Oak Ridge Today

United Way raises $1.17 million, about 90 percent of ‘bold’ goal

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Greta Ownby and Edwena Crowe

UWAC Board President, Greta Ownby, left, announces Edwena Crowe, right, as Volunteer of the Year. (Submitted photos)

The campaign was complicated by the partial government shutdown in October, but the United Way of Anderson County raised close to $1.2 million this year, or about 90 percent of its goal.

The results were announced at an annual meeting and campaign announcement at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The campaign goal, which was described as “bold,” had been $1.3 million. The total amount raised was $1,172,742. The United Way said this will allow for stable funding for its agency programs.

“Unfortunately, we will not be able to increase funding to our community partners,” UWAC Executive Director Rick Morrow said. “Last year’s total resulted in a reduction of $200,000 to the funding pool, and this year’s total will only allow for continued funding at that level.” [Read more…]

CNS announces org chart, senior leaders for Y-12, Pantex

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above.

The new federal contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, has started announcing members of its senior leadership team.

Jim Haynes, chief executive officer for Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, announced the leaders in a message posted on the company’s transition website on Saturday.

The executives are:

  • Jim Allen—chief operating officer
  • Darrell Graddy—senior vice president for mission support
  • Ken Freeman—senior vice president for safeguards, security, and emergency services
  • Rick Glass—senior vice president for mission assurance

“We will roll out our senior leadership team in phases, and over the next few weeks we will help you get to know the CNS leadership team through a series of articles, employee information meetings in Amarillo and Oak Ridge, and other opportunities for face-to-face interaction,” Haynes said. [Read more…]

Honors: Y-12 garners third year as American Heart Association Fit-Friendly Worksite

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Y-12 Fit Friendly Work Site

B&W Y-12 was recognized by the American Heart Association for the third year as a Fit Friendly Worksite. Part of the criteria for such a designation is providing employees support for physical activity, such as Y-12’s LiveWise program, an onsite wellness program.

For the third year, the Y-12 National Security Complex has been recognized as a Fit-Friendly Worksite.

The Fit-Friendly Companies program recognizes employers who champion the health of their employees and create a culture of physical activity and health in the workplace.

B&W Y-12 joins 12 other East Tennessee companies as a Gold-level company, which includes offering employees support for physical activity, promoting a wellness culture, providing healthy eating options at the worksite, and implementing at least nine specific criteria outlined by the American Heart Association related to physical activity, nutrition and culture.

“As a Gold-level award recipient, you have not only recognized the importance of a healthy workplace for your employees but have taken important steps to create a culture of wellness by providing support to employees, and we commend you and your employees,” said American Heart Association Chief Executive Officer Nancy Brown.

Y-12 apprentice program celebrates third graduating class

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Y-12 Apprentice Graduation Ceremony 2014

Y-12 apprentice graduate Jessica Griffen receives congratulations on achieving her journeyman status as an electrician from husband Gabriel and their four-month-old daughter Berkley. (Photos courtesy B&W Y-12)

The apprentice program at the Y-12 National Security Complex recently celebrated its third graduating class as 27 participants gained their journeyman status. The program was restarted in 2008 after an almost 30-year hiatus, a press release said.

Each graduate spent three to four years with a journeyman and attended between 144 and 246 hours of classroom training each year on his or her own time, usually in the evenings at local union halls.

“This program is a great way to transfer knowledge from our highly skilled workers to the new work force,” said National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office Manager Steve Erhart. “The apprenticeship program has positioned Y-12 for the long-term to ensure our future production capabilities.” [Read more…]

New Y-12, Pantex contractor website includes employment information

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Jim Haynes

Jim Haynes

The transition website for the new contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Pantex Plant was posted online on Thursday afternoon. The new website for Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC is available at http://www.cnstransition.com.

CNS is the new managing and operating contractor at Y-12 in Oak Ridge and Pantex in Amarillo, Texas. The contract award, worth up to about $23 billion over 10 years, was first announced in January 2013 but delayed by a series of protests. The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied the third and final protest on Thursday, Feb. 27. On Monday, officials at the National Nuclear Security Administration said the transition to the new contractor had started and was expected to last four months.

On Thursday, CNS spokesman Jason Bohne said the company would be adding much more information to the transition website during the next few weeks and months, including more details on the senior management team, proposed organization, messages to employees, and more.

The transition website includes a message from CNS President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Haynes, who has been senior vice president and deputy general manager for the current Y-12 contractor, B&W Y-12. Other members of the CNS leadership team include Michael Jones, transformation; Darrell Graddy, mission support; and Carl Strock, project director for the Uranium Processing Facility. [Read more…]

Consolidated Nuclear Security resuming contract transition at Pantex, Y-12

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above.

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC has been authorized by the National Nuclear Security Administration to resume its transition to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, the company announced Thursday.

The announcement comes one week after the U.S. Government Accountability Office denied the third and possibly final protest by one of the two teams that unsuccessfully bid on the $22 billion contract to manage the two nuclear weapons plants. The protests had been filed by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, a team led by The Babcock and Wilcox Co., which is currently the lead contractor at Y-12 and Pantex.

The decision to award the consolidated contract to CNS, first announced in January 2013, has now been upheld by the NNSA and GAO, the company said. The five-year contract with the NNSA includes options that could allow the contract to be extended for up to five more years, based upon performance.

“The CNS team submitted a very strong and credible solution for managing and operating the Pantex and Y-12 sites, and we are eager to begin implementing our proposal together with the dedicated employees of Pantex and Y-12,” said Jim Haynes, CNS chief executive officer. “We look forward to partnering with the communities of Amarillo and Oak Ridge.” [Read more…]

Transition to new contractor under way at Y-12, Pantex

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The transition to a new contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, and Pantex Plant in Texas is already under way and could be completed in four months.

Note: This story was last updated at 10:22 a.m. March 4.

The transition to a new contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Texas is already under way and could be completed in four months, federal officials said Monday.

The transition to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC of Reston, Va., had originally been scheduled to be complete by May 2013, but it was delayed by three rounds of protests. The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied the third and possibly final protest by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, of Lynchburg, Va., on Thursday.

On Monday, the National Nuclear Security Administration said CNS will start managing and operating the weapons production plants at Y-12 and Pantex at the end of the four-month transition period. [Read more…]

GAO denies third protest of $22 billion contract to manage Y-12, Pantex

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

Federal officials have denied the third protest by one of the two teams that unsuccessfully bid on a $22 billion contract to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, pictured above, and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Note: This story was updated at 6:45 p.m.

Federal officials have denied the third protest by one of the two teams that unsuccessfully bid on a $22 billion contract to manage the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

In the protest, Nuclear Production Partners LLC of Lynchburg, Va., had challenged a November decision by the National Nuclear Security Administration to reaffirm its earlier decision, announced in January 2013, to award the consolidated contract to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC of Reston, Va.

On Thursday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office announced that it had denied the third protest. It’s the final GAO protest, but the case could be appealed to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.

Statistically, that’s not likely; the GAO hears 2,500 protests per year, and the court has about 84. But there is a large amount of money at stake with this contract.

The GAO had upheld one part of an earlier NP2 protest and denied or dismissed three elements of a second. [Read more…]

Judge says Y-12 protesters not contrite as snow delays sentencing

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Y-12 Plowshares Protesters

Pictured above are the three anti-nuclear weapons protesters who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28, 2012, and vandalized a uranium storage building. From left, they are Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed.

KNOXVILLE—The three protesters who cut through fences and vandalized a uranium storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July 2012 have not shown contrition or accepted responsibility for what they’ve done, a federal judge said during a Tuesday sentencing hearing.

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists—Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael R. Walli—have acknowledged that they splashed human blood, hung crime scene tape, and hammered on the side of the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility on July 28, 2012. They have freely given interviews to reporters and admitted that they spray-painted slogans—they called them “Biblical graffiti”—on the side of the HEUMF, which stores most of the nation’s bomb-grade uranium.

But acknowledging their actions is not the same as contrition, U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar suggested during a Tuesday sentencing hearing at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Courthouse in Knoxville. To accept responsibility, the trio would have to show contrition and remorse, and acknowledge that what they did was wrong, Thapar said.

However, the defendants have fought the government at every step in the 18-month-old case, the judge said. [Read more…]

Spotlight: B&W Y-12 donates $2,500 to MMC Hospitality House

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B&W Y-12 Donates to MMC Hospitality House

B&W Y-12 Director of Public Affairs Bill Reis, right, hands a $2,500 donation to Mike Belbeck, Methodist Medical Center’s president and chief administrative officer. The funds will go toward MMC’s Hospitality Houses, which provide temporary lodging for patients and families who travel to Oak Ridge for extended medical treatment.

From Y-12 News Notes

B&W Y-12: President, general manager leaving at end of January, sends message to employees

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Note: The following is a copy of the message that B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer sent to employees on Friday.

I wanted to be the first to tell you about these organizational changes, but given the speed of media you may have already heard them from other sources. If so, I apologize.

When I arrived at Y‑12 in August of 2012, the site had just experienced a significant security event and was at a very low point. However, we immediately set about to work together to rebuild security and to regain the confidence of our many stakeholders. To do that, we have gone through much change and worked tirelessly. What I am most proud of is how we immediately became more introspective. How we all began to question virtually every aspect of our business. Not just security, but operations, maintenance, our assurance system, development, engineering, etc. We did this not because we were performing poorly in these areas, but because that is what a good company does. It is willing to look at itself with a critical eye so that it can be the best at what it does. I am very proud of what you have accomplished in the year and a half you have allowed me to be a part of your team and am confident that you are well prepared for a great future. Given that, it is with mixed emotions that I need to inform you that I plan to return to my position as chief operating officer for B&W’s Technical Services Group. [Read more…]

B&W announces leadership changes at Y-12

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Dave Richardson

Dave Richardson

The Babcock and Wilcox Co. on Friday announced top management changes at B&W Y-12, the contractor that operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Among the changes: B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Charles G. “Chuck” Spencer, who started at Y-12 shortly after the July 28, 2012, security breach, will return to his former position as vice president and chief operating officer of Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Group Inc. Spencer will continue his involvement at Y-12 and the Pantex Plant in Texas as chairman of the Board of Managers for both B&W Y-12 and Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Pantex LLC, a press release said.

Spencer replaced Darrel P. Kohlhorst in August 2012. Kohlhorst abruptly retired after the security breach.

Spencer will be replaced by Dave Richardson, who will become president and general manager of Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Y-12 LLC, or B&W Y-12, on Feb. 1. [Read more…]