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Public notice: Final supplement analysis available for earthquake accident analysis at Y-12

Posted at 11:09 am July 24, 2020
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL SUPPLEMENT ANALYSIS FOR THE FINAL SITE-WIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX (Y-12 SWEIS), EARTHQUAKE ACCIDENT ANALYSIS (DOE/EIS-0387-SA-04)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Final Supplement Analysis (SA), which presents an analysis of the potential impacts of earthquake accidents at the Y-12 site. Based on the SA, NNSA has determined that no further NEPA documentation is required. Copies of the document are available on the DOE NEPA web page at https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0387-y-12-national-security-complex-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-oak-ridge.

Filed Under: Classifieds, National Nuclear Security Administration, Public Notices, Sponsored Posts, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: earthquake accident analysis, final supplement analysis, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

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TVC Virtual Summit Thursday afternoon to focus on Oak Ridge, Huntsville

Posted at 10:26 am July 23, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The second session of the Tennessee Valley Corridor Virtual Summit Series this afternoon (Thursday, July 23) will focus on Oak Ridge and Huntsville, and science and technology in the corridor.

Most of the TVC’s annual $75 billion in federal investments are made in the historic communities of Huntsville and Oak Ridge, a summit advisory said.

You can learn more about the federal missions based in the two cities and how they impact the nation and world during today’s session, the advisory said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Government, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Huntsville, Oak Ridge, Tennessee Valley Corridor, Virtual Summit Series

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Y-12 employee dies of health issues related to COVID-19

Posted at 10:28 am July 21, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

William Mark Easterly

A project controls manager at the Y-12 National Security Complex has died of health issues related to COVID-19, the nuclear weapons production plant said Tuesday.

The Daily Times has identified the employee as Mark Easterly of Maryville. The newspaper said Easterly was employed by Bechtel for almost 30 years, and he began working at Y-12 as a project controls manager in March.

His death is the first death due to COVID-19 at a National Nuclear Security Administration site. Y-12 is an NNSA site. The NNSA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Daily Times reported that Easterly’s wife, Brandee, is principal of John Sevier Elementary School in Maryville.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, Front Page News, Health, National Nuclear Security Administration, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: COVID-19, Mark Easterly, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, The Daily Times, Y-12 National Security Complex

Updated: Former DOE research director, CROET founder dies at 91

Posted at 1:44 pm July 18, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Joe Lenhard, right, is pictured with Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch at the dedication of Main Street Oak Ridge in July 2016. (Photo courtesy Warren Gooch)

Note: This story was last updated at 11:10 a.m. July 19.

Joe Lenhard, a former U.S. Department of Energy research director and founder of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, died Friday of COVID-19, a family member said. He was 91.

Lenhard died Friday evening at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, his daughter Andrea Lenhard said in a Facebook post.

My father, Joseph Lenhard, died Friday evening at MMC of Covid. He went quickly. Rest in peace, Daddy. You were always my hero.

Posted by Andie Lenhard on Friday, July 17, 2020

Lenhard was a research director for the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. He had oversight of DOE research activities and served as the federal contracting officer for major federal facilities in the city, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to his LinkedIn page. He worked for DOE for about 32 years, from 1957 to 1989.

Lenhard served as president of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce in 1992, and he was chair of the East Tennessee Economic Council in 1993 and 1994.

He helped found CROET in 1994, and he was the founding chairman. CROET helps find ways to re-use former federal property, not just real estate but also equipment and other federal assets. A tribute to Lenhard’s service is noted on a plaque in the Horizon Center Industrial Park in west Oak Ridge.

His daughter Andrea said her father loved the natural world, and she became a biologist and veterinarian because of him. Her father used to take them on long rambles in the woods, Andrea said, and he would pick up animals like snakes and frogs and tell the children what he knew about them.

“He loved nature, and that was very infectious,” she said.

Andrea said Oak Ridge was very important to her father.

“He always wanted to promote Oak Ridge and take care of Oak Ridge,” she said. “He was very devoted to the city.”

Lenhard could often be found walking in local grocery stores. He was very conscious of his health, Andrea said, and he would walk every day at stores that included Walmart, Kroger, and Food City. He would sometimes stop to talk to people, including an Oak Ridge Today reporter.

Andrea said her father was a lot of fun, full of life, and he loved everybody.

She recalled the trips her family used to take to Norris Lake on weekends when she was a child—playing in the water, climbing trees, telling jokes—and she said her father spent as much time as he could with his grandchildren as well.

A statement from the family of Lenhard’s daughter Michele said Joe Lenhard was very supportive of higher education.

“He gave substantial sums of money to the University of Tennessee and Roane State Community College,” the statement said. “Roane State dedicated a room to Joseph Lenhard for his outstanding contributions. Joe came from an economically disproportionate background and saw the benefit of higher education. He wanted to provide educational opportunity for the young people of East Tennessee.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, COVID-19, Front Page News, Health, Health, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Andie Lenhard, Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, COVID-19, CROET, David Bradshaw, DOE, East Tennessee Economic Council, ETEC, Heritage Center, Joe Lenhard, Ken Yager, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Ray Smith, Rotary Club, Tom Beehan, U.S. Department of Energy, Warren Gooch

Tennessee Valley Corridor Virtual Summit starts Thursday

Posted at 8:35 pm July 15, 2020
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Pictured above are Congressman Phil Roe (TN-1) and Tim Thomas, Appalachian Regional Commission federal co-chair.

JOHNSON CITY—On Thursday, July 16, the Tennessee Valley Corridor will be celebrating its 25th anniversary and kicking off this summer’s Virtual Summit series.

During the Summit, you can learn more about the Appalachian Highlands’ most important assets and plans within the region to achieve greater economic growth.

Tune in to the Tennessee Valley Corridor Virtual Summit at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, July 16.

Twenty-Five Years of Innovation Transforming the Region

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Education, Front Page News, Government, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Phil Roe, Tennessee Valley Corridor, Tim Thomas, Virtual Summit

ORISE launches new app, redesigned website

Posted at 1:00 pm June 23, 2020
By Amy Schwinge Leave a Comment

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

 

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education has unveiled its redesigned ORISE website and new ORISE GO app, providing a wide range of resources on the go, a press release said.

The all-new ORISE GO mobile app offers college students, recent graduates, and postdoctoral students a mobile tool to search and apply for hundreds of science, technology, engineering, and math internships, fellowships, and research opportunities at national laboratories and facilities across the United States, the press release said.

The ORISE GO app also provides a platform to remain engaged, connected, and informed during the ORISE experience—from application, to offer, through the appointment, and even as an ORISE alumni, the press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Front Page News, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: fellowships, internships, national laboratories, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, ORISE, ORISE GO app, ORISE website, research opportunities

Japanese supercomputer displaces ORNL’s Summit as world’s most powerful

Posted at 1:05 pm June 22, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A Japanese supercomputer has displaced the Summit supercomputer, pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as the world’s most powerful. Summit is a 200-petaflop IBM system. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)

Note: This story was last updated at 3 p.m. June 24.

A Japanese supercomputer has displaced the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as the world’s most powerful and bumped other U.S. and Chinese machines down one spot on a semiannual list of the fastest systems.

Summit had been ranked the world’s most powerful supercomputer on the semiannual TOP500 list since June 2018. It was bumped to number two when the new TOP500 list was released Monday.

The new top system is installed in Kobe, Japan, and it is named Fugaku. In a high-performance test, it performed at 415.5 petaflops. A petaflop is a quadrillion floating-point operations per second.

Fugaku’s performance was 2.8 times better than Summit’s, according to TOP500. Summit delivered 148.8 petaflops on the high-performance test.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Science, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: China, Cray, exaflop, Frontier, Fugaku, Fujitsu, IBM, Japan, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Mellanox, Milky Way-2A, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, NVIDIA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, petaflop, Rick Perry, Sierra, summit, Sunway TaihuLight, supercomputer, Tianhe-2A, Top500, U.S. Department of Energy, United States

Photos: Old AMSE building being demolished

Posted at 9:35 am June 21, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The former American Museum of Science and Energy building on South Tulane Avenue is being demolished, and apartments are planned on the site. (Photo courtesy Mike Mahathy)

The former American Museum of Science and Energy building is being demolished, and apartments are planned on the site.

The apartment project is expected to include seven three-story buildings with 226 apartment units on 10 acres.

Now called Main Street Lofts, the $32 million apartment project has included an agreement to reduce property taxes and the transfer of what had been federal property from the U.S. Department of Energy to the city and then to TN Oak Ridge Illinois, a company affiliated with RealtyLink, the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge.

The apartments are being built as RealtyLink, a South Carolina company, plans to build more new stores across South Tulane Avenue at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: American Museum of Science and Energy, AMSE, Daniel Smith, Main Street Lofts, Main Street Oak Ridge, Mainstreet Capital Partners, Oak Ridge, RealtyLink, TN Oak Ridge Illinois, U.S. Department of Energy

UCOR cleanup contract extended

Posted at 4:28 pm May 29, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site), which is pictured above, is being cleaned up by UCOR for the U.S. Department of Energy. (Photo by UCOR)

The UCOR contract to clean up federal sites in Oak Ridge has been extended one year to July 31, 2021, and the consideration of a new cleanup contract won’t be considered until November 2020 at the earliest.

The UCOR contract could be extended one additional year, to July 31, 2022, using two six-month options, depending upon contractor performance and progress.

Before the extension, UCOR’s contract had been scheduled to expire July 31, 2020.

UCOR works on cleanup projects for the U.S. Department of Energy at the East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex. The work includes the demolition of old, contaminated buildings that are no longer used. The cleanup work is called environmental management, or EM.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: AECOM, cleanup contract, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, environmental management, Jacobs Engineering Group, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Office of Science, ORNL, request for proposals, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, Y-12 National Security Complex

Tennessee Valley Corridor shifts to online events this summer

Posted at 9:10 am May 28, 2020
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Valley Corridor will shift its Annual Summit and 25th anniversary celebration to a series of online events this summer.

The change, which was announced this month, is being made as large summer conferences and gatherings remain in doubt because of social distancing recommendations from public health officials, a press release said.

The Annual Summit had been scheduled for July 15-16 at Milligan College in Johnson City.

But the Tennessee Valley Corridor will instead have people participate in a series of weekly Summit sessions for five consecutive weeks starting Thursday, July 16. Each session will highlight many of the same speakers, topics, and organizations, but the new virtual format aims to maximize participation during the continued COVID-19 crisis, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Bill Tindal, COVID-19, Darrell Akins, Milligan College, summit, Tennessee Valley Corridor, TVC

ORAU announces recipients of 2020 Pollard Scholarships

Posted at 12:40 pm May 24, 2020
By Amy Schwinge Leave a Comment

Audra Jean “AJ” Jones

 

ORAU has awarded five William G. Pollard Scholarships of $2,500 each toward undergraduate studies for the 2020-2021 academic year. The recipients of this year’s scholarships are Jamie Batson, Cody Blankenship, Olivia Hudson, Audra Jean “AJ” Jones, and Savannah Jones.

Each year, ORAU awards these scholarships to employees’ children or stepchildren who display exceptional achievements in their high school or undergraduate studies. Applicants must submit official transcripts from all high schools and colleges attended, three references (at least two of which must be from teachers), and a 500-word essay describing professional and personal interests.

Here are more details about this year’s winners: [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Audra Jean "AJ" Jones, Cody Blankenship, Jamie Batson, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Olivia Hudson, ORAU, Pollard Scholarships, Savannah Jones, William G. Pollard Scholarships

ORAU awards $25,000 to Union Grove Elementary in Extreme Classroom Makeover

Posted at 12:21 pm May 24, 2020
By Amanda Freuler Leave a Comment

The winner of ORAU’s 2020 Extreme Classroom Makeover competition, Amy Buchanan from Union Grove Elementary School, was surprised at her house with the Extreme Classroom Makeover winner reveal. Her principal, Kristy Brewer, and fellow staff from Union Grove Elementary School joined in the celebration. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

Amy Buchanan encourages students at Union Grove Elementary School to imagine a world of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) beyond the limitations of the classroom.

ORAU (Oak Ridge Associated Universities) wanted to help Buchanan and her students do more than imagine.

ORAU recently surprised Buchanan at her house with $25,000 for new classroom technology. This award will allow students to explore, touch, and see the STEM classroom they’ve only imagined.

ORAU chose Buchanan, who serves as the STEM teacher for all of Union Grove Elementary in Blount County, to be the recipient of this year’s Extreme Classroom Makeover competition. She was selected after a review of her submitted video, which demonstrated the rural school’s need for STEM resources. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Front Page News, K-12, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Amy Buchanan, Andy Page, Extreme Classroom Makeover contest, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, ORAU, STEM, Union Grove Elementary School

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