Oak Ridge Today

Council to consider DOE wastewater billing; lobbying, economic development contracts

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Oak Ridge City Council

The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above during an August 2013 meeting. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday night will consider adding a facilities charge to the U.S. Department of Energy’s monthly wastewater bill for costs related to the construction of a holding tank, or equalization basin, near the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The equalization basin on Scarboro Lane, near the intersection of Scarboro Road and South Illinois Avenue, will service wastewater coming out of the federal reservation, city officials said. Wastewater flows from DOE facilities are estimated to be 67 percent of the total wastewater flow coming into that equalization basin, which will replace a now-demolished car wash near the intersection.

Assuming a 67 percent-33 percent split between DOE and the city, DOE’s share of the cost for construction of the Scarboro Lane equalization basin is estimated at $1.4 million, city officials said. DOE could pay another $24,190 per month as part of its wastewater bill for 60 months starting in July, Oak Ridge Finance Director Janice E. McGinnis said. [Read more…]

NNSA marks 10th anniversary of Global Threat Reduction Initiative

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Frank Klotz

Frank Klotz

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Nuclear Security Administration on Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, GTRI. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, reducing the threat of terrorist acquisition of nuclear or radiological material has been a core mission of NNSA, and it is a mission that will continue into the future.

“The Global Threat Reduction Initiative’s history demonstrates how seriously we take this mission and our commitment to fulfilling President Obama’s nuclear security agenda,” said U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Frank G. Klotz. “However, the threat to national and global security from state or terrorist acquisition of nuclear and radiological materials is far from gone, and our focus now is on addressing the substantial threats that remain.”

GTRI, an NNSA nuclear nonproliferation program, works with partners around the world to reduce and consolidate global stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, or HEU, and plutonium, and to secure dangerous radiological sources both at home and abroad. GTRI and its predecessor programs have removed and secured more than enough material for 980 nuclear weapons and tens of thousands of radiological dirty bombs by converting HEU research reactors and isotope production facilities to the use of low enriched uranium, or LEU; removing or confirming disposition of HEU and plutonium; and securing nuclear and radiological sites around the world. [Read more…]

DOE-NNSA, Tennessee to take part in regional exercise near I-40, Pellissippi

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s Radiological Assistance Program, or RAP, and Tennessee’s Offices of Emergency Management and Division of Radiological Health will participate in a Regional CAPSTONE exercise with activities to be conducted by Field Monitoring Teams in the public sector on Thursday, June 5.

During the environmental field monitoring and sampling activities, approximately 20 response personnel using radiation detection instrumentation and taking samples (soil, water, vegetation, etc.), may be visible by the public in the vicinity of neighborhoods and businesses north of Interstate I-40 and the Pellissippi interchange. The exercise scope is designed to focus on conducting contamination monitoring activities with the intent for the state and DOE/NNSA RAP Field Monitoring Teams to work together to improve the nation’s preparedness in responding to incidents involving the release of radiological materials, a press release said.

Novel ORNL technique enables air-stable water droplet networks

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Water Droplet

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a method to create air-stable water droplet networks that are valuable for applications in biological sensing and membrane research. (Image credit: Kyle Kuykendall)

 

A simple new technique to form interlocking beads of water in ambient conditions could prove valuable for applications in biological sensing, membrane research, and harvesting water from fog.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a method to create air-stable water droplet networks known as droplet interface bilayers. These interconnected water droplets have many roles in biological research because their interfaces simulate cell membranes. Cumbersome fabrication methods, however, have limited their use.

“The way they’ve been made since their inception is that two water droplets are formed in an oil bath then brought together while they’re submerged in oil,” said ORNL’s Pat Collier, who led the team’s study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Otherwise they would just pop like soap bubbles.”

Instead of injecting water droplets into an oil bath, the ORNL research team experimented with placing the droplets on a superhydrophobic surface infused with a coating of oil. The droplets aligned side by side without merging. [Read more…]

Spotlight: DOE, advisory board recognize service of student representatives

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Gracie Hall, Susan Cange, and Julia Riley

Susan Cange from the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge presents plaques of appreciation to Julia Riley, Hardin Valley Academy, left, and Gracie Hall, Oak Ridge High School, right, for their service as student representatives to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office recognized outgoing student representatives Gracie Hall and Julia Riley at the April board meeting.

ORSSAB is a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides recommendations to the DOE Oak Ridge Environmental Management Program, which is responsible for the cleanup of the Oak Ridge Reservation. Each year it provides seats for two non-voting student representatives from area high schools. In addition to participating at board meetings, students can be members of the board’s working committees.

“We appreciate the insight the student representatives provide during their tenure on the ORSSAB, so it’s always sad to see them leave when they complete their terms,” said Susan Cange, deputy assistant manager for the DOE Oak Ridge Environmental Management Program and the board’s deputy designated federal officer. “We are thankful to them for dedicating time during their busy senior year of high school to help provide valuable input in support of environmental cleanup in Oak Ridge.”

Gracie will graduate from Oak Ridge High School in May. For the last couple of years, she has been training in martial arts and has a blue-purple belt in Filkenjutsu. She plans to continue training and teaching various forms of martial arts.

Gracie also likes to sing and will be singing in her last Sound Company show in May. Sound Company is a local group of young singers and dancers.

She will be attending the University of Tennessee Knoxville this fall in the honors program with an undeclared major. She is considering environmental science or criminal justice. She does plan to minor in Spanish.

Julia will graduate from Hardin Valley Academy in May. During her senior year, she has been active as president of Hardin Valley’s Venture Crew. She has been involved in blood drives at Hardin Valley as assistant to one of her teachers who coordinates the drives.

Julia will attend Clemson University this fall in the honors program studying environmental science with a wildlife biology minor.

Two new students from Oak Ridge High School and Hardin Valley Academy will be seated in May.

For more information about ORSSAB, visit the board’s website at www.energy.gov/orssab or call (865) 241-4583 or (865) 241-4584.

UT nuclear engineering students awarded scholarships, fellowships through DOE program

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One undergraduate scholarship goes to Oak Ridge student

KNOXVILLE—Several University of Tennessee students in the College of Engineering’s Department of Nuclear Engineering in Knoxville received a nice start to the summer as Nuclear Energy University Programs announced its most recent award recipients, with UT netting nine undergraduate scholarships and three graduate fellowships.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Integrated University Program, undergraduate winners receive a $5,000 scholarship, while the graduate fellowship winners receive $50,000 annually over three years, as well as $5,000 toward summer internships at national laboratories or other approved locations.

The undergraduates include Mikah Rust of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

New NNSA administrator to keynote Tennessee Valley Summit

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Frank Klotz

Frank Klotz, the new administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, is pictured above.

CHATTANOOGA—Retired Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, the recently confirmed undersecretary for nuclear security for the U.S. Department of Energy and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will be a keynote speaker at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit in June. Along with University of Tennessee President Joe DiPetro, Klotz will speak at the event’s Leadership Luncheon, which will conclude the June 4-5 event on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Klotz was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April to lead the NNSA in its mission to improve national secruity through the military application of nuclear energy. NNSA maintains the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and is responsible for many nuclear nonproliferation, counter-terrorism, and radiological emergency response efforts for the United States as well as providing fuel for the country’s nuclear Navy. The Y-12 National Secruity Complex in Oak Ridge is one of NNSA’s most important facilities.

“Gen. Klotz occupies one of the most important jobs in the federal government to assure a strong nuclear deterrence for our nation’s security and the safety of our nuclear stockpile,” said Gerald Boyd, TVC board chair and former DOE Oak Ridge site manager. “It’s a great honor for the TVC to host one of his first public addresses as the new DOE undersecretary and NNSA administrator.” [Read more…]

DOE transfers former machine shop property to CROET

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DOE Land Transfer at ETTP to CROET

From left during Wednesday’s land transfer ceremony are U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann; Mark Whitney, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management; Lawrence Young, CROET president and CEO; and David Klaus, DOE’s deputy undersecretary for management and performance.

 

Roughly 25 acres of land that once housed a machine shop and supporting buildings at Heritage Center has been transferred to an economic development organization that finds new uses for former federal property.

The property transfer from the U.S. Department of Energy to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee was celebrated in a Wednesday afternoon ceremony. It’s the 12th transfer from DOE to CROET, and the two dozen acres were signed over to CROET for private-sector use.

Among the speakers at Wednesday’s ceremony were U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, and David Klaus, DOE’s deputy undersecretary for management and performance.

“The reindustrialization program in Oak Ridge has not only been an economic development catalyst for the region, it is saving tax payers millions of dollars as the federal government transfers underutilized assets to the private sector,” Fleischmann said.

The transfers of the parcels, officially known as ED-11 and ED-12, have been in the works for at least a few years. Lawrence Young, CROET president and chief executive officer, said there will some infrastructure improvements to make the property ready for development. Part of the property once housed Building 1401, an old machine shop that has now been demolished. [Read more…]

DOE to transfer 25 acres to CROET

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Heritage Center

The main entrance to the Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CROET)

The U.S. Department of Energy will transfer 25 acres at East Tennessee Technology Park’s Heritage Center to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, and officials have planned a Wednesday afternoon ceremony.

The speakers will include Mark Whitney, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, and Lawrence Young, CROET president and chief executive officer.

Special guests will include U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and David Klaus, DOE deputy undersecretary for management and performance.

‘Double-duty’ electrolyte enables new chemistry for longer-lived batteries

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ORNL Battery Chemistry

When ORNL researchers incorporated a solid lithium thiophosphate electrolyte into a lithium-carbon fluoride battery, the device generated a 26 percent higher capacity than what would be its theoretical maximum if each component acted independently. (Image courtesy ORNL)

 

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new and unconventional battery chemistry aimed at producing batteries that last longer than previously thought possible.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, ORNL researchers challenged a long-held assumption that a battery’s three main components—the positive cathode, negative anode, and ion-conducting electrolyte—can play only one role in the device.

The electrolyte in the team’s new battery design has dual functions: It serves not only as an ion conductor but also as a cathode supplement. This cooperative chemistry, enabled by the use of an ORNL-developed solid electrolyte, delivers an extra boost to the battery’s capacity, and extends the lifespan of the device.

“This bi-functional electrolyte revolutionizes the concept of conventional batteries and opens a new avenue for the design of batteries with unprecedented energy density,” said ORNL’s Chengdu Liang. [Read more…]

Whitney, cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, takes new job at DOE

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Mark Whitney

Mark Whitney

Mark Whitney, manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management for the U.S. Department of Energy, has accepted a new job as a principal deputy assistant secretary in Washington, D.C.

The official start date for the new position is May 18. Whitney, who has led cleanup work at the three federal sites in Oak Ridge, will be principal deputy assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. The change was announced Thursday by Acting Assistant Secretary Dave Huizenga.

Whitney’s appointment as assistant manager for environmental management in Oak Ridge was announced about two years ago. [Read more…]

DOE explores options for enriched uranium technology for national security

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American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center

The American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center in south Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photos courtesy USEC)

USEC, UT-Battelle to preserve centrifuge enrichment capabilities on interim basis

USEC and UT-Battelle have signed a $33.7 million, five-month contract to continue operating centrifuges and conducting research and development activities on a uranium enrichment project deemed important for national security and possible commercial use.

The agreement with UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was signed May 1. The five-month term ends Sept. 30. The new agreement includes options for two six-month extensions valued at about $41.7 million each. The total price of the contract with the options is roughly $117 million.

USEC, which is now an ORNL subcontractor, previously performed research, development, and demonstration work on the project, the American Centrifuge Project, under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy that had been in place since June 12, 2012. That cost-sharing agreement expired April 30. [Read more…]