Oak Ridge Today

DOE bus tour to start at New Hope Center during AMSE move

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DOE Public Bus Tour

A U.S. Department of Energy public bus tour in August 2012. (File DOE photo/Lynn Freeny)

 

Members of the public who want to take the U.S. Department of Energy Facilities Public Bus Tour will need to go to the New Hope Center to register starting Monday, July 30.

The New Hope Center is at 602 Scarboro Road at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

“The American Museum of Science and Energy located at 300 South Tulane Avenue will close its doors for the last time at the close of business on Sunday, July 29, to prepare to move to its new location at 115 Main Street East, which will open this fall,” a press release said. “During the move, bus tour registration will take place at the Y-12 New Hope Center.”

Bus tour registration is offered two ways: 1) online at www.amse.org or 2) walk-in registration the day of the tour with seating first come, first served. [Read more…]

DOE’s public bus tour began in March, continues through November

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DOE Public Bus Tour

A U.S. Department of Energy public bus tour in August 2012. (File DOE photo/Lynn Freeny)

 

Visitors see Oak Ridge’s past and present

The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2017 Oak Ridge facilities public bus tour began March 3 and continues through November 27. The tour offers visitors a first-hand look at the DOE’s Oak Ridge facilities and provides historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 70 years, a press release said.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular destination for tourists visiting the area, the release said. Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted more than 40,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour tour allows visitors to see the Oak Ridge Reservation and learn historical facts and updates on the world-class missions underway in Oak Ridge.

The bus tour itinerary includes: [Read more…]

Y-12, ORNL tours offered Nov. 12 to celebrate new Manhattan Project Park

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DOE Public Bus Tour

A previous public bus tour of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge. (File photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

 

Public bus tours will be offered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday, November 12, as part of the celebration of the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The new park, which is still being set up, includes Oak Ridge.

The special-access tours at ORNL and Y-12 are part of other planned activities in Oak Ridge, and they will include a peek inside Y-12’s Building 9731 and 9204-3 (Beta 3) and ORNL’s historic Graphite Reactor.

Y-12 and Clinton Laboratories—the wartime name for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory—were constructed as part of the Manhattan Project in 1943. The Y-12 Plant provided the Uranium-235 needed for Little Boy, the world’s first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The historic Graphite Reactor at X-10 (now ORNL) proved that plutonium could be produced in a uranium reactor on an industrial scale. These facilities will eventually become a part of the Oak Ridge location of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. [Read more…]

DOE offers expanded public bus tours of federal sites in Oak Ridge

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DOE Public Bus Tour

Public bus tours of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge are now offered nine months of the year. (File photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s public bus tour of federal sites in Oak Ridge is now offered to visitors nine months out of the year, versus only summer months as in the past.

This popular tour of the 33,000-acre DOE Oak Ridge Reservation offers visitors a first-hand look at all of the DOE’s Oak Ridge facilities and provides historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 70-plus years.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular attraction for tourists visiting the area.  Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted approximately 35,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour DOE tour allows visitors to see the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation and learn about its rich history and how Oak Ridge became a secret city of 75,000 people with a mission to end World War II. [Read more…]

Tours of Manhattan Project sites a highlight of Secret City Festival

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Secret City Festival Logo

One of the highlights of the annual Secret City Festival, taking place Friday and Saturday at A.K. Bissell Park, is the series of tours that run all day both days.

Each of the four tours will depart from the American Museum of Science and Energy at scheduled times. In addition, the Secret City Scenic Excursion Train will be chugging along during the festival.

Visitors will have a unique opportunity to tour three historic Manhattan Project World War II sites. On Friday, June 13, Y-12 will host tours from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. The one-hour tour will include the Y-12 History Center, Building 9731, the Chestnut Ridge Overlook, and Bear Creek Road.

Also on Friday, visitors can take the U.S. Department of Energy Facilities Bus Tour, which is included with a $1 admission to AMSE. This tour includes stops at the Y-12 New Hope Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Graphite Reactor, and a tour around the East Tennessee Technology Park. A separate tour that focuses on the X-10 Graphite Reactor is available at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday.

On Saturday, there will be four opportunities to tour the ORNL Graphite Reactor. All tours will begin at the American Museum of Science and Energy. The Secret City Scenic Excursion Train will be running three tours as well. Departure times for both tours are listed below: [Read more…]

DOE public bus tour has 1,600 visitors this summer

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About 1,600 people toured the Oak Ridge Reservation during this summer’s public bus tour, the U.S. Department of Energy announced.

The annual tour of Oak Ridge facilities ended Aug. 31, and it attracted visitors from 40 states, a press release said.

[Read more…]