Oak Ridge Today

B&W Y-12 again a premier sponsor of the Secret City Festival

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B&W Y-12 Secret City Festival Check Presentation

Chuck Spencer, center, B&W Y-12 president and general manager, presents a $25,000 sponsorship check for the Secret City Festival to Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, left, and Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller. (Submitted photo)

B&W Y-12 is returning to the Secret City Festival once again as the premier festival sponsor, a press release said.

“B&W has led the way in Secret City Festival sponsorships both financially and in kind for the past eight years,” the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau said in a Wednesday press release. B&W Y-12 operates the Y-12 National Security Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Chuck Spencer, B&W Y-12 president and general manager, presented a $25,000 festival sponsorship check during a May 28 meeting. [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 donates $25,000 to Secret City Festival

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B&W Y-12 Donates to Secret City Festival

B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer, center, presents a $25,000 check to Oak Ridge officials for the Secret City Festival this month during a City Council meeting last week. (Submitted photo)

B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer presented a check for $25,000 to Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan and Vice Mayor Jane Miller during a City Council meeting last week.

B&W Y-12 has been a premier sponsor of the Secret City Festival for the past eight years, a press release said.
 [Read more…]

B&W Y-12 names Kevin Corbett as VP of quality assurance

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Kevin Corbett

Kevin Corbett

Kevin Corbett has been named B&W Y-12 vice president of quality assurance. He is replacing Janice Christman, who will be retiring from the Y-12 National Security Complex at the end of April.

With 32 years of experience, Corbett has managed quality programs on projects and installations for the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Defense, and the Department of State, as well as commercial nuclear power facilities and large-scale infrastructure programs valued at more than $20 billion.

“The B&W Y-12 team certainly will benefit from Kevin’s broad range of experience,” said B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer. “With quality being a key component of everything we do at Y-12, Kevin’s expertise will help us ensure quality is an integral part of our culture.” [Read more…]

Guest column: New fence was needed to improve Y-12 security

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Much has been made of the decision at the Y-12 National Security Complex to improve security by extending one of our security fences. As the president and general manager of B&W Y-12, the management and operating contractor for the National Nuclear Security Administration, I believe it’s important that a few of the facts surrounding this change be understood.

In case you haven’t been following this matter, we moved the boundary fence (also known as the 229 boundary) closer to our main entrance. This was done in response to recent trespassing events at Y-12 in order to strengthen our security posture. The response to this decision has been overwhelmingly positive among the vast majority of the people who take interest in Y-12’s operations. We are gratified by that support. [Read more…]

Worker hours could be cut at Y-12 in response to sequestration

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Note: This story was updated at 8:05 p.m.

The work week at the Y-12 National Security Complex could occasionally be reduced to 30 hours for many employees between April and October as part of a budget-cutting plan announced Thursday.

Under the proposal, nonessential personnel could work three 10-hour days rather than four 10-hour days every third week. The plan has been proposed in response to the automatic federal spending cuts scheduled to start taking effect at midnight.

B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer said the cuts would require furloughs, or temporary layoffs, for most employees.

[Read more…]

Sequester scenarios: $100 million in funding cuts at ORNL, furloughs at Y-12

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Operating costs have already been cut by 7 percent at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and all employees are expected to report to work on Friday, even if automatic federal spending cuts go into effect at midnight.

The federal cuts could reduce lab funding by 5 percent to 8 percent, ORNL Director Thom Mason said. That could translate into $70 million to $100 million in funding cuts, depending upon how the reductions are allocated.

Meanwhile, at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the automatic spending cuts could lead to furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have said between 700 and 1,000 employees could be furloughed for up to six months.

But in a Feb. 14 message to employees, B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer did not say how many employees might be affected.

[Read more…]

B&W Y-12 names new deputy general manager for operations

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David Richardson

David Richardson

The Y-12 National Security Complex has a new deputy general manager for operations, B&W Y-12 announced Tuesday.

The new manager, David Richardson, will be one of three deputy general managers at Y-12.

Richardson has the same job title as William R. Klemm, a former deputy general manager of operations who retired in August, a few weeks after an unprecedented July 28 security breach. However, Richardson’s range of job duties will be narrower than Klemm’s, allowing him to focus on nuclear operations.

[Read more…]

B&W Y-12 says it has made compelling case to keep contract

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Six weeks after an unprecedented security breach, B&W Y-12 said in a press release Wednesday that is has demonstrated a compelling case to federal officials to let it keep managing and operating the Y-12 National Security Complex.

“The July 28 event brought to light gaps in our maintenance and security operations, and we are using it as a catalyst for a comprehensive and objective examination of all our operations,” said B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer.

During the July 28 security breach, three unarmed anti-nuclear weapons activists allegedly sneaked into Y-12, evaded guards, cut fences, penetrated a high-security area, and spray-painted slogans and splashed human blood on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

[Read more…]