Oak Ridge Today

Keri Cagle named new ORAU senior vice president and ORISE director

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OAK RIDGE, Tenn.— ORAU announced Keri Cagle, Ed.D., PMP, as the new ORAU senior vice president and director of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), effective immediately. In her new role, Cagle will leverage her vast experience and strategic insight to enhance ORISE’s work in critical scientific research and health initiatives for the U.S. Department of Energy and its laboratory system.

Before her promotion, Cagle demonstrated exceptional leadership as the senior director of Scientific Peer Review for ORISE, where she directed the strategic operations of its multi-million-dollar scientific peer review program. Under her guidance, the program skillfully adapted to shifting landscapes, resulting in notable business expansion and enhanced performance.

“With an impressive 19-year tenure supporting the ORISE contract, Keri steps into her new role with an extensive background in program management, strategic planning and leadership within the scientific and educational sectors,” said Andy Page, president and CEO of ORAU. “Keri’s profound leadership abilities, coupled with her extensive experience in government contracting and strategic operations, make her an ideal fit for this position. Her visionary approach and dedication to fostering collaborative relationships have consistently propelled our programs to new heights. We are excited to see her lead ORISE into a promising future.”

Cagle holds a Doctor of Education in Leadership & Learning from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Science in Organization Leadership from Regis University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Tusculum College. Her professional certifications include Project Management Professional and Certified Agile Leader, highlighting her commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.

About ORISE

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education is a U.S. Department of Energy asset that is dedicated to enabling critical scientific, research and health initiatives of the department and its laboratory system by providing world-class expertise in STEM workforce development, scientific and technical reviews, and the evaluation of radiation exposure and environmental contamination. ORISE is managed by ORAU, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and federal contractor, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science

Connect with ORISE:

ORISE Facebook
ORISE X
ORISE LinkedIn
ORISE Instagram
ORISE website: https://orise.orau.gov

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Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for Off-Site Depleted Uranium Manufacturing, which analyzes the potential impacts associated with depleted uranium manufacturing at facilities located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Jonesborough, Tennessee.

NNSA invites the public to review and submit comments on the Draft EA. Copies of the document are available for public review on the NNSA NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) and/or the DOE NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nepa/public-comment-opportunities).

NNSA is providing an approximately 30-day comment period on the Draft EA and public comments should be submitted no later than August 30, 2024. Written comments may be mailed to NNSA NEPA Document Manager, Attn: DU Draft EA, P.O. Box 2050, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 or submitted by email to [email protected]. Comments will not be accepted over the telephone.

Almost two miles of pipes replaced at waste treatment systems

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Oak Ridge crews installed approximately 5,500 feet of new piping as part of a project at the Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations system. The work required 5,000 hours of welding to complete the nearly two miles of welded lines. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management/UCOR)

Close to two miles of pipes were replaced at waste treatment systems at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The two-year, $18 million project was completed three months ahead of schedule and $900,000 under budget, according to federal officials. The project replaced above-ground pipes and valves at the 3608 Process Waste Treatment Complex, “making the system more efficient and reliable and helping avoid the possibility of disrupting ongoing ORNL operations,” federal officials said.

The piping replacement was a project of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR. The goal was to extend the life of the Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations (LGWO) system at ORNL. DOE said the LGWO system is critical to ORNL’s ongoing missions, and an outage would result in immediate impacts at the site.

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Crews prepare to demolish Graphite Reactor support facilities

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An aerial view of a filter house, fan house, and 200-foot-tall exhaust stack that provided support to the Graphite Reactor, which is located about 100 feet away from these facilities. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Federal cleanup crews are preparing to demolish three support facilities for the historic Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The demolition of the support facilities is planned for next year.

The deactivation work at the three facilities is being done by UCOR, a cleanup contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

The buildings include the filter house, or Building 3002; fan house, or Building 3003; and exhaust stack, or Building 3018. They were previously used to filter and release exhaust from Graphite Reactor operations.

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ORNL scientist to lead project studying permafrost thaw, climate processes in Alaska

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Colleen Iversen (Photo submitted by ORNL)

Submitted

Colleen Iversen—ecosystem ecologist, group leader, and distinguished staff scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory—has been named director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic, or NGEE Arctic. That is a multi-institutional project studying permafrost thaw and other climate-related processes in Alaska, a press release said.

Iversen has worked as a scientist on NGEE Arctic since 2012 and served as its deputy director from 2021-2023. She also leads a research team in the Plant-Soil Interactions Group at ORNL. Iversen succeeds Stan Wullschleger, founding director of NGEE Arctic, who retired as associate laboratory director for Biological and Environmental Systems Science at ORNL in April 2023.

Iversen, who took on the role of director and principal investigator for NGEE Arctic earlier this year, is excited about taking the reins of such a large, multidisciplinary project, the press release said.

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DOE asks for public comment about ETTP groundwater decision

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The U.S. Department of Energy has asked for public comment about a proposed plan to reduce groundwater contamination in the main plant area of East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

Comments are for an interim record of decision. There will be a public meeting Tuesday evening in Oak Ridge.

“The proposed plan identifies enhanced in situ bioremediation (EISB) as DOE’s preferred alternative to remediate six specific areas of groundwater in the main plant area of the East Tennessee Technology Park,” DOE said in a public notice distributed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. “EISB is a method that involves using microorganisms to reduce contamination levels in these specific areas of groundwater. For these six areas, workers have excavated, or will excavate, the primary sources of contamination, as specified in the Record of Decision for Soil, Buried Waste, and Subsurface Structure Actions in Zone 2, East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (DOE/OR/01-2161&D2).

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Ken Tarcza joins ORAU as chief of staff

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Ken Tarcza

Ken Tarcza has joined Oak Ridge Associated Universities as chief of staff.

Tarcza comes to ORAU after an impressive military and federal career, a press release said.

A graduate of West Point, Tarcza spent his military career serving in numerous roles, including assistant professor of mechanical engineering at West Point; commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency’s Southern Europe office in Wiesbaden, Germany; and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

After retiring from the military in 2015, he went on to be a supervisory physical scientist for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground before being named manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office and Office of Science Integrated Support Center/Consolidated Service Center in 2016. There, Tarcza and his organization helped enable more than $10 billion of annual program activity, the press release said. [Read more…]

Power to TRISO at Horizon could cost $13 million

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This map shows the potential route of 69-kilovolt overhead power lines for the TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge, starting at the substation (SUB) on the south side of Highway 95/58 (lower right), continuing up Novus Drive (center right), crossing onto Horizon Center land, and then running east (to the right) on the back side of Site 6 (open area at upper right).

Building a new substation and electrical lines to supply power to a nuclear fuel company could cost $13 million, Oak Ridge officials said in December.

The nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, needs about 32 to 35 megawatts of electricity at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. That would make the company the city’s biggest electrical customer. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex get most of their power directly from Tennessee Valley Authority.)

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IDB endorses overhead power lines for Horizon Center project

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An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, at Horizon Center. The company’s site is pictured above on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route that could be less controversial to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company at Horizon Center.

Environmental advocates, ecologists, and trail users had objected to an earlier proposal to run overhead power lines along a U.S. Department of Energy patrol road on the back side of Horizon Center. Among other objections, those lines would have been relatively close to the Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement, and opponents said the power lines would have decreased the area’s recreational value.

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DOE has open house about landfill on Thursday

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There will be an open house in Oak Ridge on Thursday to discuss the proposed new federal landfill in Bear Creek Valley, west of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The open house is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, December 8, in the Scarboro Community Center.

“After much work and coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, we are excited to share that the three parties recently signed the final Record of Decision (ROD) for the Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) project,” the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management said in a notice posted on its website.

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Test reactor would help with decarbonization, supporters say

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Kairos Power has proposed a Hermes test reactor at the Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. A model of the test reactor is pictured at a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. Dec. 1.

A nuclear test reactor proposed in west Oak Ridge could help as the United States tries to lower carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the effects of climate change, supporters said during a public meeting last week.

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ORNL center will make isotopes for medicine, research, security

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory had an October 24 groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Stable Isotope Production and Research Center. A design image of the new center is pictured above.

Note: This story was updated at 11 a.m. Nov. 22.

For decades, Oak Ridge made stable isotopes. Those are non-radioactive forms of atoms that can be used in medicine and industry, and for research and national security.

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