Oak Ridge Today

Man pulled unconscious from burning truck discharged from UT hospital

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Irene Lane Crash

Jason J. West of Oliver Springs has been discharged from a Knoxville hospital after being pulled unconscious from this burning pickup truck on Irene Lane on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge Police Department)

The Oliver Springs man who was pulled unconscious from a burning pickup truck on Irene Lane on Friday night has been discharged from the University of Tennessee Medical Center, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Jason J. West, 25, of Old Hen Valley Road, hit two utility poles and damaged concrete curbs as his 1999 Dodge Dakota pickup truck went down an embankment on the east side of North Illinois Avenue at about 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christopher W. Wallace said the pickup truck was in heavy brush about 100 feet from the entrance to Irene Lane. Reports said it had flipped, and the engine compartment was engulfed in fire, Wallace wrote in a crash report. [Read more…]

Roane State has open house tonight

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Roane State Community College will host an open house for homeschool students, private school students, and their families from 6 to 8 p.m. today.

The open house will be in the City Room at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. [Read more…]

CNS will offer more details on proposed cost savings at Y-12, Pantex

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The team that won the $22.8 billion contract in January to manage two nuclear weapons facilities in Tennessee and Texas will provide more details on how it proposes to save $3.27 billion during the next decade, a company spokesman said Monday.

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, won the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

But the two losing teams filed protests, and in a decision announced Monday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office upheld parts of the protests. The GAO raised questions about whether the National Nuclear Security Administration, which announced the contract award to CNS on Jan. 8, had properly evaluated the costs savings proposed by bidders. [Read more…]

B&W says it’s pleased with federal decision on Y-12, Pantex contract protests

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Y-12 National Security Complex

The Babcock and Wilcox Co., the lead management and operating contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, said it was pleased with a federal decision Monday upholding protests of a five-year consolidated contract to manage Y-12 and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

One of the two teams that lost a bid to manage two nuclear weapons facilities in Tennessee and Texas said it was pleased by a federal decision announced Monday that upheld protests of the five-year contract, which was awarded in January.

The decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office also recommended that the procurement be re-opened.

The contract is reported to have a total value of $22 billion, and it was awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, a team that includes Bechtel National Inc. and Lockheed Martin Services Inc. [Read more…]

Parts of Y-12, Pantex contract protests upheld; GAO says procurement should be re-opened

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Y-12 National Security Complex

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has upheld parts of two protests filed over the January award of a five-year contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. (Submitted photo)

A federal agency has upheld parts of two protests challenging a five-year contract to manage two nuclear weapons plants in Tennessee and Texas.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office also recommended re-opening the contract procurement, raising questions about the status of the $22.8 billion contract awarded to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, in January. CNS was one of three bidding teams who competed for the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

At the heart of the GAO decision, announced Monday, were questions about proposed savings. In particular, the agency seemed to question whether the National Nuclear Security Administration, which awarded the consolidated contract to CNS on Jan. 8, had properly evaluated the expected savings.

“NNSA failed to follow the publicly stated solicitation criteria, which provided that the agency would evaluate the feasibility and size of each offeror’s proposed cost savings resulting from the consolidation of the management and operation of these sites,” Ralph O. White, GAO managing associate general counsel for procurement law, said in a statement released Monday afternoon. [Read more…]

Hardin Valley Academy senior wins four-year UT-Battelle scholarship

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Meredith Graves UT-Battelle Scholarship

Meredith Graves, a senior at Hardin Valley Academy and winner of the 2013 UT-Battelle Scholarship, is pictured above with Thom Mason, Oak Ridge National Laboratory director. (Submitted photo)

Meredith Graves, a senior at Hardin Valley Academy, is the recipient of the 2013 UT-Battelle Scholarship to the University of Tennessee.

The four-year, $20,000 scholarship, presented annually to a graduating senior with a parent who works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is awarded annually to an outstanding student who plans to study science, engineering, or mathematics at the University of Tennessee.

Graves, daughter of Van and René Graves of Knoxville, has already been accepted into the University of Tennessee’s Bachelor of Architecture program, where she hopes to apply her interest in STEM-related fields to the design of energy efficient and environmentally friendly structures. [Read more…]

Removal of K-25 north end demolition debris almost complete

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K-25 North End Demolition

With the north end demolished, only a small part of the east wing remains at the once-massive K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

Workers are almost done removing demolition debris from the K-25 Building’s north end.

Only a small section of the giant building’s east wing remains. It is contaminated with technetium-99, a slow-decaying radioactive isotope. Further deactivation of that section is needed before demolition can begin, according to a recent article in “Public Involvement News,” published by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary, Altrusa present literacy grant awards

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Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary and Altrusa Literacy Award Grants

The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and Altrusa recently selected the winners of the 2013 Literacy Award Grants. Pictured above from left are Janet Swift of Altrusa, Emily Spahr of Clinton Elementary School, Sheila Michels and Zabrina Minor of TORCH, Jill McMaster of Roane Imagination Library, Linda Dalton of Oak Ridge Preschool, Doris Doherty of ADFAC, Rhoni Basden of Girls Inc., Kat Hall of Norris Middle School, Brenda Thornburgh of ORBRC, and Melinda White of Oak Ridge Preschool. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and Altrusa recently awarded roughly $19,000 in 14 literacy grants to 10 organizations.

The grants are awarded based on a competition that is judged by a committee of Rotarians and Altrusans, a press release said. Winners are celebrated during March of each year when Rotary International observes Literacy Month.

The total presented in the 2013 literacy grant awards was $18,987. [Read more…]

Police rescue unconscious driver from burning vehicle

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Irene Lane Crash

Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from this burning vehicle on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge Police Department)

Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from a burning vehicle that went down an embankment on Irene Lane on Friday night, authorities said.

The unnamed driver, a 26-year-old Oak Ridge resident, was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after the 11:30 p.m. crash, which shut down the northbound lanes of North Illinois Avenue, authorities said.

Eight officers responded, and they used fire extinguishers to fight the flames and keep police from getting burned, an Oak Ridge Police Department statement said. The Oak Ridge Fire Department also responded.

[Read more…]

Asbestos removal in final stage at Federal Building

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Joe L Evins Federal Fuilding

A four-month project to remove asbestos-containing insulation from the Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge is wrapping up, and federal employees and contractors could move back in next month.

Work crews are wrapping up a four-month project to clean up and remove asbestos-containing insulation from the Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge, and displaced federal workers and contractors could move back into the building next month, a spokeswoman said Friday.

“We have reached the final stage of the project and expect to have the building available to tenants in May,” said Saudia Muwwakkil, regional public affairs officer for the U.S. General Services Administration, which owns the building.

There have been about 350 workers in the five-story building, which is home to the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office as well as a district office for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann. The workers include roughly 200 federal employees and close to 150 contractors. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Fire Department names firefighter, officer of the year

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Bryan Chase Firefighter of the Year

Firefighter and Paramedic Bryan Chase, left, was named 2012 Oak Ridge Fire Department Firefighter of the Year. Also pictured above is ORFD Chief Darryl Kerley. (Submitted photos)

The Oak Ridge Fire Department recently held a ceremony recognizing its 2012 Firefighter of the Year and Officer of the Year. The Oak Ridge Fire Department has implemented a formal awards program to recognize members for outstanding efforts and this was the first time awards have been issued for Firefighter and Officer of the Year.

Firefighter/Paramedic Bryan Chase was selected as the Firefighter of the Year by a group of his peers for his efforts during 2012. Chase has been with the department since 2007 and is currently assigned to Station 4. [Read more…]

Site work starts at Weigel’s on South Illinois

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Weigel's Construction

Site work has started on a new Weigel’s convenience store that will include 16 gas pumps and could open later this summer or in the early fall on South Illinois Avenue.

Site work has started for a new Weigel’s on South Illinois Avenue.

The convenience store is expected to include 16 gas pumps and could open in the late summer or early fall, said Chris Ooten, Weigel’s real estate director.

The roughly 4,000-square-foot store will be on a 1.5-acre parcel south of TNBank.

Ooten said Weigel’s closed on the property about a month ago and has been working on utilities since then. [Read more…]