Oak Ridge Today

Government wants to lease space for displaced Federal Building workers

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Oak Ridge Federal Building

The General Services Administration, which owns the Federal Building in Oak Ridge, wants to lease commercial space for 150 to 175 employees displaced after the Federal Building shut down in June.

About 150 to 175 employees could move into commercial office space while the U.S. General Services Administration removes asbestos-containing insulation from the Federal Building in Oak Ridge.

The GSA posted a notice last week on FedBizOpps.gov that it wants to lease about 30,000 square feet of temporary space in Oak Ridge, potentially for up to six months, with a second six-month term possible. Leasing proposals were due by Tuesday.

Officials said they are moving quickly to find space for employees displaced after a mid-June inspection found asbestos-containing insulation had fallen into heating and cooling ducts at the Federal Building.

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Kelly selected as new manager of DOE Oak Ridge Office

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Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly has been named manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office.

Kelly has been serving as acting manager since April. He was the third acting manager at the Oak Ridge Office since former manager Gerald Boyd retired in April 2011.

Kelly had previously served as the acting deputy manager and the assistant manager for Environment, Safety and Health.

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ORAU has new compensation, benefits director

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Meghan Millwood

Meghan Millwood

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has a new compensation and benefits director.

Meghan Millwood, who has been ORAU’s manager of human resources operations, has been promoted to the position, a press release said.

“Throughout Meghan’s more than 10 years here at ORAU, she has capably served in a variety of progressively responsible positions within the human resources office,” said Dan Standley, ORAU vice president of human resources. “We are very pleased to now have her contributing in her new role as a director on the management team.”

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UT-Battelle donates $50,000 to Oak Ridge science competition

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UT-Battelle Grant Robots

UT-Battelle has announced a $50,000 donation for the FIRST Robotics and FIRST Lego science competition for Oak Ridge schools. Pictured above are, from left, Thomas Zacharia, Jeff Smith, Martin Keller, and Thom Mason. (Photo submitted by ORPSEF)

UT-Battelle has announced a $50,000 gift to fund the FIRST Robotics and FIRST Lego science competitions for Oak Ridge schools.

The announcement came as part of the capital campaign sponsored by the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation to make a “critical difference” by providing additional resources to Oak Ridge teachers and students.

Two of the region’s most popular and fastest growing activities, FIRST Robotics and FIRST LEGO are team competitions that combine the excitement of sports with real-world challenges of science and technology.

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UCOR ships more than 10,000 loads of K-25 waste

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UCOR announced Thursday that it has safely shipped more than 10,000 loads of waste from the K-25 building demolition project at East Tennessee Technology Park.

Workers demolishing the former gaseous diffusion building are close to finishing the facility’s east wing, except for five cells contaminated with technetium-99, a press release said.

“This slow-decaying radioactive material will require further deactivation before demolition begins,” it said.

The K-25 building, shut down in the early 1960s, was a mile-long U-shaped structure covering more than 40 acres. The west wing was demolished by a previous contractor.

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House committee to vote on Manhattan Project historical park Wednesday

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park House Hearing

Pictured above at a June 28 U.S. House hearing on the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act are, from front left, Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation president; Heather McClenahan, executive director of the Los Alamos Historical Society; and D. Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian. Gary Petersen, Tri-City Development Council vice president, is pictured in the background. (Photo courtesy of Atomic Heritage Foundation)

A U.S. House committee will vote Wednesday on a bill to create a Manhattan Project historical park that would include Oak Ridge, Rep. Doc Hastings announced Friday.

The legislation will be considered by the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Hastings is chair of that committee and sponsor of the bill, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act. He represents the Hanford site in Washington, which would also be part of the national park.

“I expect the Committee will vote to favorably advance the bill to the full House for consideration,” Hastings said in a news release. “A great many volunteers have been working for years to bring this idea into reality, and I’m pleased that progress is being made in the law-making process to preserve this amazing and important piece of our nation’s history.”

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UT-Battelle donates $150,000 to Boy Scouts classrooms

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UT-Battelle Donation to Boy Scouts

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason presents Larry Brown, executive director of the Boy Scouts of America’s Great Smoky Mountain Council, with a $150,000 gift from UT-Battelle for the council’s ongoing campaign to renovate Camp Buck Toms. Pictured from left are Paul Carter, Brown, John Cicaroi, Mason, and Philip Webb. (Photo submitted by ORNL)

UT-Battelle has donated $150,000 to the Boy Scouts of America’s Great Smoky Mountain Council for an ongoing campaign to renovate Camp Buck Toms near Rockwood.

The money will be used to help set up classrooms for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities at the camp.

“This corporate gift will help the local scouting organization establish quality STEM-related learning activities for the hundreds of Boy Scouts in our community who attend Camp Buck Toms,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a press release.

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Bacterial research at ORNL could aid biofuel production

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Bacteria

Researchers at the BioEnergy Science Center analyze bacteria that could aid in the production of next-generation biofuels. (Photo submitted by ORNL)

Submitted by ORNL

The identification of key proteins in a group of heat-loving bacteria by researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center could help light a fire under next-generation biofuel production.

Scientists have long been on the hunt for cost-effective ways to break down complex plant material such as switchgrass in order to access sugars that are fermented to make biofuels. Conventional processes involve the addition of commercially produced enzymes to break down the cellulose.

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UCOR donates $250,000 to UT engineering fellowship

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UCOR at University of Tennessee

From left to right are UCOR’s Bob Smith, Leo Sain, Cathy Hickey, Veronica O’Hearn, and Ken Rueter with University of Tennessee assistant professor Jason Hayward in Hayward’s lab. (Photo submitted by UT)

UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is donating $250,000 to set up an engineering faculty fellowship at the University of Tennessee.

The first award recipient is Jason Hayward, an assistant professor in UT’s Department of Nuclear Engineering, a university press release said.

Leo Sain, UCOR’s president and project manager, announced the fellowship on Friday, June 29, at the East Tennessee Economic Council meeting in Oak Ridge.

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ORNL home to new battery manufacturing R&D facility

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Future automotive batteries could cost less and pack more power because of a new manufacturing research and development facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The $3 million U.S. Department of Energy facility is located off Hardin Valley Road at the National Transportation Research Center.

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Historical Oak Ridge photos posted on Atlantic website

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A photo gallery posted on The Atlantic magazine website is generating interest in historical Oak Ridge photos.

The pictures, most of them by photographer Ed Westcott, capture life in Oak Ridge and its federal plants between 1942 and 1966.

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DOE warning sirens will not be tested Wednesday

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The U. S. Department of Energy’s warning sirens in Oak Ridge will not be tested this Wednesday due to the July 4 holiday.

The sirens are typically tested between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month. They are intended to give immediate notification of an emergency to people who are within about two miles of DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation.

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