Oak Ridge Today

Y-12 protesters work to change nuclear policy, prevent another Hiroshima

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OREPA Peace Cranes at Y-12

Sharon O’Hara-Bruce of Lake Orion, Mich., ties a peace crane to a fence set up in front of the Y-12 National Security during a Tuesday morning ceremony recalling the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, near the end of World War II.

A few dozen demonstrators from across the eastern United States gathered near the Y-12 National Security Complex on Tuesday morning to remember the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, near the end of World War II 68 years ago.

Some traveled hundreds of miles by bicycle and car to get to Oak Ridge, where they questioned the nation’s current energy policy and preparations for nuclear war. Four riders arrived after a 458-mile, nine-day “Bikes Not Bombs” trip from Cincinnati to Oak Ridge.

“It’s consciousness-raising and concern for the priorities of our society,” said Tim Kraus of Cincinnati, part of the support group for the “Bikes Not Bombs” trip, which was organized by Footprints for Peace. “What we’re doing is not sustainable.” [Read more…]

Auditorium to be built at UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge

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University of Tennessee Arboretum Auditorium

University of Tennessee AgResearch on Tuesday announced that a new auditorium will be built at the UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge through a public-private partnership. A building design concept is pictured above. (Image courtesy of UT AgResearch)

A new auditorium that could be used for education will be built at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge through a public-private partnership, officials announced Tuesday.

The partnership includes UT AgResearch, a unit of the UT Institute of Agriculture; the UT Institute for Public Service; and the Rogers Group.

The auditorium was announced during a Tuesday morning breakfast at the Arboretum that was sponsored by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. [Read more…]

Clinton man charged in Knox

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Clinton man is in custody in Knox County on Tuesday after he allegedly kidnapped his estranged wife early Monday morning, then eluded authorities for several hours.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office said that 41-year-old Stephen Mayes hid in the bushes outside his estranged wife’s workplace and forced his way in to her car at gunpoint at around 5 a.m. Monday. He allegedly drove around for a while before ending up at a gas station in Farragut, where he is accused of trying to force her in to her car’s trunk. The woman fought back and ran into the gas station, where she called for help. [Read more…]

Two injured in separate one-vehicle accidents on Highway 25W

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Information from WYSH Radio

Two people escaped serious injury in the past three days when their cars rolled during accidents on Highway 25W.

The first accident happened Saturday at around 12:45 p.m. on Clinch Avenue near the intersection with Carden Farm Road. The Clinton Police Department reported that 57-year-old Douglas Fairbanks had been headed north in a 2005 Audi when his car left the right side of the roadway, hit an embankment and a tree stump, and came to rest on its side. Fairbanks had to be extricated from the vehicle and was taken to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge by ambulance. [Read more…]

Nonprofit lease termination could leave vacant space in central Oak Ridge

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Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic building

Oak Ridge officials have been asked to terminate the 50-year lease on the former Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic building on Badger Road, which would leave vacant space in central Oak Ridge. City officials haven’t decided what to do with the building.

A decision to terminate a 50-year lease agreement on a building once used by a national nonprofit organization to record audiobooks for the dyslexic and visually impaired could open up some office space in central Oak Ridge.

But city officials said they haven’t decided what to do with it yet.

Now partially empty, the split-level two-story building on Badger Road was once home to Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. Located on the south side of Alvin K. Bissell Park, it still houses the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, which includes the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Oak Ridge Chorus. [Read more…]

Demolition under way, construction could start this fall on Kroger Marketplace

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Kroger Marketplace Site Work

A half-dozen excavators, scrapers, dump trucks, bulldozers, and loaders were moving dirt and debris and knocking down trees late Friday afternoon on the north side of the planned Kroger Marketplace, near Raleigh Road and the former Robin Lane in Oak Ridge.

Demolition work is under way, and construction could start this fall on a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center in Oak Ridge that is expected to include a range of services from a fuel center and sushi shop to a drive-through pharmacy and Baby World.

Demolition at the shopping center—named the Westcott Center in honor of renowned photographer James Edward Westcott—began Monday, July 29, said Glynn Jenkins, director of communications and public relations for the The Kroger Co.’s Atlanta Division. Home demolition work is expected to be completed by Aug. 23.

The demolition of the former Super 8 motel, Vista Inn, and Cancun’s restaurant on Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Illinois Avenue is expected to start next week. [Read more…]

ORNL research reveals new challenges for mercury cleanup

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Mercury Cycle

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are learning more about the microbial processes
that convert elemental mercury into methylmercury. (Submitted image)

More forms of mercury can be converted to deadly methylmercury than previously thought, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Geoscience. The discovery provides scientists with another piece of the mercury puzzle, bringing them one step closer to understanding the challenges associated with mercury cleanup.

Earlier this year, a multidisciplinary team of researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory discovered two key genes that are essential for microbes to convert oxidized mercury to methylmercury, a neurotoxin that can penetrate skin and at high doses affect brain and muscle tissue, causing paralysis and brain damage.

The discovery of how methylmercury is formed answered a question that had stumped scientists for decades, and the findings published this week build on that breakthrough. [Read more…]

Tuesday morning ceremony near Y-12 recalls Hiroshima bombing

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OREPA Protest at Y-12 National Security Complex

A Tuesday morning ceremony in front of the Y-12 National Security Complex will recall the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, near the end of World War II. Y-12 enriched uranium for the bomb. Pictured above are protesters at last year’s annual event.

A Tuesday morning ceremony near the Y-12 National Security Complex will recall the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, during World War II, organizers said.

The annual event at the front of Y-12 includes a Names and Remembrance Ceremony. It’s sponsored by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance.

Organizers say they will “raise voices in solidarity with survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima who say, ‘Never Again!’” [Read more…]

Electricity sales down with mild temperatures; heavy rainfall boosted low-cost power, TVA says

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Norris Dam

The Norris Dam in Anderson County can produce electricity for the Tennessee Valley Authority. (Photo courtesy TVA)

KNOXVILLE—The Tennessee Valley Authority reported Monday that electricity sales were lower in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013 than for the prior period due largely to mild temperatures, while heavy rainfall boosted low-cost hydroelectric generation.

“Both sales and revenues were down in the third quarter. This was offset largely by our efforts to reduce operating costs,” TVA President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson said. “We are focused on making sure TVA lives within our means to continue to keep rates low for our customers and the people of the Tennessee Valley.” [Read more…]

Wisconsin professor, former Nuclear Society president to discuss need for nuclear power in U.S.

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Michael Corradini

Michael L. Corradini

The 16th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series continues on Tuesday, Aug. 13, featuring Professor Michael L. Corradini, director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute and past president of the American Nuclear Society. He will discuss “The Need for Nuclear Power in the U.S.”

The event is sponsored by Friends of ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory). It’s free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 S. Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge. A reception for the speaker starts at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served) in the museum lobby, and his lecture starts at 6:30 p.m. This talk should be of interest to the general public. [Read more…]

UCOR celebrates two years in Oak Ridge

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Leo Sain at K-25

Leo Sain, president and project manager for cleanup contractor UCOR, near the east wing of the mostly demolished K-25 Building, built to enrich uranium during World War II and also used during the Cold War.

It’s been two years since UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, started working in the Secret City.

UCOR president Leo Sain celebrated with an Aug. 1 letter to employees that thanked them but also issued a reminder and challenge. Read the letter here.

Sain said he is very proud of the workforce—he called the company’s performance spectacular—and said work has been done safely, under budget, and ahead of schedule.

“At the end of two years, we’re one of the safest sites in the U.S. Department of Energy complex,” Sain said. “The credit for that goes entirely to you, the workforce, for staying focused on your work through all the distractions and changing hazards that come with the tasks we perform.” [Read more…]

Machines start moving dirt, debris; knocking down trees at Kroger Marketplace

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Kroger Marketplace Site Work

A half-dozen excavators, scrapers, dump trucks, bulldozers, and loaders move dirt and debris and knock down trees late Friday afternoon on the north side of the planned Kroger Marketplace shopping center in central Oak Ridge. The heavy equipment pictured above is working near Raleigh Road and the former Robin Lane.

An official groundbreaking for the new Kroger Marketplace shopping center hasn’t been announced yet, but a half-dozen bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators, loaders, and scrapers were moving dirt and debris and knocking down trees late Friday afternoon on the north side of the 25-acre site in central Oak Ridge.

The heavy equipment was working near Raleigh Road and the former Robin Lane, just southwest of Grove Center.

Oak Ridge Today has requested more information from a Kroger spokesman in Atlanta and will provide additional details as they become available. [Read more…]