Oak Ridge Today

(For members) New lithium building a priority as ceiling materials fall in old one

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Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

 

Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

 

A new lithium processing facility that could be built in Oak Ridge is a priority for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which has cited worker safety and materials that have fallen from the ceiling at the old building now used at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

As a priority, the new lithium processing facility is right behind the number one priorities: the production of plutonium pits at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and uranium processing at the Uranium Processing Facility, which is now under construction at Y-12, said Charles Verdon, NNSA deputy administrator for defense programs.

NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty cited the materials that have fallen from the ceiling at the old Y-12 building used for lithium processing, 9204-2, or Beta 2, in her response to questions during a budget hearing with the U.S. House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee on Tuesday.

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. 

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Annual egg hunt scheduled for April 13; volunteers needed

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A previous Oak Ridge Egg Hunt is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

A previous Oak Ridge Egg Hunt is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will host the 2019 Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 13, in A.K. Bissell Park beginning at 11 a.m.

Hundreds of children are expected to participate in this annual spring event, a press release said. More than 15,000 candy and prize-filled eggs will be hidden inside the park with prize eggs in each age group.

The event will be held rain or shine, so participants should dress appropriately. If severe weather prevents hiding eggs outdoors, they will be given away in the Civic Center gymnasium, the press release said.

Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee will be sponsoring additional activities after the egg hunt until approximately 2 p.m., depending upon participation levels, the press release said. East Tennessee Pediatric Dentistry will also bring the “Molar Express” children’s train ride if weather permits. [Read more…]

Senior Center needs community’s help furnishing building

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An image showing what the new Oak Ridge Senior Center at Alvin K. Bissell Park could look like. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)

An image showing what the new Oak Ridge Senior Center at Alvin K. Bissell Park could look like. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)

 

The new Oak Ridge Senior Center is scheduled to open later this year.

Area seniors will enjoy opportunites for recreation, physical fitness, education, health screenings, social activites, nutrition lunch program, and transportation assistance, a press release said.

At this time, the Senior Center needs the community’s help in furnishing the building, the press release said.

“Your donation of any of the pieces of furniture will greatly be appreciated,” the release said. “You can choose from the furniture on our list or assist with a cash donation.” [Read more…]

Kiwanis Club to hear about Oak Ridge Library on Tuesday

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Julie Forkner

Julie Forkner

The Kiwanis Club will hear about the Oak Ridge Public Library on Tuesday, April 9.

At noon meeting will include a program by Julie Forkner, who is director of the Oak Ridge Public Library. She will describe library facilities and services. Included are the Oak Ridge Room, Center for Oak Ridge Oral History (COROH), the Library’s Organizations Index of Non Profit Groups, and the help that can be given to the Library through the Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library (FOL).

Kiwanis Club of Oak Ridge meets at the Golden Oak Buffet in Oak Ridge. There is an optional luncheon at 11:40 a.m., and the program will start at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting will be held in the small meeting room at the Golden Oak Buffet on the right side of the entrance door. The restaurant is located on 401 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge, near the stores in the Main Street Oak Ridge shopping center. [Read more…]

Committee recommends approving early site permit for Clinch River Nuclear Site

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TVA Clinch River Site

The Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge is pictured above. The road running from bottom to top on the right (east) side of the Clinch River connects to Bear Creek Road in southwest Oak Ridge. Highway 58 is off to the top left of the photo and the Heritage Center (the former K-25 site) is to the north. (Photo courtesy TVA)

 

A federal safety committee has recommended that an early site permit be approved for small modular reactors at the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge.

The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards recommended the approval in a January 9 letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The letter was signed by Michael L. Corradini, committee chair. The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards reports on the parts of an early site permit application that concern safety. The committee’s recommendation does not appear to have been previously reported.

An early site permit evaluates the suitability of a site for the potential construction and operation of a nuclear power plant. The permit application for two or more small modular reactors at the 935-acre Clinch River site was submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority in May 2016. TVA said the reactors could generate up to 800 megawatts of electricity.

In a presentation to the Advisory Committee on December 6, TVA outlined what it appears to consider advantages of the Clinch River Nuclear Site: access to 500 kilovolt and 161 kilovolt transmission lines; being a neighbor to the U.S. Department of Energy, an interested customer; strong community support; and access to basic infrastructure and an abundant and skilled workforce. Also, TVA owns and controls the site, the public utility said in a presentation by Dan Stout, director of nuclear technology and innovation. [Read more…]

Community meeting to discuss Bull Run closure on Tuesday

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Copy of Claxton Community Meeting

There will be a community meeting in Claxton on Tuesday evening to discuss the closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant. The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors agreed in February to close the coal-burning plant by 2023.

The meeting is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the Claxton Community Center at 1071 Edgemoor Road. It will include Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) and nonprofit partners, a press release said.

“The meeting’s purpose is to give concerned residents of the community around TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant an opportunity to connect and to share their concerns, hopes, and questions around TVA’s recent decision to retire the Bull Run coal plant by 2023 or sooner,” the press release said. “Now is the time to begin a dialog to protect our community’s common interests.”

Organizers said they are urging environmental engineers, scientists, community leaders, officials from Anderson County, the cities of Oak Ridge and Clinton, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and others to be available to share information and expertise, provide support, and address residents’ questions on coal ash, air pollution, health, worker transition, economic impacts, safe demolition and site reclamation, future site use, and property values. [Read more…]

Design forum for Pennsylvania-North Tulane intersection is Wednesday

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UT Intersection Project Open Forum April 3 2019

Students from the University of Tennessee are planning to host a virtual open forum as they continue to explore alternative designs for the intersection at Pennsylvania and North Tulane Avenues in Oak Ridge, a press release said. The event will be accessible via Facebook Live on Wednesday, April 3, from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m.

The effort is part of a senior project for the students from UT’s College of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the press release said. The Oak Ridge Public Works Department teamed up with the group to evaluate designs that would potentially realign the intersections of North Tulane Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Providence Road, and East Pasadena Road.

The students held their first open forum in early March at Oak Ridge Public Library, where they introduced themselves and gathered public opinions and concerns. In the upcoming open forum, students will build on the feedback received so far and present conceptual drawings of alternatives that are under consideration, the press release said. [Read more…]

(For members) HHS designates class of Y-12 workers to be added to compensation program

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has designated a class of Y-12 employees to be added to a federal worker compensation program that involves certain illnesses and work at sites like Y-12 that are affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The employees who could be added, unless Congress says otherwise, would have worked at Y-12 between January 1, 1958, and December 31, 1976, when the plant was manufacturing nuclear weapons components during the Cold War. They would have had an aggregate total of at least 250 work days. They could have been employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, or their contractors and subcontractors.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that the workers could be added to the compensation program based on exposure to radiation from thorium metal parts and plutonium-241 isotopes.

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. 

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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.

Student receives award for extinguishing kitchen fire

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The City of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Fire Department, and Oak Ridge Police Department recognized a local student, Wesley Alig,a 13-year-old student at Jefferson Middle School, on Thursday for his quick actions to stop a fire from spreading inside his home last year. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Fire Department, and Oak Ridge Police Department recognized a local student, Wesley Alig, a 13-year-old student at Jefferson Middle School, on Thursday for his quick actions to stop a fire from spreading inside his home last year. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The City of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Fire Department, and Oak Ridge Police Department recognized a local student on Thursday for his quick actions to stop a fire from spreading inside his home last year.

When a slow cooker in his kitchen caught fire on Halloween, Wesley Alig used skills he learned in Oak Ridge’s Junior Police Academy to successfully operate a fire extinguisher, a press release said. Wesley, a 13-year-old student at Jefferson Middle School, is a graduate of the 2018 Junior Police Academy class.

The incident happened at the Alig family’s home on Heritage Drive in Oak Ridge. Wesley told first responders he heard a popping noise coming from the slow cooker, the press release said. When he walked into the kitchen to check, he saw flames on the stovetop. [Read more…]

Planning Commission to consider City Blueprint

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The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the Oak Ridge City Blueprint during a meeting this evening (Thursday, March 21).

The Blueprint is meant to be a citywide vision and guide for future growth and development in Oak Ridge. It identifies the important issues that affect the community, desired goals and outcomes, and action steps that can be prioritized by city leaders each year, based on resources, according to the City of Oak Ridge.

After being considered by Planning Commission, the Blueprint will be considered by the Oak Ridge City Council.

The Blueprint has been developed in a planning process that lasted more than two years and started in January 2017. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project: Ranger walk in Jackson Square area on Wednesday

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Submitted photo

Submitted photo

 

Join a National Park Service park ranger for a ranger-led walk in the Jackson Square area on Wednesday.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will present this free program at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 3. The program will begin at Jackson Square just outside the Oak Ridge Playhouse. The walk will be about one half mile, so wear comfortable walking shoes, a press release said.

The stops will include the tennis courts, the Guesthouse, and the Chapel on the Hill. There will be stories about the development and significance of each site, the press release said. [Read more…]

Next Breakfast with Legislators is Monday

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McNally-Ragan-Calfee-at-Breakfast-with-Legislators-April-25-2016

Pictured above at a Breakfast with the Legislators on April 25, 2016, are, from left, Tennessee Sen. Randy McNally, Rep. John Ragan, and Rep. Kent Calfee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge League of Women Voters will host Breakfast with the Legislators on Monday, March 25. The meeting will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served, a press release said.

Tennessee senators Randy McNally and Ken Yager and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about this session of the Tennessee General Assembly, and respond to questions and hear opinions from the audience, the press release said. The public is invited to attend.

“The popular community event offers firsthand information on upcoming legislation and House and Senate committee activities, while prompting dialogue among legislators and citizens, and providing a great networking opportunity for members of the community,” the release said. [Read more…]