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Deputy energy secretary visits nuclear, national security sites

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Dan Brouillette East Tennessee Aug 2019
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette traveled to Tennessee this week to tour the BWXT—Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and meet with University of Tennessee President, Randy Boyd. (Photo by Department of Energy)

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette traveled to Tennessee this week to tour the BWXT-Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. Facility and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and meet with University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd.

Brouillette was joined by Congressman Phil Roe and BWXT-Nuclear Fuel Services leadership on his tour of the downblending process facility and the fuel manufacturing facility at NFS, a U.S. Department of Energy press release said.

“They had a productive discussion about the innovative technologies pioneered by BWXT and NFS that fuel our nation’s naval reactors and defense industry,” the press release said. “The deputy secretary emphasized the importance of the critical work being done at this facility.”

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Crews start work for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

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Workers remove asphalt on the east end of the Y-12 National Security Complex, where the Mercury Treatment Facility treatment plant will be built. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

Work began in June to build the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Mercury Treatment Facility will allow the U.S. Department of Energy to clean up and demolish several large Y-12 buildings that used mercury to separate lithium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. The facility is expected to help reduce the amount of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek, which flows through Oak Ridge.

DOE announced in December that it had awarded a $91 million contract to build the Mercury Treatment Facility. The contract, which could be in place for up to four years, was awarded to APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC.

A groundbreaking was held at the site in November 2017, and site preparations were completed by December 2018.

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For members: Y-12, Pantex contract extended for two years, $3.8 billion

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

 

The contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, has been extended for two years, and the extension is valued at about $3.8 billion, the National Nuclear Security Administration said Wednesday.

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Y-12 supporting work to make most widely used medical isotope

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Pictured above is a rendering of the proposed Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corporation medical isotope production facility at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Coquí)

Note: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is supporting a program to make an isotope used in more than 40,000 medical procedures across the nation each day. The goal is to produce the isotope, molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), in the United States without using highly enriched uranium.

Some of that work could occur in Oak Ridge. A company called Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced in April that it plans to build a $500 million medical isotope production facility at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. Coquí’s facility would make medical isotopes, primarily Mo-99, and the company could start production in 2025.

In a video posted online, Y-12 said some of its researchers have extensive knowledge of Mo-99 and are sharing that information with Coquí and other companies hoping to produce the isotope.

Y-12 has been involved with Mo-99 since 2009, said Cole Jackson of Y-12 Global Security and Strategic Partnerships.

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No injuries reported when furnace door blows open in lab reaction at Y-12

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No injuries were reported when a furnace door blew open during an “unexpected violent reaction” in a chemistry laboratory at the Y-12 National Security Complex in May.

The door of the muffle furnace blew open while it was heating samples in an analytical chemistry laboratory in Building 9995 on Thursday, May 30, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said.

The muffle furnace was damaged, the DNFSB said. It is used to heat samples to high temperatures. The glass vials containing the samples shattered, and some were expelled from the muffle furnace into the work area, the safety board said in a June 7 report.

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No injuries reported in transformer fire at salt bath for depleted uranium

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No injuries were reported during a fire at a transformer for a salt bath used to heat depleted uranium at the Y-12 National Security Complex in May.

The transformer fire was reported Monday, May 20, in Building 9215 at Y-12. It burned no more than about 25 minutes, according to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. No depleted uranium was being processed at the time of the fire, the board said.

The salt bath heats depleted uranium before metalworking operations.

The DNFSB said the system engineer had stepped away from the salt bath while it was slowly heating to a new temperature, and he noticed the fire after re-entering the area after a supervisor told him about an unusual odor, the DNFSB said. The engineer called 911, and all personnel evacuated the immediate area.

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For members: After leak, hydrogen fluoride operations resume at Y-12

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Y-12 Building 9212

A low-level aerial shot of Building 9212 at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

After a leak in April, hydrogen fluoride operations have resumed at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.  Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here. Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here: Basic

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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Photos: Landslide near water plant

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Pictured above is the landslide next to the access road to the Oak Ridge Water Treatment Plant on Pine Ridge, above the Y-12 National Security Complex, on Saturday night, February 23, 2019. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Photos released by the City of Oak Ridge and CNS Y-12 on Monday show the landslide that occurred next to the access road to the Oak Ridge Water Treatment Plant on Pine Ridge in February.

Last week, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters said it could cost an estimated $407,000 to repair the landslide, and the work should be complete by the end of July.

The water plant is on a ridge top above the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on Bear Creek Road. The landslide occurred next to the access road to the water plant on Saturday night, February 23. It’s the only access road to the water plant. It allows operations and maintenance workers to get to the water plant and deliver materials, equipment, and chemicals.

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Y-12 has emergency management exercise on Wednesday

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The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Emergency response personnel from the National Nuclear Security Administration and Consolidated Nuclear Security—along with federal, state, and local emergency management personnel—will conduct an emergency management exercise in and around the Y-12 National Security Complex on Wednesday, June 12.

“During this exercise, people in the vicinity of the Y-12 may observe personnel simulating response activities and performing environmental monitoring or sampling, but these offsite activities are part of the exercise,” a press release said.

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DOE awards new contract to support environmental cleanup in Oak Ridge

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Five contracts worth up to $24.9 million total have been awarded to small businesses to help support the cleanup of federal sites in Oak Ridge.

The awardees include one company based in Oak Ridge and two based in Knoxville.

The awards were announced last week by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management as part of its Characterization, Deactivation/Demolition, and Remediation Services contract.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, said it will use the awards to advance cleanup progress across the Oak Ridge Reservation by issuing task orders to conduct characterization, demolish lower hazard buildings, dispose waste, and provide technical support.

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Highly enriched uranium from UK brought to Y-12 for secure storage

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

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

Almost 700 kilograms of highly enriched uranium has been moved from the United Kingdom to the United States, and the material is being securely stored at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge for now, federal officials said.

The National Nuclear Security Administration said this month that the highly enriched uranium, or HEU, will be down-blended later into low enriched uranium for use as nuclear reactor fuel.

“The material was returned to Y-12 for secure storage awaiting future disposition,” the NNSA said in a statement provided Friday by Steven Wyatt of the NNSA Production Office in Oak Ridge.

Wyatt said Y-12 supported the removal effort, which was announced by the NNSA on May 3, through technical oversight and guidance of the processing and packaging of material.

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DOE updating security order after intelligence reports about drone threats

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A drone is pictured above. (Photo courtesy Federal Aviation Administration)

The U.S. Department of Energy is updating a classified security order that will reflect recent intelligence assessments about the threats posed by unmanned aerial systems, or drones, as some federal officials express concerns that terrorists could use drones to harm the United States.

That information is included in a report issued by the DOE Inspector General, or IG, in April.

While developing the report, the IG reviewed controls in place at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Idaho National Laboratory. The IG found that the National Nuclear Security Administration, including Y-12, has been proactive in establishing “limited internal controls” that include observing and reporting unmanned aerial systems, as well as using deadly force if hostile intent is determined.

The IG said drones are becoming increasingly popular, and some unmanned aerial systems that are commercially available and relatively affordable have high-definition cameras, auto pilot global positioning system navigation, and the ability to carry and remotely release payloads.

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