Oak Ridge Today

Public notice: Draft supplement analysis available for earthquake accident analysis at Y-12

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AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT SUPPLEMENT ANALYSIS FOR THE FINAL SITE-WIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX (Y-12 SWEIS), EARTHQUAKE ACCIDENT ANALYSIS (DOE/EIS-0387-SA-04)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Draft Supplement Analysis (SA), which presents an analysis of the potential impacts of earthquake accidents at the Y-12 site.

Based on the SA, NNSA will determine whether the Y-12 SWEIS (DOE/EIS-087) should be supplemented, a new SWEIS is warranted, or if no further NEPA documentation is required. NNSA invites the public to review and submit comments on the Draft SA.

Copies of the document are available for public review on the NNSA NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) under “Open for Public Comment.”

Public comments on the Draft SA should be submitted no later than May 11, 2020. Comments may be submitted via regular mail to: Ms. Terri Slack, Attn: 2020 Draft SA, P.O. Box 2050, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; or by email: [email protected]. Comments will not be accepted over the telephone.

No damage reported on Oak Ridge Reservation after earthquake

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The Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

No damage was reported on the Oak Ridge Reservation after a 3.8 magnitude earthquake was reported about 30 miles northeast of Oak Ridge on Monday, January 20.

The earthquake was felt in Oak Ridge and other communities, and it vibrated homes and windows here. The earthquake was reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Two lower magnitude 2.4 and 2.8 earthquakes were also reported on Sunday, January 19, and Tuesday, January 21, respectively, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in its most recent report.

[Read more…]

Earthquake of 3.8 magnitude reported in East Tennessee

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Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey

Note: This story was last updated at 3:35 p.m.

An earthquake of 3.8 magnitude was reported in East Tennessee on Monday afternoon.

The earthquake was felt in Oak Ridge at about 2:12 p.m. Monday, where it rattled homes and windows.

It was centered in Campbell County about one kilometer east of Fincastle, Tennessee, northeast of LaFollette, which is northeast of Oak Ridge, at a depth of about 35.4 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

[Read more…]

Earthquake hazard in East Tennessee: What could happen here?

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Robert Hatcher

Robert Hatcher

 

Could we have a major earthquake in East Tennessee? Do we live in an active seismic zone?

These and other questions will be addressed by Robert Hatcher, University of Tennessee distinguished scientist emeritus, in a lecture, “Living with East Tennessee Geology and Earthquakes,” in Oak Ridge in April.

The lecture is scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in the University of Tennessee Arboretum Auditorium at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Hatcher was a faculty member for 32 years in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Science Alliance Center of Excellence at the University of Tennessee, a press release said. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Vanderbilt University and his doctorate at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]

Map: How common are earthquakes in the area?

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The recent 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Decatur that was felt in Oak Ridge, and other reported earthquakes since then, made us wonder: How common are earthquakes in the area?

Minor earthquakes, those that can’t be felt, are fairly common, according to a customized search of data available through the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were 247 earthquakes in a roughly three-year period in an area outlined by a custom-drawn map that includes much of East Tennessee and part of western North Carolina.

But with one exception, all of the earthquakes were 3.0 magnitude or less. Earthquakes that weak are generally not felt. [Read more…]

Earthquake in East Tennessee felt in Oak Ridge

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A U.S. Geological Survey Community Internet Intensity Map after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Decatur, Tenn., on early Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey)

A U.S. Geological Survey Community Internet Intensity Map after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Decatur, Tenn., early Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

The earthquake near Decatur early Wednesday morning was felt in Oak Ridge, according to social media reports. Oak Ridge Today readers reported feeling the earthquake in other communities such as Clinton, Hardin Valley, Harriman, Oliver Springs, Sevier County, and Atlanta.

The 4.4 magnitude earthquake was also felt in other areas across the Southeast, including in Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Some people in the region described it as like a train or truck driving by, and they said homes shook, and doors and windows rattled. Some said it woke them up, and others said they didn’t feel it. (Oak Ridge Today did not feel it.)

The earthquake was reported about nine kilometers underground at 4:14 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was 11 kilometers north-northeast of Decatur. Oak Ridge is about 45 miles northeast of Decatur.

It was reported to be the largest in Tennessee since a 4.7 magnitude earthquake in Maryville in 1973 and the second strongest on record in East Tennessee. The Maryville earthquake 45 years ago was the strongest in East Tennessee. [Read more…]

Earthquake lecture: Can ‘the big one’ happen here?

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Robert D. Hatcher Jr.

Robert D. Hatcher Jr.

Could we have a major earthquake in East Tennessee? Do we live in an active seismic zone?

These and many other questions will be answered by Robert Hatcher, University of Tennessee distinguished scientist, at a lecture sponsored by the UT Arboretum Society on Thursday, January 22, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the City Room at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge.

Due to popular demand, Hatcher is again returning to address these and other questions about earthquake activity in our area, a press release said.

Hatcher will discuss whether earthquakes are frequent in our area, and he will also discuss the chances of experiencing a strong quake. [Read more…]

Y-12 security breach top story of 2012 on Oak Ridge Today

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Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above allegedly cut through fences and vandalized a high-security building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and now face federal charges of property destruction, property depredation, and injuring national defense premises. From left to right the three are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

Four of the Top 5 stories on Oak Ridge Today in 2012 were related to the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Of those four, the most viewed—and also our most viewed story of the year—was the one we wrote the day of the intrusion: Y-12 protesters enter high-security area, spray paint, splash blood. That’s when three anti-nuclear weapons activists allegedly hiked over Pine Ridge, cut through fences, and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

Other stories related to the security breach that ended up in the Top 5 were:

[Read more…]

Kentucky earthquake shakes homes in East Tennessee

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Kentucky Earthquake

A 4.3-magnitude earthquake west of Whitesburg, Ky., early Saturday afternoon rattled homes from Cincinnati to Atlanta. There were no initial reports of major injuries or damage. Whitesburg is northwest of Johnson City. (Image courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey)

An earthquake that measured 4.3 on the Richter Scale struck west of Whitesburg, Ky., at 12:08 p.m. Saturday, shaking homes from Cincinnati to Atlanta, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter was in southeastern Kentucky about 96 miles north-northeast of Knoxville, USGS Geophysicist Paul Caruso said. He wasn’t sure how long it lasted.

Caruso said a 4.3-magnitude earthquake could cause chandeliers to swing and books to fall off shelves near the epicenter, but he wouldn’t expect any major casualties or major damage. They generally occur in quakes with a magnitude of 5.5 or greater, Caruso said.

Caruso said the earthquake was at a shallow depth of about one mile underground.

People in and around Oak Ridge and Knoxville immediately began posting about the quake on social media early Saturday afternoon, but it’s not clear if it caused any damage in East Tennessee.

About an hour after the earthquake, Lt. Ken Sexton of the Whitesburg Fire Department said the department had had no reports of damages or injuries so far. But buildings shook, and people were scared, Sexton said.

The quake was about eight miles west of Whitesburg, which is northwest of Johnson City. It’s mountainous coal mining country, Sexton said.

Caruso said it’s not possible to predict if and when there might be aftershocks, but they are always smaller than the earthquakes themselves. The USGS reported one 2.5-magnitude aftershock at 1:37 p.m. about 10 miles southeast of Hazard, Ky.

The USGS says earthquakes do not occur frequently in most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, but they are typically felt over a much larger region than they are in the West.

For more information and a map of the epicenter, see the U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake page at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000dqhx#summary.

Note: This story was last updated at 7:48 p.m.