Oak Ridge Today

New all-solid sulfur-based battery outperforms lithium-ion technology

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ORNL Lithium-Sulfur Battery

A new all-solid lithium-sulfur battery developed by an Oak Ridge National Laboratory team led by Chengdu Liang has the potential to reduce cost, increase performance, and improve safety compared with existing designs. (Submitted photo)

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium-sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today’s electronics.

The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur, also addresses flammability concerns experienced by other chemistries.

“Our approach is a complete change from the current battery concept of two electrodes joined by a liquid electrolyte, which has been used over the last 150 to 200 years,” said Chengdu Liang, lead author on the ORNL study published this week in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. [Read more…]

DOE’s public bus tour begins Monday

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Oak Ridge facilities public bus tour begins June 3 and continues through Aug. 30. The tour offers visitors a first-hand look at the DOE’s Oak Ridge facilities and provides historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 70 years.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular destination for tourists visiting the area. Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted more than 29,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour tour allows visitors to see the reservation and learn historical facts and updates on the world-class missions under way in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

USEC to cease uranium enrichment at Paducah Plant

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USEC Inc. announced Friday that it had not been able to conclude a deal for the short-term extension of uranium enrichment at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, and the company will begin ceasing uranium enrichment at the end of May. The Paducah plant is the only U.S.-owned and operated uranium enrichment facility in the United States. USEC, which has operations in Oak Ridge, leases the Kentucky plant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“While we have pursued possible opportunities for continuing enrichment, DOE has concluded that there were not sufficient benefits to the taxpayers to extend enrichment,” said Robert Van Namen, USEC senior vice president and chief operating officer. “I am extremely disappointed to say we must now begin to take steps to cease enrichment. [Read more…]

TVC Summit next week includes House majority leader

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Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor

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Business, community, and political leaders and senior decision-makers will convene at the 2013 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit next week to discuss issues that are critical to the economic engine of the Tennessee Valley, a press release said.

Hosted by Third District Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the two-day meeting themed “Securing America’s Future” will focus on energy and environment, innovation and entrepreneurism, public and private partnerships, and advanced manufacturing, the release said.

The Summit will be held at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s New Hope Center in Oak Ridge on May 29-30. [Read more…]

Ernest Moniz sworn in as energy secretary

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz was sworn in as the nation’s 13th Secretary of Energy by Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman in a Tuesday morning ceremony.

Moniz was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 97-0 vote on May 16.

The Tuesday morning ceremony for U.S. Department of Energy employees kicked off a busy first day that includes briefings on energy and national security as well as remarks to the 2013 Energy Efficiency Global Forum, a press release said. [Read more…]

Two ORNL researchers, two joint faculty receive DOE early career awards

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DOE Early Career Awards

Pictured from top left, clockwise, are Valentino Cooper, Gaute Hagen, Matthias Schindler, and Jason Hayward. They are 2013 awardees in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program. (Submitted photo)

Materials science and physics research led by early career Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists received a boost this week from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Early Career Research Program.

The program, now in its fourth year, is designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during crucial early career years when many scientists do their most formative work. This year’s 61 awardees were selected from a pool of 770 university- and national laboratory-based applicants.

“This highly competitive program is a well-deserved recognition for early-career scientists who are launching their own research programs,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said. “We are delighted that four of this year’s awards are going to researchers associated with ORNL.” [Read more…]

United Way donations down after security breach, contractor changes

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United Way of Anderson County

Tom Hilton, 2012-2013 campaign chair, left, with outgoing United Way of Anderson County Board President Jimmy Stone, who accepted the No. 1 Company Campaign Award on behalf of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy of D. Ray Smith)

Donations to the United Way of Anderson County were down this year, and on Thursday, officials cited challenges in the federal contracting community, including the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex and the later departure of security contractor WSI.

There was also an end to federal stimulus money, a freeze in federal budgets and salaries, and a new consolidated contract to manage Y-12 and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, which could result in the departure of B&W Y-12, said Rick Morrow, UWAC executive director.

The United Way of Anderson County had hoped to raise $1.4 million in the fiscal year that ended March 31, but volunteers and staff members fell short of that, collecting $1,277,771. [Read more…]

DOE Environmental Management has public meeting to discuss cleanup funding, strategy

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Mark Whitney

Mark Whitney

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or EM, is holding a public meeting to discuss the program’s fiscal year 2015 budget and cleanup priorities. The workshop, featuring Oak Ridge’s senior EM leadership, is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. April 23 at Pollard Auditorium.

“As taxpayer stewards, I think these public meetings are a responsible practice that increase transparency and explain our decision process,” said Mark Whitney, Oak Ridge’s Environmental Management manager. “These meetings also provide a forum for residents and stakeholders to voice their opinions, suggestions, and concerns about our vision.” [Read more…]

DOE Oak Ridge Nuclear Energy manager to retire

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J.T. Howell

J.T. Howell (Photo courtesy US DOE/Lynn Freeny)

J.T. Howell, manager of the Nuclear Energy Oak Ridge Site Office, will retire from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office on May 3 after 33 years of federal government service.

Howell has held his current position since 2011, responsible for advancing DOE’s nuclear energy programs in Oak Ridge; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Paducah, Ky. His responsibilities also include oversight of leases, agreements, and technology development and deployment between the DOE and the United States Enrichment Corporation to ensure a secure and viable domestic supply of enriched uranium for the United States defense purposes. [Read more…]

DOE says president’s budget invests in innovation, clean energy, national security

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Daniel B. Poneman

Daniel B. Poneman

A U.S. Department of Energy official on Wednesday said the president’s $28.4 billion budget request for DOE emphasizes a “continued commitment to an all-of-the-above energy strategy that prioritizes investments in innovation, clean energy technologies, and national security.”

President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 on Wednesday. It still has to be considered by Congress.

U.S. Deputy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman said the proposed budget request for DOE is part of an administration-wide effort to “strengthen the American economy with energy that is cleaner, cheaper, and creates sustainable jobs. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge carbon fiber plant could lower cost of strong, lightweight material

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Carbon Fiber Technology Facility

Gary R. Lownsdale of Plasan Carbon Composites, right, talks to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, center, near a Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 hood at the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility on Tuesday as federal, University of Tennessee, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory officials listen.

A unique manufacturing plant in west Oak Ridge that started operating about six weeks ago can make 25 tons of carbon fiber each year. It’s material that could be used for prototype parts in products ranging from cars and airplanes to wind turbine blades and natural gas tanks.

The $35 million Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Horizon Center Business Park is designed to “scale up” laboratory research on low-cost carbon fiber, make enough material to help industrial partners build prototype carbon-fiber composite parts, and develop a skilled manufacturing workforce.

Carbon fiber is strong and lightweight, but it is also expensive and that has limited its use.

Officials hope to use the 42,000-square-foot Carbon Fiber Technology Facility to change that. They want to make producing carbon fiber as cost-efficient as manufacturing steel or aluminum. [Read more…]

DOE, ORNL to celebrate carbon fiber facility, announce manufacturing initiative

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Officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory will celebrate a unique carbon fiber facility on Tuesday morning.

DOE will also announce a new U.S. manufacturing initiative during the ceremony at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Horizon Center Business Park in west Oak Ridge. [Read more…]