Oak Ridge Today

Y-12 reducing UPF bus riders, staggering shifts

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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)

A federal contractor is limiting the number of employees who can ride a bus at one time to the Uranium Processing Facility construction site at the Y-12 National Security Complex and started the process of staggering shifts at the project to help keep workers separated from each other as the world tries to slow the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

The changes at Y-12 were disclosed on Wednesday by the plant operator, Consolidated Nuclear Security, in response to questions from Oak Ridge Today after a plant employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

Oak Ridge Today had asked about construction workers being bused to the Uranium Processing Facility construction site from the east side of Y-12 each morning and whether the confirmation of a COVID-19 case at the 811-acre plant would affect those construction bus rides, including by possibly requiring employees to have some physical separation on the bus rides.

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Y-12 worker became ill before testing positive for COVID-19

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Consolidated Nuclear Security employee who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday left work at the Y-12 National Security Complex after becoming ill on Thursday, March 19.

In response to questions on Wednesday, CNS did not say where the employee worked at Y-12 or if they know how the worker was infected.

CNS said the employee has been isolated at home after receiving the positive COVID-19 test result, and the plant’s medical staff are coordinating with the Tennessee Department of Health.

“The employee’s work location was disinfected along with all other locations the employee is known to have visited,” CNS said. “The employee’s activities were reviewed, and everyone who is known to have come into direct contact with the employee in the two days prior to the development of symptoms is being contacted and asked to self-quarantine for 14 days, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines.”

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Y-12 confirms COVID-19 case

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Consolidated Nuclear Security on Monday confirmed a case of a person with COVID-19 at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Information about the case was shared with employees on Monday, March 23.

“The employee is in isolation at home, and affected work areas have been sanitized,” said CNS, which manages Y-12 and another nuclear weapons production plant, the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

At Y-12, CNS said other employees who have been in contact with the affected employee have been asked to self-quarantine.

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ORAU, ORISE permit some work from home

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

ORAU and ORISE—which work for more than 20 different federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—are allowing employees to work from home when possible.

ORAU and ORISE have authorized executives and directors to approve work from home for employees who are able to perform their job responsibilities at home, such as office workers.

Some employees will be required to report to work to continue operations, including in some laboratories, in information technology for computer support, and for security, for example.

ORAU is Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and ORISE is Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

The work-from-home authorization was implemented this week, and ORAU and ORISE don’t have final numbers of the numbers of employees who are or will be working from home.

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No COVID-19 cases reported at Y-12, Pantex

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No confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported at two nuclear weapons production sites in Tennessee and Texas, a federal contractor said Wednesday. The two sites are the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

At Y-12, the contagious respiratory illness has not affected operations or construction projects such as the Uranium Processing Facility, according to Consolidated Nuclear Security, the contractor that manages and operates the two sites.

CNS said it is increasing sanitation efforts, limiting travel and visits, minimizing external visitors, and increasing the use of technology to limit face-to-face contact.

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Museums, national park center closed

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The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Museums and the national park welcome center in Oak Ridge are closed because of COVID-19, the respiratory illness that has infected more than 200,000 people in at least 144 countries around the world and killed more than 8,000 people.

The museums closed in Oak Ridge are the American Museum of Science and Energy, Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, K-25 History Center, Oak Ridge History Museum at Midtown Community Center (Wildcat Den), and Y-12 History Museum at New Hope Center.

Also closed is the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Welcome Center at the Children’s Museum.

The AMSE bus tours are also not operating now.

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ORNL: Staff who can working from home. No travelers from foreign countries allowed for now.

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory is directing staff members who can to work from home, and for now, the lab is not allowing travelers from foreign countries, regardless of nationality.

ORNL cafeterias will be open for carryout only.

In response to questions Tuesday, ORNL said it has not been notified that any staff member is presumed or confirmed to be COVID-19 positive. COVID-19 is the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus. The lab said it is taking proactive measures to reduce the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and to best protect themselves, their families, and their communities.

“Stopping the spread of the virus will prevent hospitals and other medical facilities from becoming overwhelmed by a spike in patients sickened by COVID-19,” ORNL said. “This is quite literally a life or death matter, and early action is key.”

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DOE plans to demolish world’s oldest operating nuclear facility

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Building 3019, the oldest operating nuclear facility in the world, is pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to demolish the oldest operating nuclear facility in the world.

The cleanup and demolition of Building 3019 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could start sometime around 2030.

But the work won’t start until more than 500 canisters of uranium-233 stored in the building have been processed and removed, possibly by 2025.

More than 70 years old, Building 3019 was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs.

From 1943-1976, the building was used as a pilot plant to test radiochemical processes before they were used on a large scale at other nuclear facilities.

Now Building 3019 stores the nation’s inventory of uranium-233. Processing and removing that uranium is the top cleanup priority at ORNL because, among other things, storing the highly enriched fissile nuclear material increases security costs and creates nuclear safety issues. The cleanup work is being done by DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor Isotek.

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With key isotopes depleted, DOE plans production center at ORNL

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The U.S. Department of Energy has proposed an isotope production and research center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that could be important for medical, national security, and research projects.

In a budget request released in February, DOE said its supply of certain key enriched stable isotopes has been depleted, making the United States more dependent upon foreign imports for enriched stable isotopes. Isotopes are forms of an element that have the same number of protons but different number of neutrons in their nuclei.

DOE said the demand for enriched stable isotopes continues to grow substantially, including for the medical, national security, and fundamental research projects.

The new center at ORNL, the U.S. Stable Isotope Production and Research Center, would reduce the nation’s dependence upon foreign countries for those isotopes, DOE said.

DOE approved the mission need for the facility in January 2019. Although the cost range could change, the current project estimate is between $175 million and $298 million.

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ORNL supercomputer used to identify drug compounds that could help fight coronavirus

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A compound, shown in gray, was calculated to bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, shown in cyan, to prevent it from docking to the Human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, or ACE2, receptor, shown in purple. (Image credit: Micholas Smith/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

Note: This story was last updated at 10:55 a.m.

The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been used to identify drug compounds, including medications and natural compounds, that could help fight coronavirus, although more study is needed.

“The researchers used Summit, the world’s most powerful and smartest supercomputer, to identify 77 small-molecule drug compounds that might warrant further study in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 disease outbreak,” ORNL said in a response to questions Wednesday.

The researchers performed simulations on Summit of more than 8,000 compounds to screen for those that are most likely to bind to the main “spike” protein of the coronavirus, rendering it unable to infect host cells. They ranked compounds of interest that could have value in experimental studies of the virus. They published their results on “ChemRxiv.”

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SSAB to hear about reuse, historic preservation at ETTP

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K-25 History Center (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board will hear about reuse and historic preservation at the East Tennessee Technology Park, including the new K-25 History Center, during a presentation next week.

The presentation will be given to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board by Steve Cooke of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. It is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, in the U.S. Department of Energy Information Center at 1 Science.gov Way off Oak Ridge Turnpike in east Oak Ridge.

Some of the last remaining Manhattan Project and Cold War buildings are being demolished at ETTP, and most major cleanup work is expected to be completed this year.

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Next major decision anticipated for second target station at SNS

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SNS-Second-Target-Station
More than 200 scientists from around the world met from Oct. 27 to 29, 2015, at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to provide input on the scientific instruments that would be installed at a proposed Second Target Station, or STS, pictured above at center right at the Spallation Neutron Source. (File aerial photo and overlay by ORNL)

The next decision about the second target station at the Spallation Neutron Source could be made later this year or in the first quarter of next year, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told a House subcommittee on Thursday. The next decision would include an alternative selection and a cost range.

The $1.4 billion SNS is located on Chestnut Ridge at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It provides neutrons for research.

The second target station has been part of SNS plans for many years. It’s one of two upgrades being pursued at SNS. The other is a proton power upgrade, which is expected to double the power of SNS’s proton beam from 1.4 megawatts to 2.8 megawatts.

The second target station has a current estimated cost range of $800 million to $1.5 billion. The U.S. Department of Energy said the second target was needed more than a decade ago, in January 2009. The second target station would use a narrow proton beam and a compact, rotating, water-cooled tungsten target. It is expected to fill gaps in materials research that require the combined use of intense, cold (longer wavelength) neutrons and instruments that can help analyze complex materials. It could have up to 22 experimental beamlines.

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