Oak Ridge Today

Centrus finishes preparing centrifuge testing building for demolition

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The “footprint,” the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the “footprint.” The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4. (File photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

Centrus Energy Corporation on Wednesday said it has successfully completed a $15 million project to decontaminate and decommission a building at the East Tennessee Technology Park that has been used to test and demonstrate centrifuges that could be used to enrich uranium.

The building is K-1600, which is in the middle of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

Centrus said it finished the work budget and on time, within a year. The work was to occur between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019.

“I’m pleased our team was able to deliver the results the department expected on a very short timetable,” said Centrus President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel B. Poneman.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Centrus a $15 million work authorization on September 27, 2018, to prepare K-1600 for demolition.

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UT-Battelle provides scholarships for Roane State Middle College students

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ORNL UT-Battelle Roane State Middle College Scholarship

From left, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thomas Zacharia is joined by Roane State Middle College students Layla Malenovsky of Kingston and Anthony Ciccarelli of Kingston, along with Roane State President Chris Whaley, for the presentation of the $34,000 UT-Battelle Scholarship for Roane State Middle College students. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

Twelve Roane County students participating in Roane State Community College’s Middle College have received $34,000 in annual scholarships thanks to UT-Battelle, a press release said. The scholarships were made possible through a gift to the Roane State Foundation.

Roane State’s Middle College program allows high school students to take college classes in their junior and senior years and then graduate with their associate degrees and their diplomas. Middle College graduates are then able to complete their bachelor’s degrees just two years after finishing high school.

Middle College students pay for tuition through a combination of out-of-pocket funds, use of state grants, and other private scholarships, the press release said. The UT-Battelle Scholarship was established in fall 2015, and it is awarded to Middle College students from Roane County. The scholarship is administered by the Roane State Foundation. [Read more…]

ORAU names Laura Kopp business development manager

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Laura Kopp (Submitted photo)

 

Laura Kopp, former alliance manager for MITRE Corporation (a new ORAU strategic partner), has been named business development and capture manager for ORAU.

In her new role, Kopp will share her extensive expertise in identifying and capturing new large-scale business opportunities; identifying emerging markets, growth opportunities, and new contract vehicles that will help enable growth; and leveraging and growing existing networks to help align new ORAU partners with complementary capabilities, strong federal sponsor relationships, and aligned goals, a press release said.

Initially, Kopp will focus on growing ORAU’s footprint within health and life sciences by targeting new business opportunities, the press release said. She also will serve as the business development liaison for ORAU’s University Partnerships Office. [Read more…]

Judge voids UPF decision, requires more seismic hazard analysis

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Y-12 Uranium Processing Facility
Structural steel installation is under way on the eastern half of the Main Process Building of the Uranium Processing Facility, the Y-12 National Security Complex said Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Note This story was last updated at 9:38 a.m. Sept. 25.

A federal judge in Knoxville on Tuesday said a critical decision made in 2016 for enriched uranium operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex, including for the $6.5 billion Uranium Processing Facility, violated a national environmental law, and she ordered the decision vacated, or set aside.

The UPF is already under construction, and Wedenesday morning, the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees work at Y-12, said construction will continue.

The 104-page opinion and order was filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves.

One of the plaintiffs said the decision to vacate the amended record of decision published in the Federal Register in 2016 means the NNSA no longer has the legal authority to continue construction work at UPF.

But the NNSA said it was pleased that the court’s memorandum opinion rejected almost all of the plaintiff’s claims regarding National Environmental Policy Act violations related to UPF construction.

“However, with the court agreeing that there was inadequate consideration of new information concerning seismic hazards at Y-12, NNSA will review the seismic analysis while conferring with the Department of Justice on the possibility of appeal,” the NNSA said. “In the meantime, construction of UPF will proceed.”

Besides the amended record of decision, Reeves said supplement analyses prepared in 2016 and 2018 also violated the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, and she said they were to be set aside as well.

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ORAU sponsors U.S. student researchers to attend Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany

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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 will again sponsor young researchers in the fields of mathematics and computer science to attend the Seventh Heidelberg Laureate Forum from September 22-27 in Heidelberg, Germany.

The Heidelberg Laureate Forum is a gathering of laureates of some of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics and computer science, namely the Abel Prize and Fields Medal as well as the Turing Award and Nevanlinna Prize. Held annually for a week in Heidelberg, Germany, the Heidelberg Laureate Forum brings these laureates at the apex of their careers together with 200 high-achieving graduate student and postdoctoral counterparts from around the world, a press release said.

The forum gives early career researchers an opportunity for interaction that is typically not available within the normal university environment or in their home university department, whereby the laureates provided formal plenary lectures and led small group discussions with topics driven by a combination of prepared presentations by the laureates as well as student questions, the press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State hosts specialized training for Y-12 employees

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PETE_training roane state

Industrial hygiene processes was one of the topics covered as part of a training partnership between Roane State and Y-12. (Photo by Roane State)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Longstanding and varied partnerships between Roane State Community College and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge entered a new phase this summer, and it may lead to a five-year funding opportunity for the community college.

Using an initial $41,000 in funding from the National Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE), Roane State has been hosting and coordinating specialized training for non-bargaining unit workers at Y-12. The funding from PETE came from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/Department of Energy (NIEHS/DOE) Nuclear Worker Training Program, which provides hazardous-related health and safety training to DOE workers and contractors.

PETE is a nonprofit formed to support training programs at community and technical colleges. [Read more…]

ORAU awards $20,000 in education grants to 26 local teachers

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ORAU Grant Awards Ceremony Sept 10 2019

More than 25 teachers from Anderson County schools received new teaching materials and supplies at ORAU’s Education Grants program on Sept. 10, 2019, walking away with a total of $20,000 in grant funds. (Photo by ORAU)

 

More than 25 teachers from Anderson County schools received new teaching materials and supplies at ORAU’s Education Grants program on Sept. 10, walking away with a total of $20,000 in grant funds.

Now in the program’s 18th year, ORAU has awarded more than half a million dollars to Clinton City, Oak Ridge, and Anderson County Schools in its mission to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs.

And each year, teachers find more creative ways to incorporate STEM learning into their classrooms, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Stephen Macklin named DOE Outstanding Security Manager of Year

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Stephen Macklin
Stephen Macklin

Stephen Macklin, protective force group leader at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named the DOE Outstanding Security Manager of the Year by Energy Secretary Rick Perry. 

Macklin is one of only three individuals and one security team to receive 2018 Outstanding Security Awards, a press release said. The honors recognize both federal and contractor employees who “excel in the performance of their duties while providing security services or support to the DOE’s protective missions.”

ORNL nominated Macklin for leading a seamless transition of 92 security employees from an outside contractor to internal management, the press release said.

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ORNL-Veterans Affairs collaboration targets veteran suicide epidemic

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An Oak Ridge Team recently sped up a computer model that helps predict veteran suicide risk. (Image credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL)

 

Submitted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

More than 6,000 veterans died by suicide in 2016, and from 2005 to 2016, the rate of veteran suicides in the United States increased by more than 25 percent.

Suicide prevention is the highest priority for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs—so much so that in recent years, the VA has started using predictive models and advanced informatics (the study of information processing; computer science) to identify at-risk veterans.

One model of this type is called the medication possession ratio algorithm. It creates individualized summaries of veterans’ medication patterns, such as which medications a veteran is prescribed and how often those prescriptions are filled. The model helps clinicians pinpoint veterans with inconsistent medication usage patterns. These veterans are known to have a higher risk of attempting suicide in the next month.

In a collaborative project with the VA, a team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has taken the model and engineered the expanded version of it to run 300 times faster, gaining an unprecedented acceleration that might have a profound effect on the VA’s ability to reach susceptible veterans quickly. [Read more…]

DOE has scoping EIS meeting on Versatile Test Reactor on Wednesday

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The U.S. Department of Energy will have a scoping meeting Wednesday night for an environmental impact statement, or EIS, for a Versatile Test Reactor that could be located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory or Idaho National Laboratory.

The Versatile Test Reactor would be used to test fuels and materials for commercial nuclear power reactors.

Besides being under consideration for the Versatile Test Reactor, Idaho National Laboratory is also under consideration for the fabrication of the fuel needed to run the Versatile Test Reactor. The Savannah River Site in South Carolina is also being considered for the fuel fabrication.

The public can comment through September 4 about what should be included in a draft environmental impact statement for the reactor, according to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. DOE will publish the final EIS and make it available to the public for 30 days before issuing a record of decision, TDEC said.

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Tour Freels cabin—oldest structure in Oak Ridge—on Saturday

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historic-freels-band-cabin
The Historic Freels Bend Cabin is pictured above. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association)

The last Oak Ridge Reservation Nature Walk of 2019 will be held at the historic Freels cabin—the oldest structure in Oak Ridge—on Saturday.

The cabin is on Freels Bend near Melton Hill Lake in south Oak Ridge, east of Clark Center Park. It was built in 1844, and it’s been reported to be on the National Historic Register.

The opportunities to see the cabin are rare because it’s on restricted U.S. Department of Energy land.

Saturday’s walk is titled “History of the Oak Ridge Reservation—Freels Bend.” Registered walkers will meet at 1 p.m. in the parking lot behind the ORISE building at the corner of Bethel Valley and Pumphouse roads, a press release said.

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Advisory Board to discuss petition that could help Y-12 workers

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A Wednesday meeting could be of interest to workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex, as well as former workers and survivors of former employees, because it will discuss a petition that could benefit them.

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health will meet from 8:15 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton at 215 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

There will be a public comment period from 6-7 p.m. (The public comment period will conclude at 7 p.m. or following the final call for public comment, whichever comes first. If you plan to comment, please be prepared to comment at 6 p.m.)

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