Oak Ridge Today

Y-12 Community Relations Council adds members

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Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers, Veronica O’Hearn, and John W. Smith have joined the Y-12 Community Relations Council. The volunteer group is comprised of 29 community and business leaders who are charged with helping to exchange information between Y-12’s management team and the Oak Ridge and East Tennessee region. The new members were selected by the CRC membership, a press release said.

“B&W Y-12 launched the Community Relations Council in 2002 because we understand the importance of having a strong relationship with our neighbors in and around the Oak Ridge area,” said Bill Reis, B&W Y-12’s vice president of public and government affairs. “We work hard to keep the group updated on the projects/programs and activities at Y-12 and look to them to provide us feedback from the community and to serve as ambassadors for Y-12. It’s a wonderful partnership, and we appreciate each and every one of the CRC members for their commitment to Y-12 and the community.”

B&W Y-12 operates the Y-12 National Security Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration. [Read more…]

Report: Y-12 security officer likely pulled the trigger on weapon that fired

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Y-12 National Security Complex Sign

An investigation has concluded that a security officer at the Y-12 National Security Complex probably inadvertently pulled the trigger when a weapon fired inside a “hardened” vehicle in July, discharging one round and slightly injuring two guards.

An investigation has concluded that a security officer at the Y-12 National Security Complex probably inadvertently pulled the trigger when a weapon fired inside a “hardened” vehicle in July, discharging one round that hit an interior wall and produced fragments, and slightly injuring two guards.

The accidental discharge occurred just after midnight on July 28, which, coincidentally, was the one-year anniversary of the July 28, 2012, security breach at Y-12.

The National Nuclear Security Administration said little after the accidental discharge. But the agency did acknowledge that two security police officers, or SPOs, received minor injuries and were treated at Y-12 before being taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, where they were treated and released. The NNSA also said the incident was under investigation.

Now, officials have concluded a four-month investigation, and B&W Y-12, the plant’s managing and operating contractor, has released a summary of the findings. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 donates $75,000 for new Emory Valley Center building

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Emory Valley Center Early Learning Center

B&W Y-12 donated $75,000 to Emory Valley Center on Wednesday as part of a capital campaign to help build a new facility to replace the former Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center on Emory Valley Road by 2015.

Fundraisers at 75 percent of goal

B&W Y-12 donated $75,000 on Wednesday to help the Emory Valley Center build a new facility by early 2015, when a county-owned building that houses some of its programs is expected to be torn down.

B&W Y-12 has now donated $175,000 of a $250,000 pledge, and EVC volunteers have raised $2.5 million of their $3.3 million goal, said former state representative and pediatrician Gene Caldwell, who is co-chair of the EVC capital campaign. That’s 75 percent of the fundraising goal.

Emory Valley Center now has two facilities across the street from each other on Emory Valley Road. The new 30,000-square-foot building west of the current administrative and workshop areas on the south side side of Emory Valley Road would consolidate the nonprofit’s operations, which include an Early Learning Center, gym, offices, kitchen, and work training center.

“This is a huge, huge help,” EVC President Jennifer Enderson of the B&W Y-12 donation. “The clock is ticking on when we must vacate an existing facility, and we can’t start construction of the new one until we have raised enough money.” [Read more…]

Y-12 receives two significant safety awards

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For the 10th consecutive year, the Y‑12 National Security Complex received the National Safety Council’s Occupational Excellence Achievement award. This award recognizes companies, units, or facilities that have reported injuries and illnesses that involved days away from work equal to or less than 50 percent of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics rating for their industry and have had no fatalities during a calendar year.

“We want to reduce our lost workday case rate to zero,” said B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer. “During calendar year 2012 (for which this award was given), our rate was 0.17. The comparable industry incident rate is 1.6. Y-12 employees can be proud of making safety a value in their daily lives.”

The second award received was the U.S. Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program Star of Excellence. As the award states, employees have “achieved an outstanding level of performance in meeting established safety and health goals, actively conducting outreach to others and in achieving an injury and illness rate significantly below the average of similar businesses and operations.” [Read more…]

Federal safety board to discuss Y-12 nuclear safety

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Y-12 National Security Complex Sign

A federal board meeting on nuclear safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been rescheduled for Dec. 10.

A federal board meeting on nuclear safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been rescheduled for Dec. 10.

The day-long public meeting and hearing of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board had originally been scheduled for Oct. 22. But it was postponed because of the partial federal government shutdown that started Oct. 1 and ended Oct. 17.

The board will still meet at the Knoxville Convention Center, and the meeting will still include two sessions. The first is from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, and the second is from 2 to 6 p.m. [Read more…]

B&W-led team files new protest on Y-12, Pantex contract

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The bidding team led by the Babcock and Wilcox Co. has filed a third protest over the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, pictured above, and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12)

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The bidding team led by the Babcock and Wilcox Co. has filed a third protest over the contract to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

B&W announced the protest by the bidding team, Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, on Wednesday night. It was filed with the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

“This protest encompasses concerns identified in NP2’s June 17, 2013, protest of the revised Request for Proposals,” a B&W press release said. “The protest also reflects information received during the National Nuclear Security Administration’s debriefing session held on November 15.”

The June protest was the second filed by NP2, of Lynchburg, Va. The company had also filed one after the National Nuclear Security Administration announced in January that it had selected Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC of Reston, Va., to manage the two nuclear weapons plants. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 helps libraries, Smokies, Leukemia Society

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B&W Y-12 at Light the Night

A B&W Y-12 team raised more than $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society during an Oct. 24 Light the Night walk. (Submitted photos)

B&W Y-12 recently announced it has donated $1,250 to local libraries, raised more than $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and volunteered more than 10,000 hours of service at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Here is more information on each of those efforts from Y-12 News Notes:

B&W Y-12 supports local libraries

Libraries in four local towns are benefitting from $1,250 donations from B&W Y-12. [Read more…]

NNSA reaffirms decision to have CNS manage, operate Y-12, Pantex

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View


The National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday reaffirmed its January decision to pick Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday reaffirmed its January decision to pick Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC  to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

That earlier decision, announced almost 10 months ago, had been challenged in two rounds of bid protests. Those protests delayed the transition to a new contractor, and it wasn’t clear Friday if the NNSA’s new decision might also be challenged.

The five-year extendable contract, which could be worth up to $22.8 billion over 10 years, includes project management of the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 and an unexercised option for Savannah River Tritium Operations at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.

“Our nuclear production capabilities are critical to our national security, and CNS represents the best value to the government as evidenced by its superior technical and management approach and its lower evaluated cost,” NNSA Acting Administrator Bruce Held said. “Additionally, this award puts NNSA in a position to improve mission delivery by focusing on improving the way we operate, saving taxpayer dollars, and aligning ourselves for the future.” [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 names Bill Reis as vice president of public, governmental affairs

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Bill Reis

Bill Reis

Bill Reis has been appointed vice president of public and governmental affairs for B&W Y-12, the contractor that manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Reis has worked at Y-12 for 30 years in a variety of roles, a press release said. He most recently served as vice president for environment, safety, and health. During his tenure, B&W Y-12 achieved Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP, Star status, reduced the recordable injury rate by 30 percent, and developed a more robust health and wellness program. In this role, he has also been the site’s primary interface with local, state, and federal environmental agencies. [Read more…]

Shutdown ends: Oak Ridgers relieved, but frustrated with Congress

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Dean's Restaurant and Bakery

Dean Russell, co-owner of Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Jackson Square, has put up a sign expressing frustration with Congress over the government shutdown. Pictured above are restaurant servers Cassandra Prater, right, and Andy Tatum.

The end of the government shutdown last week brought relief to Oak Ridge, especially at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where up to about 3,600 workers were expected to be furloughed starting last Thursday unless a deal was reached.

Chuck Spencer, general manager of B&W Y-12, which manages and operates Y-12, told workers on Thursday that a shutdown to minimum staffing had been averted and the furloughs would no longer be necessary. There had been reports that only about 900 workers might have remained starting today.

Spencer said the nuclear weapons plant, which started an orderly shutdown two weeks ago on Monday, Oct. 7, will begin planning to resume normal operations.

Normal operations resumed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday, Director Thom Mason said in a message to staff. ORNL had enough funding to continue operating through October and into November, but officials had started preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs in case the shutdown continued.

Oak Ridge residents remained frustrated even after Congress and the White House reached a last-minute, short-term spending agreement late Wednesday night that averted the shutdowns and furloughs, just hours before a deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and after some local businesses had already reported that the shutdown had affected their operations. [Read more…]

Congressman: House votes to fully fund Y-12 during government shutdown

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U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Note: This story was last updated at 5:22 p.m.

The federal government remains shut down over a funding dispute, but the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Friday morning that would fully fund the Y-12 National Security Complex and other security functions, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann said.

Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, called it a matter of national security. Y-12 is one of the nation’s nuclear weapons plants, but it started an “orderly shutdown” on Monday because Congress has failed to pass a spending bill in the fiscal year that started Oct. 1.

Fleischmann expressed concern about the shutdown in a speech on the House floor. [Read more…]

Y-12 starts shutdown as Congress fails to approve federal spending

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

With Congress unable to agree on a federal spending bill, the contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, pictured above, has been told to start an “orderly shutdown.” (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12)

With Congress unable to agree on a spending bill and the federal government shut down for a week, the Y-12 National Security Complex has been told to start its own “orderly shutdown.”

Chuck Spencer, general manager of B&W Y-12, which manages and operates the plant, said officials hope that furloughs can be avoided, or that they won’t last long.

The shutdown activities are supposed to put the nuclear weapons plant into a safe and secure status.

A spokesman at the National Nuclear Security Administration in Washington, D.C., wasn’t immediately available to answer such questions as how long the shutdown might take or whether some nuclear-related activities might continue at Y-12. In addition to its weapons work, Y-12 retrieves and stores nuclear materials, fuels the nation’s naval reactors, and performs complementary work for other government and private-sector entities. [Read more…]