Oak Ridge Today

Emert running for Anderson County mayor

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Steve Emert

Steve Emert

Steve Emert, chair of the Anderson County Commission, is running for Anderson County mayor as a Republican in the 2018 election.

Emert has served the last five years as a county commissioner from District 3, which includes Norris and Andersonville. He has been county commission chair for the past two years.

When he was elected to County Commission in 2012, Emert said in a press release, he immediately started furthering his education in every aspect of the local government, and he earned the CPA designation (certified public administrator).

Emert is a longtime local businessman and entrepreneur, the press release said. [Read more…]

NRC has accepted TVA’s early site permit application for small nuclear reactors

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

TVA-SMRs-at-NRC-Meeting-April-12-2016

The Tennessee Valley Authority applied for an early site permit in May 2016 that could help prepare for small modular nuclear reactors at the Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge, possibly as soon as the mid-2020s. Pictured above at a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting on the early site permit on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, is Dan Stout, TVA senior manager, small modular reactors. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority submitted an application last May for an early site permit for small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, at the Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, accepted the application for “docketing and detailed technical review” in December.

The early site permit application is for two or more SMRs.

A specific reactor design has not been selected. The NRC said TVA has identified parameters for a surrogate nuclear plant, and the NRC will use them to evaluate the site’s suitability for building and operating a new nuclear plant.

“If NRC determines that the site is suitable for the building and operation of a new nuclear plant, prior to building and operation of a plant at the site, NRC would need to review and approve an additional application from TVA (either a combined license (COL) or a construction permit (CP)) that includes a specific reactor design,” the NRC said on its website.

The project’s timeline, which includes a detailed technical review, is now in the hands of the NRC, and it will likely take several years, TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said Friday. [Read more…]

Council scheduled to vote on Scarboro Park for preschool on Monday

Posted at
By 6 Comments

The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to build a new preschool at Scarboro Park during a special meeting on Monday, March 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council is scheduled to vote on selecting Scarboro Park for the new preschool during a special meeting on Monday.

The special meeting starts at 7 p.m. Monday, March 27, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education selected Scarboro Park in February. [Read more…]

Run for Autism on April 8 supports autism breakthrough

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Vicky Wallace, center, and Melissa Orsick Peplow, right, with her daughter Sarah, all of Oak Ridge, participated in last year’s Breakthrough Run for Autism. With them are three members of Knox Moms Run This Town. Vicky and Melissa were “Team 2 for 1” in the race. (Submitted photo)

Vicky Wallace, center, and Melissa Orsick Peplow, right, with her daughter Sarah, all of Oak Ridge, participated in last year’s Breakthrough Run for Autism. With them are three members of Knox Moms Run This Town. Vicky and Melissa were “Team 2 for 1” in the race. (Submitted photo)

 

The Breakthrough Run for Autism will be held April 8, with Autism Breakthrough of Knoxville inviting individuals, teams, and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities to participate.

The 5K Run/Walk and 1-Mile Fun Run begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 8, at Regal Cinemas Pinnacle Stadium 18 in Farragut’s Turkey Creek. The run, held during National Autism Awareness Month, supports Autism Breakthrough of Knoxville, a nonprofit organization committed to helping adults facing the challenges of autism in the East Tennessee region.

Lori Tucker, WATE-TV news anchor, will serve as honorary chair of the run and will be the emcee during the awards ceremony. Chelsey Vaughan, who serves on the Autism Breakthrough Foundation board, is the race director. [Read more…]

Immigrant, refugee rights to be discussed in RSCC-ORICL lecture Thursday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Kasar Abdulla

Kasar Abdulla

 

Kasar Abdulla, a Muslim refugee from Kurdistan of Iraq and director of advocacy and education at the Nashville nonprofit Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, will speak at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 30, at the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College.

Abdulla will tell her story and discuss immigrant and refugee rights in the first talk of 2017 in the RSCC-Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, or ORICL, Lecture Series. Her lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be delivered in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally Building.

Abdulla has received awards and recognition on television and in publications for her community activism in Nashville. In 2013, President Barack Obama named her a “Champion of Change” for her work on immigrant integration in Tennessee. [Read more…]

Secret City Wildbots going to robotics championship

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Secret City Wildbots, Team 4265 of Oak Ridge, celebrate their second semifinals win to advance to the finals at the Smoky Mountain Regional in Knoxville on Saturday, March 25, 2017. (Photo by Angi Agle)

The Secret City Wildbots, Team 4265 of Oak Ridge, celebrate their second semifinals win to advance to the finals at the Smoky Mountain Regional in Knoxville on Saturday, March 25, 2017. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

The Secret City Wildbots won the Engineering Inspiration Award in the Smoky Mountain Regional on Saturday, and the Wildbots, Team 4265 of Oak Ridge, will advance to the FIRST Robotics Championship in Houston on April 19.

The Wildbots had advanced throughout the day on Saturday, said Angi Agle, an Oak Ridge Board of Education member who attended this week’s robotics competition at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.

The team finished qualifying in third place, so it advanced to the quarterfinals. They won the first quarterfinal 455-273.

They tied the first semifinal round against a Hardin Valley-led alliance and then won the second semifinal against Hardin Valley, Agle said. [Read more…]

Wildfire that burned 18 acres in west Oak Ridge is contained

Posted at
By 1 Comment

A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017. The fire was on U.S. Department of Energy land south of Whippoorwill Drive and west of Wisconsin Avenue, in the area below (to the left of) the water tower pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 2017. The fire was on the Oak Ridge Reservation, U.S. Department of Energy land, south of Whippoorwill Drive and west of Wisconsin Avenue, in the area below (to the left of) the water tower pictured above. Smoke from the fire is visible near the water tower. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A wildfire burned about 18 acres of federal land in west Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon.

The fire was reported on the Oak Ridge Reservation, U.S. Department of Energy land, at about 12:27 p.m. Saturday. It was west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Whippoorwill Drive.

Firefighters initially reported it as about a five-acre fire in a cut between two ridges, said Ray Burney, Oak Ridge Fire Department captain. There is a trail down there, Burney said.

The fire was below East Ridge Boundary Road near a water tower in west Oak Ridge. It emitted smoke that could be seen hanging over neighborhood streets and above the trees from several miles away.

At about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oak Ridge Fire Department crews were cutting fire lines with hand rakes, Burney said. To contain fires, firefighters rake down to the dirt in a containment line that is about three to four feet wide. [Read more…]

How Roane State helped a young student on her road to MIT

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Emma Batson, who took online classes at Roane State, is now a freshman at MIT. (Submitted photo)

Emma Batson, who took online classes at Roane State, is now a freshman at MIT. (Submitted photo)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

It’s a long way from being a bright middle school student to becoming a successful freshman at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But a Roane State Community College employee helped span that gap, and a mom is forever grateful.

Maria Gonzales, director of student enrollment and recruitment, played a transformative role in helping Emma Batson, 18, now in her second semester at MIT.

“You never know what one person can do to change the trajectory of a person’s life,” said Emma’s mom, Tresa Batson of Karns. “I wanted to let Roane State know what a special person they have in admissions.”

Tresa Batson is a Roane State grad and a Tennessee Promise mentor. “Roane State has a big place in my heart,” she said. [Read more…]

ORNL researcher receives Innovator of Year award for energy efficiency work

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ORNL Roderick Jackson on Sept. 23, 2015

Roderick Jackson is principal investigator on the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) Demonstration Project, a model for energy-efficient systems that link buildings, vehicles, and the electrical grid. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Researcher Roderick Jackson of Oak Ridge National Laboratory was awarded an Innovator of the Year award in 2017 at the Young, Gifted, and Empowered Awards, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Jackson was recognized for his groundbreaking work in building energy efficiency innovation, DOE said in a story published Tuesday by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Jackson is the lead at ORNL’s Building Envelope Systems Research Group, and he leads the partnership between the Building Technologies Office, or BTO, and ORNL on building envelope projects, DOE said. Jackson works with both BTO’s Emerging Technologies and Residential Buildings Integration programs.

Jackson also serves as the technical lead for the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) demonstration project. As part of that project, ORNL and others unveiled a vehicle and house in September 2015 that had been built using large-scale 3D printers at the lab’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley. The 210-square-foot solar-powered house and printed utility vehicle, or PUV, can provide power to each other. The house is one of the world’s first 3D printed homes.

The home and vehicle are part of a project designed to answer “what if” questions that could lead to innovations in building and car construction and energy use, storage, and consumption.

DOE said the Young, Gifted, and Empowered awards are in their third year, and they recognize exceptional young African-American professionals from Mississippi who are champions in the arts, business, philanthropy, education, innovation, and leadership. The honorees are between the ages of 25-45 and have demonstrated a noteworthy commitment to excellence and community service and a high level of character, leadership, and innovation, DOE said. [Read more…]

Curious about 3D printed vehicles, including excavator? ORNL has posted photos

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has helped produce the first fully functional excavator that uses parts made through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The excavator is pictured above on Feb. 27, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has helped produce the first fully functional excavator that uses parts made through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The excavator is pictured above on Feb. 27, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has helped produce the first fully functional excavator that uses parts made through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing.

The excavator, part of a working demonstration known as Project AME, was made in collaboration with ORNL partners in industry, government, and academia. The project helps showcase a range of industrial applications for 3D printing, ORNL said.

Additive manufacturing is the process used to build something one layer at a time. Rather than ink, 3D printers use polymers.

One of the most well-known examples is the Shelby Cobra car 3-D printed on a large-scale polymer printer at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden admired that vehicle—and joked about taking it for a spin—during a trip to East Tennessee in January 2015.

ORNL has been involved in other projects using 3D printing that have attracted attention, and the lab has posted photos of its 3D printed vehicles. You can see them here. [Read more…]

Energy Secretary Perry honors Oak Ridge’s EM program with two awards

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, right, presents Wendy Cain, left, with DOE’s Federal Project Director of the Year award for 2016. He also presented the Oak Ridge K-31 Facility demolition team with the Department's Achievement Award. The employees received the awards at the 2017 DOE Project Management Workshop in Washington, D.C., on March 22. (Photo by DOE)

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, right, presents Wendy Cain, left, with DOE’s Federal Project Director of the Year award for 2016. He also presented the Oak Ridge K-31 Facility demolition team with the Department’s Achievement Award. The employees received the awards at the 2017 DOE Project Management Workshop in Washington, D.C., on March 22. (Photo by DOE)

 

At a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry honored the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s Wendy A. Cain as Federal Project Director of the Year for 2016, and a team under Cain’s oversight won a U.S. Department of Energy Achievement Award.

Cain, who oversees the cleanup portfolio at the East Tennessee Technology Park, was described as the best of DOE project management leadership. She earned the award by demonstrating exceptional leadership and project management acumen while overseeing the demolition of a former uranium enrichment facility. Her leadership, attention to detail, empowerment of team members, and fostering of open communications enabled the demolition of the K-31 Building at ETTP almost four months ahead of schedule and about $4 million under budget, a press release said.

“This is an incredible honor for Wendy and the Environmental Management program in Oak Ridge,” said Jay Mullis, acting manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. “Everyone who works with Wendy knows how deserving she is of this distinguished award. She brings an impeccable work ethic and commitment to achieve our mission every day, and is representative of all the dedicated and skilled federal and contractor employees executing the important cleanup mission here.” [Read more…]

Shutting door during bedroom fire likely saved rest of house, firefighter says

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A fire was reported at 612 Johnson Road on the southwest side of Oliver Springs on Thursday morning, March 23, 2017. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A fire was reported at 612 Johnson Road on the southwest side of Oliver Springs on Thursday morning, March 23, 2017. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

A woman who shut a bedroom door after finding an electrical outlet on fire in a bedroom Thursday morning likely prevented further damage to her house, a firefighter said.

“This woman saved her own house,” said Toby Leinart, Oliver Springs Fire Department lieutenant. Leinart was the incident commander at the fire at the home at 612 Johnson Road on the southwest side of Oliver Springs at about 6:16 a.m. Thursday.

The female resident apparently closed the bedroom door out of instinct, putting the door between herself and danger, Leinart said. Firefighters say a closed door is one of the best pieces of firefighting and lifesaving equipment because it can reduce fire growth and spread, limit damage to a home, and possibly save lives.

“I believe that’s what saved her house today and reduced her damage down to one bedroom,” Leinart said. “I would just about guarantee that’s what saved the rest of her house.”

It’s advice that’s been shared by the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office in a “Close the Door” campaign. Even if you escape from your house during a fire, shut the door when you leave if you can, firefighters say. That will help limit oxygen to the fire. (Firefighters also recommend sleeping with bedroom doors closed if possible, and keeping fire doors closed.) [Read more…]