretary Chu has made clear that the security of our nation’s nuclear material is the department’s most important responsibility, and he has no tolerance for federal or contractor personnel who cannot or will not do their jobs,” DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said. “As the secretary has made clear, the recent incident at Y-12 was a completely unacceptable breach of security and an important wake-up call for our entire complex. The severity of the failure of leadership at Y-12 demands swift, strong, and decisive action by the department.”

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Corker: Y-12 security breach shows need for UPF, shouldn’t hurt employment

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

It was a “major wake-up call,” but last month’s security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex should not hurt employment or work in Oak Ridge, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said Thursday.

He said the intrusion by three anti-nuclear weapons activists into a high-security area at Y-12 actually demonstrates the need for a newer, more secure uranium processing facility, or UPF. There has been some concern in Oak Ridge about how the unprecedented security breach at Y-12 might affect funding or planning for the UPF, which could cost up to $6.5 billion and be the largest construction project in Tennessee history.

But Corker, a Tennessee Republican, said some Congressional representatives might actually want to act quicker now to build the UPF, which would consolidate enriched uranium operations at Y-12, including assembly and dismantlement work.

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Nuclear operations resume at Y-12 under greater federal oversight

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After a two-week “stand down,” nuclear operations resumed Wednesday at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

But there will now be more federal oversight of contractor operations, a National Nuclear Security Administration press release said. B&W Y-12 operates Y-12 for the NNSA.

“The authorization to resume operations was made possible through the completion of numerous improvements in security at Y-12 and completion of security training,” the press release said.

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Y-12 cameras weren’t working, guards failed to react, federal letter says

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Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above sneaked into a high-security area at the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 and triggered a security crisis that has led to personnel changes, a temporary halt in nuclear operations, and a potential termination of a federal contract with B&W Y-12. From left to right, the three protesters are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

Note: This story was last updated at 9:32 a.m. Aug. 15.

Many security cameras weren’t working when three anti-nuclear weapons activists sneaked into the Y-12 National Security Complex early in the morning on Saturday, July 28, a federal official said in a critical letter released Tuesday evening.

One of those cameras was near a fence penetrated by the protesters, who allegedly used bolt-cutters to slice through three fences before they walked to a high-security building known as the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

The intruders, who allegedly spray-painted slogans and splashed human blood on the HEUMF, set off many alarms in a “multi-layered sensor system” in a fence line, but the Y-12 protective force failed to react, the official said.

When guards alerted by the alarms responded with a vehicle patrol, it took them too long to arrive at the scene, and once there, they “failed to take appropriate steps to take control of the situation,” said the official, National Nuclear Security Administration Contracting Officer Jill Y. Albaugh. She said a responding supervisor finally took control and removed the protesters.

Written Friday, Albaugh’s letter gives Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, the plant’s managing and operating contractor, 30 days to show why the federal government should not proceed to terminate its contract.

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NNSA changes security contract competition, including at Y-12

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As the fallout from a July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex continues to roil the plant, federal officials announced Monday they have canceled part of a proposal to combine protective force services at Y-12, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office, and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The current contract competition will be revised to remove the National Nuclear Security Administration’s portion of the protective force services from the solicitation, according to an NNSA announcement. That includes the part of the contract competition that would provide protective force operations at Y-12 and Pantex.

The security services, or protective force operations, are now expected to be included in a consolidated management and operating contract covering both Pantex and Y-12.

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Oak Ridge plans for Manhattan Project’s 70th anniversary

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Organizers in Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash., are having special events today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret national effort to create the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

Although nothing is planned in Oak Ridge, local volunteers are considering whether to have a celebration on Sept. 19, the 70th anniversary of the decision to select Oak Ridge for the first Manhattan Project site, newspaper columnist and Y-12 National Security Complex Historian D. Ray Smith said in an e-mail.

The volunteers plan to begin discussing the possible celebration during a 4 p.m. Tuesday meeting in the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau conference room.

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ORAU grant buys new technology for Pigeon Forge classroom

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ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover

Fifth-grade students showcase their technology skills in a Pigeon Forge Middle School classroom outfitted with new equipment using a $30,000 grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities. (Photo submitted by ORAU)

A $30,000 grant from a federal contractor in Oak Ridge filled a Pigeon Forge classroom with new technology this summer.

Heather Burkhart, a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Pigeon Forge Middle School, received the grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities in that nonprofit’s fourth annual Extreme Classroom Makeover competition.

An ORAU press release said the grant supports educators who use technology in the classroom to inspire more students to pursue math and science-based careers.

Kohlhorst, Klemm retire from Y-12; new manager starts

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Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Darrel P. Kohlhorst

Note: This story was updated at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 12.

Two weeks after an unprecedented security breach, two top executives have retired from the company that manages the Y-12 National Security Complex, and one of them has been replaced.

In a press release, The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced that Charles “Chuck” G. Spencer is now acting president and general manager for Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12 LLC, the contractor that manages the plant for the National Nuclear Security Administration. He replaces Darrel P. Kohlhorst, who has retired.

William R. Klemm

William R. Klemm

It said William R. Klemm, deputy general manager of operations, has also retired.

The statement didn’t say whether the staff changes were related to the highly publicized July 28 intrusion by three anti-nuclear weapons activists, and it didn’t say who would replace Klemm.

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UCOR and steel workers union approve four-year contract

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A steel workers union has approved a new four-year contract with UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, for work at the former K-25 site.

The agreement between UCOR and the United Steel Workers Local No. 9-288 of Oak Ridge includes a 2 percent wage increase in each of the next four years and benefit changes similar to those announced for non-union employees earlier this year, a press release said.

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Community celebrates K-25 historic preservation agreement

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K-25 Building

The mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The North Tower, which historic preservationists had lobbied to save for years, is in the center background. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

An agreement officially announced Friday morning clears the way for the historic K-25 North Tower to be demolished, calls for a replica equipment building and viewing tower, proposes a history center at a nearby city-owned fire station, and provides a $500,000 grant for the run-down Alexander Inn.

The agreement wraps up a decade of discussion over how to commemorate the historic contributions of K-25, which was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to make the world’s first atomic bombs.

Historic preservationists lobbied for years to save the North Tower, but concerns over safety, the deteriorated condition of the building, and cost appear to have made that impractical. Much of the rest of the K-25 Building has already been torn down.

Those who signed the agreement include the U.S. Department of Energy, the State Office of Historic Preservation, the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the City of Oak Ridge, and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

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