Oak Ridge Today

CORRE has annual membership meeting on Monday

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CORRE Logo

The Coalition of Oak Ridge Retirees will have its annual meeting at 2 p.m. Monday, October 20, at the Heritage Fellowship Church in Oak Ridge.

CORRE is an organization of retirees that works to improve the welfare of more than 12,000 former employees and surviving spouses of the various managing contractors of U.S. Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge. All retirees, their spouses, and surviving spouses are urged to attend and are encouraged to bring other retirees, a press release said.

CORRE expects about 200-250 retirees and spouses to attend, and invitations have been extended to members of the East Tennessee congressional delegation. [Read more…]

More than 100 jobs terminated as B&W work on USEC centrifuge project ends

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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)

But hundreds of jobs maintained in Ohio and Tennessee, USEC says

Babcock and Wilcox has terminated the employment of more than 100 workers who had been involved in the American Centrifuge project with USEC, and Monday was the last day of work for most of them, a spokesperson said.

“B&W’s involvement in the American Centrifuge Manufacturing LLC has transitioned fully to USEC, which will result in the termination of all 122 employees B&W had engaged in the effort,” said Aimee Mills, B&W media relations lead.

Mills said roughly 25 employees will be released during the next two months as the “final steps of demobilization take place” on the advanced uranium enrichment project, which has included centrifuge manufacturing in Oak Ridge and the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio.

“Some of those affected have been reassigned within B&W,” Mills said. “We have also provided assistance by way of job fairs and workshops to update resumes.”

Meanwhile, USEC has notified a small group of its Oak Ridge employees who worked on manufacturing activities that they would be laid off, Communications Manager Jeremy Derryberry said Tuesday. Several were transferred to other parts of the centrifuge program. [Read more…]

New Y-12, Pantex contractor website includes employment information

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Jim Haynes

Jim Haynes

The transition website for the new contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Pantex Plant was posted online on Thursday afternoon. The new website for Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC is available at http://www.cnstransition.com.

CNS is the new managing and operating contractor at Y-12 in Oak Ridge and Pantex in Amarillo, Texas. The contract award, worth up to about $23 billion over 10 years, was first announced in January 2013 but delayed by a series of protests. The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied the third and final protest on Thursday, Feb. 27. On Monday, officials at the National Nuclear Security Administration said the transition to the new contractor had started and was expected to last four months.

On Thursday, CNS spokesman Jason Bohne said the company would be adding much more information to the transition website during the next few weeks and months, including more details on the senior management team, proposed organization, messages to employees, and more.

The transition website includes a message from CNS President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Haynes, who has been senior vice president and deputy general manager for the current Y-12 contractor, B&W Y-12. Other members of the CNS leadership team include Michael Jones, transformation; Darrell Graddy, mission support; and Carl Strock, project director for the Uranium Processing Facility. [Read more…]

Federal contractors, agencies consider shutdowns, furloughs as funding dispute drags on

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Joe L. Evins Federal Building

The U.S. Department of Energy will soon start shutting down nonessential operations, resulting in employee and contractor furloughs, unless Congress passes a spending bill. Pictured above is DOE’s Oak Ridge Office at the Joe L. Evins Federal Building.

Furloughs possible at DOE, UCOR, other federal contractors; some SAIC employees on leave

The government shutdown is now in its second week, and the U.S. Department of Energy could start shutting down nonessential operations soon—resulting in employee and contractor furloughs—unless Congress quickly approves a spending bill, officials said Tuesday.

Federal contractors with operations in Oak Ridge are also considering possible shutdowns and furloughs because congressional Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill to keep the government operating in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

In a Tuesday message to employees, UCOR President Leo Sain said the company, the government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, has not been told to shut down yet. [Read more…]

Anderson Commission unable to resolve salary dispute between sheriff, mayor

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Note: This story was updated at 1:45 a.m. July 16.

CLINTON—The Anderson County Commission on Monday was unable to resolve a dispute between the county mayor and the sheriff over an annual salary agreement, meaning a judge could be asked to intervene.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has refused to sign the proposed salary agreement for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. She said it includes about $7.66 million for salaries, which is roughly $1 million more than the $6.63 million approved by commission in June as part of this year’s budget.

“I cannot do anything more than what was passed,” Frank told commissioners Monday morning. “The only way I can sign that is if you go ahead and approve that new $1 million.” [Read more…]

Sequester scenarios: $100 million in funding cuts at ORNL, furloughs at Y-12

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Chuck Spencer

Chuck Spencer

Operating costs have already been cut by 7 percent at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and all employees are expected to report to work on Friday, even if automatic federal spending cuts go into effect at midnight.

The federal cuts could reduce lab funding by 5 percent to 8 percent, ORNL Director Thom Mason said. That could translate into $70 million to $100 million in funding cuts, depending upon how the reductions are allocated.

Meanwhile, at the Y-12 National Security Complex, the automatic spending cuts could lead to furloughs, or temporary layoffs. Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have said between 700 and 1,000 employees could be furloughed for up to six months.

But in a Feb. 14 message to employees, B&W Y-12 General Manager Chuck Spencer did not say how many employees might be affected.

[Read more…]