Oak Ridge Today

Today is Oak Ridge’s 72nd birthday

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Y-12 Calutron Operators

Women enriching uranium in calutrons at Y-12 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. (Photo by Ed Westcott)

 

It’s Oak Ridge’s birthday today, September 19.

Oak Ridge was picked for the top-secret Manhattan Project on September 19, 1942. That was the day 72 years ago when General Leslie Groves approved the acquisition of 59,000 acres of land along the Clinch River for what soon became the Manhattan Project, a federal effort to build the world’s first atomic bombs.

By the time President Roosevelt authorized the Manhattan Project on December 28, 1942, work on the East Tennessee site where the first production facilities were to be built was already under way.

Oak Ridge became the home of two uranium enrichment plants (K-25 and Y-12), a liquid thermal diffusion plant (S-50), and a pilot plutonium production reactor (X-10 Graphite Reactor). Groves approved Oak Ridge as the site for the pilot plutonium plant and the uranium enrichment plant in 1942. Manhattan Project engineers had to quickly build a town to accommodate 30,000 workers—as well as build the enormously complex plants. [Read more…]

Boat destroyed by fire on Norris Lake

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Norris Lake Boat Fire

A boat was destroyed by fire on Norris Lake on Monday morning. (Photo by TWRA)

ANDERSONVILLE—A wakeboard boat caught fire and burned late Monday morning on Norris Lake shortly after being launched at Anderson County Park, state officials said.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency responded to the reported boat fire at about 11 a.m. Monday. The 2012 22-foot Supra wakeboard boat was being driven by an unidentified woman, and it was completely engulfed by a fire that started near the vessel’s engine when TWRA Wildlife Officer Jason Lankford responded.

The woman’s husband informed Lankford that he had just launched the vessel when his wife took the boat down the lake for a short ride while he was parking the vehicle. The man also noted that the engine’s power ventilation system, which is designed to help prevent boat fires, was being used as the vessel was launched. [Read more…]

Guest column: Emergency management director responds to question about drinking water safety

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Note: Anderson County Emergency Management Director Steve Payne recently responded to a citizens’ question about safety measures the county has in place to protect drinking water in the event of a hazardous situation like that which recently occurred in West Virginia. Here’s Payne’s response, which was forwarded by the County Mayor’s Office, which had initially received the question.

Dear Mayor Frank,

Please forward to the citizen who asked:

What safety measures does Anderson County have in place to protect citizens’ drinking water in the event of a hazardous situation like that which occurred recently in West Virginia?

Anderson County is home to some 50 facilities that manufacture, process, store, or utilize quantities of hazardous radiological or chemical materials. The majority of these facilities are located in industrial parks in the county and cities of Oak Ridge, Clinton, and Lake City.

Facilities with quantities of hazardous materials that meet or exceed threshold levels established by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are required by federal law to file each year a Tier 2 Report stating the material(s) and quantity on site. In addition to the name and quantity of each material, the report includes Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), a site map showing location of material, type of storage container, type of storage conditions, and description of dikes, holding basins, and other safeguard measures. Tier 2 reports received in 2013 from private, non-DOE facilities identify 42 separate hazardous materials. [Read more…]

DOE commits to three-year, $4.5 million groundwater study in Oak Ridge

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Daniel Goode and SSAB Groundwater Strategy Presentation

Daniel J. Goode, a research hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, briefs members of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board on a new groundwater strategy for the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to spend $4.5 million during the next three years to study groundwater contamination on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The reservation includes three federal sites—East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex—that have been involved in missions ranging from scientific research to uranium enrichment to nuclear weapons work. That work has sometimes included the use of hazardous substances such as mercury and technetium-99, a slow-decaying radioactive metal.

The $4.5 million in funding will help implement a new groundwater strategy developed by DOE with help from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The strategy, which was presented to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board in November, will help guide future cleanup decisions, said Sue Cange, deputy manager for environmental management in DOE’s Oak Ridge Office. [Read more…]

DOE provides more funding for small nuclear reactor project

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mPower Containment

Conceptual drawing of an underground containment structure housing two B&W mPower™ reactor modules. (Image courtesy B&W)

Federal officials have agreed to spend another $20.5 million on a project that could result in a small modular nuclear reactor in west Oak Ridge within a decade.

The Babcock & Wilcox Co. announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Energy has allocated the additional funding to an agreement with Babcock & Wilcox mPower Inc. (B&W mPower) under what is known as the Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support Program.

The small modular reactor, which can generate 180 megawatts of electricity, could be built at the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor site in west Oak Ridge by 2022. [Read more…]

TVA, EPA update Roane County on ash cleanup efforts

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority updated Roane County residents on the ongoing cleanup efforts from the 2008 coal ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant.

The December 2008 spill dumped more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge into the Clinch and Emory Rivers and into the surrounding community. What had been 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge is now down to about 70,000 cubic yards—or 14 million gallons—and officials expect to have the rest cleared by the end of June. [Read more…]

Woman not injured, but vehicle submerged after she slides into Clinch River

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Melton Lake Drive Submerged Car

The area where a Clinton woman appears to have slid off snowy, icy Melton Lake Drive into the Clinch River on Saturday morning.

A Clinton woman escaped injury when her car slid off snowy, icy Melton Lake Drive into the Clinch River on Saturday morning, but her 2002 Nissan Pathfinder remains underwater, possibly to be pulled out of the lake later, authorities said.

Debby Hillman, 55, of Clinton was southbound on Melton Lake Drive just after 11 a.m. Saturday when she lost control of her vehicle as she tried to slow down in a curve, shifting down into second gear, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said. Her Pathfinder slid across the northbound lane of Melton Lake Drive and into the river north of Emory Valley Road and Melton Lake Park.

[Read more…]

TVA will use natural river processes for ash from Kingston spill

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The Tennessee Valley Authority will rely on natural river processes and long-term monitoring to take care of ash in the Clinch and lower Emory rivers as part of the recovery from the 2008 coal ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a press release said.

The process, known as Monitored Natural Recovery, was the preferred option among several alternatives proposed to manage an estimated 500,000 cubic yards of remaining ash dispersed intermittently over more than 200 acres in the river system, the release said.

The alternatives were proposed in an Engineering Evaluation and Cost Analysis, which was released for public review and comment in August.

Here is more information from the press release:

TVA’s selection of Monitored Natural Recovery, also called EE/CA Alternative 1, is documented in an Action Memorandum released by the agency. It is based on extensive research, including human health and ecological risk assessments, and aligns with the majority of public comments received on the EE/CA alternatives.

The selection was also approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

Monitored Natural Recovery avoids disturbing legacy contaminants from past U.S. Department of Energy projects in the river system, provides the best balance with respect to effectiveness and implementation, and is the most cost-effective option for consumers of TVA power.

The release said the Action Memorandum has been posted to the Administrative Record for the Kingston Ash Recovery Project at www.tva.com/kingston. It also is available for review at the Kingston and Harriman public libraries.

TVA has encouraged the public to review and comment on the Action Memorandum from Nov. 9 through Dec. 8. Pertinent comments and their responses will be included in a Responsiveness Summary document and placed in the Administrative Record.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporation owned by the U.S. government, and it provides electricity for nine million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA also provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists utilities and state and local governments with economic development.

Bird feeders to be installed at Melton Lake Park

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The city hopes to cut down on the number of people feeding bread to geese and ducks at Melton Lake Park by installing bird feeders this week.

The new coin-operated feeders will dispense a handful of high-protein pellets for $0.25, which can then be thrown into the Clinch River to feed the waterfowl, a city press release said.

The feeders are being installed on a trial basis by Vaulted Vending.

The press release said Oak Ridge officials have discouraged bird feeding because the waterfowl create a mess and bread can be harmful to them. Feeding them the wrong kind of food can also make them more aggressive.

“We hope the new feeders will eliminate the harmful bread from the bird’s diet and will also move the birds away from the picnic facilities at the park,” said Josh Collins, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks director.

The press release said the installation of the new feeders could also produce some money to be used for park improvements.

“These feeders have been successful in numerous other communities that have large populations of geese and ducks,” the release said.

For more information, contact Collins at (865) 425-3450 or visit the city’s website at www.oakridgetn.gov.

Man drowns in Clinch River near Norris Dam

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An elderly man drowned in the Clinch River Friday afternoon after his fishing boat capsized and he fell into the frigid water about a half-mile downstream of the Norris Dam, Anderson County Rescue Squad Chief Terry Allen said.

The victim’s name is being withheld pending family notification, Allen said.

The man’s body was found in the River Road boat launch area, about a half-mile downstream from where he was first reported in the water near a weir dam, Allen said.

[Read more…]

Pickup pulled from park, one of half-dozen vehicles found in Clinch River

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Melton Lake Park Pickup Truck

Authorities pull a Ford Ranger pickup truck from the Clinch River at Melton Lake Park on Tuesday morning, one of a half-dozen or so vehicles recently found in the water.

Authorities pulled a submerged pickup truck out of a cove used by rowers at Melton Lake Park on Tuesday morning, one of a half-dozen or so vehicles recently found in the Clinch River.

The pickup truck appeared to be a dark-colored mid-1980s Ford Ranger. It was coated in what appeared to be brown slime.

It wasn’t immediately clear what, if anything, was found inside.

Authorities have said little about the vehicles or the search for them, including how long the automobiles have been in the water, how they got there, or why officers are searching the Clinch River.

“We’ve got a pending investigation taking place, and we’re just not making any comment,” Oak Ridge Police Capt. Mike Uher said.

[Read more…]

Authorities pull bus from Clinch River, dive team continues search

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Bus in Melton Hill Lake

A tow truck pulls a bus from the Clinch River Monday afternoon. (Photo courtesy Austin Reed via Brad Jones)

A submerged bus was pulled out of the Clinch River near Pellissippi Parkway on Monday afternoon, but no one was on board, Oak Ridge Police Chief James T. Akagi said Tuesday.

Authorities, including an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department dive team, continued to search the water near Solway Park in Oak Ridge on Tuesday evening.

Akagi declined to release more details or comment on why the dive team was still there. He said he wasn’t able to answer some questions, such as how long the bus had been there, how it got there, or how authorities learned it was in the water.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Anderson County Sheriff's Department Dive Team

An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department dive team searches the Clinch River near Solway Park early Tuesday evening after a bus was pulled from the water on Monday afternoon.