Information from WYSH Radio
The Holiday Bureau of Anderson County is in desperate need of donated toys. There are more than 700 kids that still need toys.
If you can help, contact the bureau at (865) 483-7831 or on Facebook to get details.
Chinese supercomputer still No. 1, ORNL’s Titan No. 2
Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory stayed at No. 2 in a Top 500 ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers released Monday morning. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)
A Chinese supercomputer kept its top ranking, and Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory stayed at No. 2 in a Top 500 ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers released Monday morning.
The top two spots were unchanged from the semiannual rankings released five months ago in June, when Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, bumped Titan from the top spot. The ORNL supercomputer had been named No. 1 one year ago.
The rankings released Monday at the SC13 conference in Denver, Colo., said Tianhe-2 is capable of performing 33.86 petaflops. That’s 33.86 quadrillion calculations per second, on what is known as a Linpack benchmark test.
Titan is a Cray XK7 system that achieved 17.59 petaflops. Titan is one of the most energy-efficient systems on the list, consuming a total of 8.21 megawatts and delivering 2.143 gigaflops per watt, a press release said. [Read more…]
ORNL retiree recalls 1944 hospital bombing in Belgium
Ernest Shepherd
Ernest Shepherd attended the Veterans Day ceremony on Monday at Oak Ridge National Laboratory wearing a uniform similar to what he wore in 1944 when the hospital he was working in as a medic in Belgium was hit with a German bomb.
Shepherd—89 years old and an ORNL retiree who treated wounded from the D-Day invasion prior to moving on to Belgium—would earn the Purple Heart for his heroics in the aftermath of the bombing.
“It blew out all the windows in that whole building,” recalled Shepherd, who was on the second floor when the bomb crashed into the hospital and exploded about 300 feet from where he was located. “It killed 29 people. There were between 12 to 15 air personnel killed, and one major who I really liked got killed. I got wounded in the face with shrapnel or flying glass. That’s how I earned the Purple Heart.” [Read more…]
Lecture to focus on whether small reactors can rejuvenate nuclear power
Kent Williams
A retired distinguished staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss Thursday evening whether small modular nuclear reactors, such as the one proposed in west Oak Ridge, can rejuvenate nuclear power.
The presentation by Kent Williams starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Fellowship Hall at First Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge.
Many people in the nuclear industry say that small modular reactors, or SMRs, are key to a revitalized nuclear industry in the U.S. and overseas because of their projected market, safety, and economic characteristics, a press release said. One SMR plant has been proposed at the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor site in west Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
World-wide polio eradication to be discussed at Lunch with League on Tuesday
Brenda Thornburgh, left, president of Galbraith Laboratories Inc. and past President of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club, marks a child’s left pinkie with a purple marker during a polio eradication mission in India in 2012, indicating that the child has received the immunization. (Submitted photo).
Brenda Thornburgh, president of Galbraith Laboratories Inc. and past President of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club, will discuss the worldwide effort to eradicate polio during Lunch with the League on Tuesday.
The meeting starts at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church on Oak Ridge Turnpike.
For most Americans, paralytic polio is a disease of the past, a press release said. However, there has been a worldwide increase in the number of confirmed cases across the world in 2013, primarily in non-endemic countries such as Somalia, Kenya, and the Syrian Arab Republic. [Read more…]
ORCMA holiday wreaths for sale through Wednesday
The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association is taking advance orders for holiday wreaths made from fresh evergreens.
A traditional symbol of the holiday season, the wreaths are made of Fraser Fir (Southern Balsam). Proceeds from the sale are used in ORCMA’s longstanding commitment to the funding of local music organizations.
The wreaths are made to order in sizes ranging from 14 inches to 32 inches and can be customized in larger sizes as wanted. Red or maroon velvet bows are also available by order. Prices for wreaths range from $17 to $30, and bows cost $7. [Read more…]
Final milestone in U.S.-Russian partnership converting nuclear warheads into fuel
Ernest Moniz
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Russia has converted 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium—the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads—and the resulting low enriched uranium, or LEU, has been delivered to the United States, fabricated into nuclear fuel, and used in nuclear power plants to generate nearly 10 percent of all U.S. electricity for the past 15 years, federal officials said.
That’s roughly half of all commercial nuclear energy produced domestically during that period, a U.S. Department of Energy press release said.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced the final LEU shipment on Thursday.
The LEU was derived from Russian weapons-origin highly enriched uranium, or HEU, under the 1993 U.S.-Russia HEU Purchase Agreement, commonly known as the Megatons to Megawatts Program, the press release said. [Read more…]
ORNL: ‘Black Hawk Down’ commander still honors fallen soldiers
Danny McKnight
Danny McKnight’s U.S Army Rangers’ unit was the focus of the movie “Black Hawk Down”—the story of a battle that occurred in Somalia 20 years ago.
McKnight told an audience at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Monday, Veterans Day, that he visits the six graves of men who lost their lives in that battle every five years as he did this past October.
“It reminds me of how special they were and still are to me,” said McKnight, a 28.5-year veteran of the Rangers and author of the book “Streets of Mogidishu—Leadership at Its Best” that recounts the battle of Oct. 3-4, 1993. “I want people to know about it because I want people to understand that’s what we need to do. I never want to forget them. I don’t care if they’ve been gone 50 years. As long as I can walk, talk and breathe every five years, they’ll see me. I know they see me.”
Three hundred people recently attended the unit’s first reunion in 20 years in October when they met in Dallas. [Read more…]
High-activity radioactive materials removed from Mexico, NNSA says
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Nuclear Security Administration announced this week that it has recovered high-activity radioactive materials from an oncology clinic in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
NNSA’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative, or GTRI, and the Mexican National Commission for Nuclear Security and Safeguards, or CNSNS, jointly supported the removal, a press release said. The device containing the source was packaged and securely transported to the U.S. for final disposition.
“This operation is part of NNSA’s broad strategy to strengthen both U.S. and global security by keeping dangerous nuclear and radiological material safe and secure,” said NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Anne Harrington. “This mission is a good example of our long-standing partnership with Mexico to prevent proliferation and secure the materials that can be used by terrorists in an improvised nuclear device or dirty bomb.” [Read more…]
Anderson County Chief Jailer Avery Johnson retires
Chief Jailer Avery Johnson, center, has retired after working for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department for almost 33 years. Also pictured are Anderson County Sheriff Paul White, right, and Chief Deputy Mark Lucas. (Submitted photo)
Chief Jailer Avery Johnson has retired after working for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department for almost 33 years.
Anderson County Sheriff Paul White announced the retirement this week.
Johnson began his career with the department in February 1981, a press release said. After working in patrol, Johnson was assigned to the jail, and he was promoted to sergeant in charge of the jail operations in March of 1984. As the responsibilities of the jail operations increased, Johnson was promoted through the ranks of lieutenant, captain, and later, chief jailer. [Read more…]
City starts sending out sewer rehab letters on Monday
Beginning next week, residents located in the east end of Oak Ridge should be receiving an information letter in the mail from the city concerning sewer rehabilitation work in the area. The letter is on purple paper and provides general information concerning the sewer work.
Morgan Contracting Inc. will be conducting preconstruction work in the area, a press release said. This work includes tasks such as locating manholes and walking the terrain of the area, so residents may see workers in their yard or along the greenbelt.
The work areas are located: [Read more…]
Open house offers information on Affordable Care Act on Saturday
Affordable Care Act Volunteer Jim Nelson is pictured above. (Submitted photo)
An open house to provide information about the Affordable Care Act, sometimes called “Obamacare,” will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Grace Lutheran Church in Woodland.
Anyone who is interested in learning more about the new health care act is invited to attend this educational event, especially those who need to get health insurance in the new marketplace. Those attending will be able to access both printed information and computers to get online resources, a press release said.
Community volunteers, including some experienced with the Tennessee Health Care Coalition, will be present to make sure their neighbors have access to affordable, quality health care, and accurate information about the ACA, the release said. [Read more…]
