Oak Ridge Today

Roane State staff encourages girls to pursue engineering

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Roane State mechatronics director Gordon Williams shows students how to operate a robotic arm during the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” event at Y-12’s New Hope Center. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

Roane State mechatronics director Gordon Williams shows students how to operate a robotic arm during the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” event at Y-12’s New Hope Center. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

 

Two Roane State staff members helped introduce more than 200 high school girls to the world of engineering during an event at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Showing the students how to operate a robotic arm was Gordon Williams, director of the college’s mechatronics program. Kim Harris, director of Workforce Training and Placement at Roane State, assisted in the presentation.

The demonstration was part of “Introduce a Girl to Engineering,” a program held February 23 at Y-12’s New Hope Center.

Students from 15 area schools participated in the event conducted in concert with “Girl Day,” an initiative founded by DiscoverE, formerly the National Engineers Week Foundation. [Read more…]

CNS introduces hundreds of girls to engineering

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Chloe Roach from Anderson County Career and Technical Center pedals a bike to generate electricity. (Photo by Y-12)

Chloe Roach from Anderson County Career and Technical Center pedals a bike to generate electricity. (Photo by Y-12)

 

Y-12 National Security Complex shows how STEM skills lead to careers

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC recently hosted more than 200 female high school students from 15 area schools as part of Introduce a Girl to Engineering. The goal of the event was to inspire girls to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, a press release said.

This program was conducted in concert with Girl Day, an initiative founded by DiscoverE and expands CNS’ existing relationships with area schools.

Kristin Waldschlager of CNS Educational Outreach said educating the younger generation about STEM-related opportunities is “critical” for Y-12.

“At Y-12, we have a sense of responsibility to make sure we support the development and growth of future scientists and engineers who could be working here,” Waldschlager said in the press release. [Read more…]

DOE addresses high-risk facilities in Oak Ridge

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Excess facilities at Oak Ridge's Y-12 National Security Complex are marked in red. (Image by DOE)

Excess facilities at Oak Ridge’s Y-12 National Security Complex are marked in red. (Image by DOE)

 

A new initiative by the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is improving safety and preparing two of the federal sites—Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex—for cleanup and modernization, officials said. The initiative is an excess contaminated facilities initiative.

The congressionally funded cleanup initiative was stimulated by a report to Congress by the Governmental Accountability Office. The report noted that the U.S. Department of Energy designated more than 2,300 of its facilities as “excess,” meaning they’re not operating and no longer serve the department’s missions.

“Many of these facilities pose high risk from contamination and deteriorating structural integrities due to their age and the limited resources to maintain them,” the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in a story published January 31.

The Office of Environmental Management said more than a quarter of all DOE’s high-risk excess facilities are in Oak Ridge at either ORNL or Y-12. Y-12 has 90 excess facilities to address while ORNL has more than 200, DOE EM reported. [Read more…]

DOE: Roof repairs lower future cleanup costs at Alpha 4 at Y-12

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Workers perform repairs on Alpha 4’s four-acre roof at Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo by DOE/Y-12)

Workers perform repairs on Alpha 4’s four-acre roof at Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo by DOE/Y-12)

 

By DOE Office of Environmental Management

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management recently finished repairs to an aging Y-12 National Security Complex building as part of an initiative that is designed to improve safety, reduce cleanup costs, lower risks, and stabilize excess facilities that are contaminated and are expected to be demolished.

Maintaining the roofs of aging, contaminated facilities prevents water damage, the greatest threat to rapid deterioration and the spread of contamination. These factors create a more hazardous environment for future demolition crews that must enter the facility, and they increase the cost of cleanup exponentially.

“We are applying lessons we’ve learned from previous cleanup projects,” said Jay Mullis, acting manager of Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. “Buildings that are neglected cause cleanup to be much more costly and complicated. Performing smaller tasks like this one to maintain facilities will create considerable savings by the time we begin major demolition at Y-12.” [Read more…]

DOE works to remove risks, prepare excess buildings for demolition at ORNL, Y-12

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Workers remove combustible items from the Homogenous Reactor Experiment facility, or Building 7500, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which allowed the building’s heat detection system to be deactivated. (Photo by DOE)

Workers remove combustible items from the Homogenous Reactor Experiment facility, or Building 7500, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which allowed the building’s heat detection system to be deactivated. (Photo by DOE/ORNL)

 

By DOE Office of Environmental Management

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management and its cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge are taking steps to remove risks and help prepare excess facilities for eventual demolition at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Oak Ridge is home to more than 350 excess facilities totaling more than six million square feet. Many of them are several decades old.

Alan Stokes, associate director for the Planning and Execution Division in Oak Ridge’s Environmental Management, or EM, program, said during a panel discussion this month at the 2017 Waste Management Symposium in Phoenix that Oak Ridge has more than a quarter of the “higher-risk” excess facilities in the entire DOE inventory. [Read more…]

CNS announces employee-directed community grants

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A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Oak Ridge Schools to provide additional opportunities for at-risk students to engage in reading instruction. (Photo by Y-12)

A grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund has been awarded to Oak Ridge Schools to provide additional opportunities for at-risk students to engage in reading instruction. (Photo by Y-12)

 

$125,000 invested in local nonprofits across East Tennessee

Twenty-nine nonprofits from across East Tennessee have received a total of $125,000 in grants from the Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, Y-12 Community Investment Fund. The recipients were announced this month at a reception at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex.

The CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund is managed by the East Tennessee Foundation, and it was created in 2014 by CNS. CNS manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, where a similar fund is managed by the Amarillo Area Foundation, a press release said.

At Y-12, a committee made up of CNS employees reviewed dozens of grant proposals, conducted staff interviews, and made site visits before recommending funding based on the committee’s four focus areas:  education, senior citizens, veterans, and youth. [Read more…]

After Senate confirms Perry as energy secretary, Alexander invites him to Oak Ridge

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Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

The United States Senate has confirmed former Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve as U.S. energy secretary, and Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, has invited him to Oak Ridge.

The Thursday afternoon vote to confirm Perry was 62 to 37. Alexander was one of the 62 senators voting to confirm Perry. So was Senator Bob Corker, also a Tennessee Republican.

“I’ve known Rick Perry for a long time and am pleased the Senate has voted to confirm him as energy secretary,” Alexander said in a statement. “He appreciates the role the Department of Energy plays in the management and modernization of our nuclear weapons—an important part of the work done at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. He also understands that national laboratories like the Oak Ridge National Laboratory are essential to maintaining our country’s brainpower advantage. I have invited him to come to Tennessee early this year to see firsthand the important work done in Oak Ridge.” [Read more…]

New House Appropriations chair visits ORNL, Y-12

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The new chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee visited Oak Ridge on Thursday. U.S. Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican, toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex. The visit was hosted by U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican. (Submitted photo)

The new chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee visited Oak Ridge on Thursday. U.S. Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican, toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex. The visit was hosted by U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican. (Submitted photo)

 

The new chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee visited Oak Ridge on Thursday. During his visit, U.S. Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican, toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex.

The visit was hosted by Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge.

The House Republican Conference approved Frelinghuysen as the new chair of the critical House Appropriations Committee, which funds the federal missions at Oak Ridge, late last year. Hal Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, was the former chair. [Read more…]

‘Handful’ of ORNL scientists from countries included in travel ban, but no effect so far

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 a.m. Feb. 12.

A “handful of scientists” working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are citizens of the seven countries that were barred from entering the United States for up to 90 days under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month, but so far, the travel ban hasn’t had an effect at the lab, officials said Friday.

ORNL is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory. It’s DOE’s largest science and energy laboratory, and it has foreign nationals working there as well as visiting scientists.

The seven countries included in the president’s travel ban, which was issued January 27, were Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

“Only a handful of scientists working at ORNL are citizens of those seven countries,” the lab said in response to questions. “We’re not aware of any effects of the order here to date.” [Read more…]

Y-12, Pantex donate $1.2 million to local United Way campaigns

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United Way contributions at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, totaled roughly $1.2 million, Consolidated Nuclear Security, the managing and operating contractor, announced Thursday. Contributions from employees, retirees, and the corporation were gathered during the sites’ recent campaigns, a press release said.

The campaigns also added more than 500 Leadership Givers, who have pledged to donate $1,000 or more. Corporate gifts of some $155,000 also added to the total. Funds also were raised through special events, such as silent auctions, and the sales of jewelry, books, and food items, the press release said. [Read more…]

Y-12 wins state award with energy-saving projects

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Y-12 National Security Complex has taken advantage of the energy-saving funding opportunities provided by Energy Savings Performance Contracts and has implemented diverse energy improvement projects, such as new high-efficiency cooling towers for the chiller plant. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

Y-12 National Security Complex has taken advantage of the energy-saving funding opportunities provided by Energy Savings Performance Contracts and has implemented diverse energy improvement projects, such as new high-efficiency cooling towers for the chiller plant. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently recognized the Y-12 National Security Complex with one of its Environment and Energy Awards. The site won the Comprehensive Energy Excellence Award for taking advantage of the opportunities provided by Energy Savings Performance Contracts and implementing diverse energy improvement projects.

“It is an honor to represent Y‑12 and receive awards on behalf of the employees who work to make the recognition possible,” said Y-12’s Environmental Compliance Manager Stacey Loveless. “We are happy to share with others the green news we have at Y‑12.”

Y-12 has invested in three ESPC projects, including a steam decentralization project that removed some 21 buildings from the plant’s steam distribution system and eliminated more than 3,000 feet of leaking lines. The lines were replaced with natural gas lines. This project is estimated to save almost 1.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, some 170,000 MBtu of natural gas, 36 million gallons of water, and more than $800,000 annually. (MBtu equals 1,000 British thermal units; one Btu is the heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.) [Read more…]

Alexander to chair subcommittee that oversees funding for ORNL, Y-12, DOE cleanup work

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Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

The Senate Appropriations Committee announced Wednesday that U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, will serve as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development for the 115th Congress.

That subcommittee oversees funding for national priorities such as energy research, nuclear weapons modernization, and waterways infrastructure that are funded through the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a press release said. It also oversees funding for Tennessee priorities, including the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, cleanup in Oak Ridge, and Chickamauga Lock. [Read more…]