Oak Ridge Today

First of its kind, Oak Ridge’s federal re-industrialization program celebrates 20 years

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A rendering of East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in 2020, when cleanup there is scheduled for completion. ETTP offers robust infrastructure and multiple parcels spanning hundreds of acres, capable of attracting and supporting large-scale industry, according to DOE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

 

Note: This is an edited version of a story by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

A re-industrialization program that was the first of its kind and converts federal property to private-sector use celebrated 20 years this month.

The re-industrialization program was designed to attract new industries and jobs to a former uranium enrichment complex.

Through the program, the U.S. Department of Energy has transferred hundreds of acres to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, or CROET, and the City of Oak Ridge to create two private-sector industrial parks, the 1,200-acre Heritage Center and the 1,000-acre Horizon Center.

Heritage Center is at the former K-25 site, which was built during World War II and was once used to enrich uranium in west Oak Ridge. Horizon Center is a few miles east of Heritage Center. [Read more…]

Council unanimously approves AMSE land transfer

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The American Museum of Science and Energy property is pictured above in central Oak Ridge. The wide road running vertically at center-right through the aerial photo is South Tulane Avenue. The proposed Main Street Oak Ridge would be on the right side of South Tulane Avenue at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The road running horizontally at bottom is South Illinois Avenue. AMSE is the brown-roofed building at top-center.

The American Museum of Science and Energy property is pictured above in central Oak Ridge. The wide road running vertically at center-right through the aerial photo is South Tulane Avenue. Main Street Oak Ridge is being built on the right side of South Tulane Avenue at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The road running horizontally at bottom is South Illinois Avenue. AMSE is the brown-roofed building at top-center.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11 p.m.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the transfer of the American Museum of Science and Energy property. The roughly 17.42 acres will be transferred from the U.S. Department of Energy to the City of Oak Ridge. It could then be transferred in two phases to a company set up by the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge.

Under the agreement, the AMSE missions will be relocated within about one year to 18,000 square feet of space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at Main Street Oak Ridge. That space, once finished, will be provided by TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC, a Main Street Oak Ridge company, to the city at no cost for 15 years.

The city will, in turn, sublease the former Sears space to DOE at no charge for 15 years, and it can be used for the public outreach and education missions now conducted at AMSE—as well as for a temporary visitor center for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. That visitor center is now housed at AMSE.
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AMSE property could be transferred to city, then to developer

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AMSE Sign

The American Museum of Science and Energy is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. (File photo by Sara Wise)

 

Note: This story was updated at 2:45 p.m.

The American Museum of Science and Energy property could be transferred to the City of Oak Ridge and then to a developer under a resolution to be considered by Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday.

The City Council will consider whether to accept the 17.12-acre AMSE site from the U.S. Department of Energy during a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, December 13, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. The Council will also consider whether to enter into certain agreements with TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC. That company was set up by RealtyLink, the developer building Main Street Oak Ridge at the former Oak Ridge Mall.

The potential property transfer, the latest in a series of AMSE discussions dating back to at least 2003, was endorsed by City Council this summer as part of the Main Street Oak Ridge redevelopment. Council agreed to allow City Manager Mark Watson to negotiate the AMSE property transfer with DOE and RealtyLink.

On Monday, Watson said the city has submitted a property transfer proposal to DOE, and the federal government has accepted the terms. In order to take effect, the City Council has to approve it.

If the transfer is approved, TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC would provide Oak Ridge with 18,000 square feet of space at Main Street Oak Ridge at no cost for 15 years. The city would pay no rent, maintenance, taxes, or utilities. [Read more…]

ORISE accepting applications for DOE energy fellowship summer program

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Women and minorities encouraged to apply; deadline is Dec. 30

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education is currently accepting applications for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2017 Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program, or MLEF, which is a 10-week summer program for students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The MLEF Program provides students with the opportunity to gain and develop research skills by training under the mentorship of program officials and scientists within the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy, a press release said. This program is open to currently enrolled, full-time, degree-seeking students in a science, technology, engineering, or math, or STEM, program at an accredited college or university at the bachelor’s (sophomore or higher), master’s, or doctoral level with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher. U.S. citizenship is required.

Participants will support Office of Fossil Energy mission-related research while gaining insight into how DOE is working to meet the energy challenges of the future. The goal of the program is to improve opportunities for women and minority students in the STEM fields although all eligible candidates are encouraged to apply. [Read more…]

Officials celebrate sale of DOE land to IDB, which sold to Protomet, for economic development

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Protomet Corporation is pictured above in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Officials are celebrating the sale of federal land east of Oak Ridge National Laboratory that could be used to help an industrial company expand.

The 20-acre parcel had been owned by the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. The property is adjacent to the Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge and west of Protomet. The company had sought the property for a planned expansion.

The parcel was sold to the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, or IDB, on October 20.

The IDB, which served as a conduit, then sold the land to Protomet. The company is evaluating the site as one option as it plans for a $30 million expansion that could add 200 jobs over a five-year period. [Read more…]

DOE, National Park Service mark first year of Manhattan Project Park

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By U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management

The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Park Service have made considerable progress in their inaugural year managing the national park commemorating the Manhattan Project, according to DOE.

“Everyone involved with the park from DOE, the National Park Service, and our community partners has put a lot of work into the Manhattan Project National Historical Park over the past year and it shows,” DOE Office of Legacy Management Acting Director Thomas Pauling said in a November 30 newsletter called “EM Update.” “The Office of Legacy Management is excited to join the team, and we’re looking forward to contributing to its continuing success.”

Established on November 10, 2015, the park consists of facilities at three sites—Hanford, Washington; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico—that played key roles in the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The park tells the story of the people, events, science, and engineering that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, which helped end World War II. [Read more…]

Name of new element, tennessine, recognizes state’s contributions, including at ORNL

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The recently discovered element 117 has been officially named “tennessine” in recognition of Tennessee’s contributions to its discovery, including the efforts of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its Tennessee collaborators at Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee.

“The presence of tennessine on the Periodic Table is an affirmation of our state’s standing in the international scientific community, including the facilities ORNL provides to that community as well as the knowledge and expertise of the laboratory’s scientists and technicians,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a press release.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC, gave its final approval to the name “tennessine” following a year-long process that began December 30, 2015, when IUPAC and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics announced verification of the existence of the superheavy element 117. That was more than five years after scientists first reported its discovery in April 2010.

IUPAC validates the existence of newly discovered elements and approves their official names.

ORNL had several roles in the discovery, the most prominent being production of the radioisotope berkelium-249 for the search. [Read more…]

After acquiring more land, Protomet evaluating Oak Ridge for $30 million expansion

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Protomet Corporation is pictured above in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

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Jeff Bohanan

Protomet Corporation has purchased about 20 acres of former federal land on Bethel Valley Road in south Oak Ridge, and the company is evaluating that property as one option as it plans for a $30 million expansion that could add 200 jobs over a five-year period.

On Tuesday, Protomet founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bohanan said the company prefers to stay in Oak Ridge, but there is no guarantee. The 19.47-acre parcel on Bethel Valley Road will have to be cut and filled, and drainage will have to be redirected, Bohanan said. It’s not clear yet how much that work might cost.

Protomet needs about 100,000 square feet for its expansion, which was announced in February. Protomet now has 70 workers in a 40,000-square-foot building on eight acres, so the company could more than triple in size.

“The new facility will dramatically increase Protomet’s capacity and capabilities for the customers it serves,” Bohanan said. “We have already started purchasing equipment for the new facility, and some of it is already in use at our current facility.”

Protomet bought the Bethel Valley Road land from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board for $103,000 on October 20. The property, which was previously owned by the U.S. Department of Energy, is west of Protomet and east of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“This is a big step in our ability to evaluate this site as an option,” Bohanan said. [Read more…]

New water plant could cost more than $40 million

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Building a new water treatment plant in Oak Ridge or rehabilitating the current one could cost between $43.1 million and $46.9 million, according to an evaluation of three alternatives prepared for the city by an engineering company. The three alternatives are show in the image above.

 

Building a new water treatment plant in Oak Ridge or renovating the current one could cost between $43.1 million and $46.9 million, according to an evaluation prepared for the city by an engineering company.

Three alternatives for renovating the existing water plant or building a new one were presented to the Oak Ridge City Council in October in an evaluation by Jacobs Engineering Group. The three options have different impacts on the raw water intake on the Clinch River in south Oak Ridge, an intermediate pump station at the Y-12 National Security Complex between the raw water intake and the existing water treatment plant, and the current 70-year-old plant, which is on Pine Ridge above Y-12.

The first alternative, which could cost $46.5 million, would rehabilitate the existing plant. It would continue to use the raw water intake, the intermediate pump station, and the water plant. It would include work at those three sites, as well as to the two underground lines that feed the water plant.

The rehabilitation would require mechanical and process equipment upgrades, pipeline replacement, electrical improvements, and slope stabilization.

The Jacobs evaluation said the building and basins at the existing plant are in good condition, and the facility works well at 8-12 million gallons per day. It has the two underground lines coming in and three going out, and two storage reservoirs on Pine Ridge, one of three million gallons and the other of four million gallons. [Read more…]

Brian Henry named portfolio federal project director for Y-12 cleanup

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Brian Henry (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, has named Brian Henry as its new portfolio federal project director for cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Henry will replace Laura Wilkerson, who is now director of the Planning and Execution Division, where she oversees the portfolio cleanup directors at Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and East Tennessee Technology Park. Henry will report to Wilkerson.

As the portfolio federal project director, Henry oversees all of the planning and execution for Y-12’s current and upcoming cleanup projects, including all decontamination, demolition, and disposal operations, a press release said. In this role, he is also leading preparations for the Mercury Treatment Facility and the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, two of OREM’s largest and most vital near-term capital projects. [Read more…]

Local environmental board meets with federal, state agencies to discuss cleanup mission

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The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board holds its annual planning meeting in August 2016 with U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. (Submitted photo)

 

In August, members of a citizen’s advisory board met with representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to consider key issues for Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup in fiscal year 2017, which begins in October.

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board held its 2016 Annual Planning Meeting in Townsend, Tennessee, on August 6. The Saturday meeting brought together members of the Oak Ridge board, leadership from DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, and liaisons from federal and state regulatory agencies to review cleanup accomplishments in FY 2016 and discuss priorities for FY 2017.

ORSSAB is a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides recommendations to OREM on its environmental management activities at DOE sites locally. OREM encourages public participation in federal projects and meets regularly with the Oak Ridge board, as well as with other citizen and stakeholder groups within the community to gather public perspectives regarding a diverse cleanup mission that addresses legacy nuclear waste at sites across the Oak Ridge Reservation through numerous activities, including waste disposition, long-term stewardship, and site restoration. [Read more…]

Park Service, DOE seek comment on foundation document for new Manhattan Project park

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park Opens Nov. 12, 2015

The iconic “War Ends” photo is recreated in part on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, with a “Park Opens” photo that celebrates the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge. (U.S. Department of Energy photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

The National Park Service and U.S. Department of Energy are asking the public to review and comment on a draft foundation document for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park includes Oak Ridge, and it was established in November 2015.

The foundation document is designed to affirm the park’s core mission and significance, its key resources and values, and the interpretive themes that tell its stories, a press release said.

Formally established last November at DOE locations in three states, the park marks the history of the mid-20th Century people, science, and events that led to creation of the atomic bomb in the top-secret effort known as the Manhattan Project.

Foundation documents are guidance tools individualized for each of the National Park Service’s 413 units to direct basic park planning and management, the press release said. [Read more…]