Oak Ridge Today

Former NASA astronomy, relativity chief to discuss evolution of universe, from Big Bang to black holes

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Nancy Grace Roman

Nancy Grace Roman

A former chief astronomer at NASA will discuss the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to black holes during a lecture on Thursday, March 24.

It’s the opening of the 19th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

It will feature Nancy Grace Roman, former chief of the NASA Astronomy and Relativity Programs in the Office of Space Science.

The free lecture is jointly sponsored by Friends of ORNL, or FORNL, and the American Association of University Women, or AAUW. It will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the museum lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium. [Read more…]

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of atomic bomb book gives lecture Thursday

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Richard Rhodes

Richard Rhodes

Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Making of the Atomic Bomb,” will be the featured speaker at a lecture in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

Rhodes will be the guest at the 18th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series on Thursday, October 22, at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

The title of his presentation is “The Light of New Fires: Energy Challenges Yesterday and Today.” This presentation is jointly sponsored as part of Nuclear Science Week in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge area by UT Battelle LLC, the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, and Friends of ORNL. The event is free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Can a robot have a mind? Learn more Tuesday

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On Tuesday, October 13, Friends of ORNL will have a lunch meeting and an interesting program. This month, Bruce MacLennan of the University of Tennessee Electrical and Computer Science Department in Knoxville will speak on the topic “Can a Robot Have a Mind?”

This meeting is open to the public.

The meeting location in Oak Ridge will be at the UT Resource Center (the white-colored building at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike (State Highway 95) between Taco Bell and Applebee’s at the intersection of the Turnpike and Rutgers Avenue. Use the canopy entrance at the southwest (back) corner of the building.

The lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation is at noon.

Friends of ORNL meeting will feature discussion of data-driven health innovation

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The Tuesday lunch meeting of Friends of ORNL will feature Gina Tourassi, director of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She will discuss data-driven health innovations at ORNL.

The August 11 meeting starts with lunch at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation begins at 12 p.m. It’s in the University of Tennessee Resource Center, the white-colored building at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike between Taco Bell and Applebee’s at the intersection of the Turnpike and Rutgers Avenue. Use the canopy entrance at the southwest (back) corner of the building.

This meeting is open to the public. [Read more…]

Friends of ORNL to hear discussion of materials, chemical sciences

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An official at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss challenging scientific questions in materials and chemical sciences during a lunchtime meeting on Tuesday.

Michelle Buchanan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate laboratory director for physical sciences, will be the featured speaker at the Tuesday, June 9, meeting of Friends of ORNL. Her talk is titled “Grand Challenge Science Questions in Materials and Chemical Sciences.” The meeting is open to the public.

The meeting is at the University of Tennessee Resource Center (the white-colored building at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike (State Highway 95) between Taco Bell and Applebee’s at the intersection of the Turnpike and Rutgers Avenue. Use the canopy entrance at the southwest (back) corner of the building. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation is at 12 p.m.

ORNL Climate Change Science Institute rep to discuss science, policy on Tuesday

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Benjamin L. Preston

Benjamin L. Preston

The deputy director of the Climate Change Science Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss climate change science and policy during a Tuesday lunch lecture. The meeting is open to the public.

Ben Preston is deputy director of ORNL’s Climate Change Science Institute. His talk is titled “The State of Climate Change Science and Policy: Local to Global.”

The Friends of ORNL meeting starts with socializing and coffee at 11 a.m., lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., and the lecture starts at noon. A question-and-answer session is scheduled at 12:45 p.m., and the meeting adjourns at 1 p.m. A catered lunch by the Soup Kitchen will be available for $8. [Read more…]

New film on former ORNL Director Weinberg has premiere on April 23

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Alvin Weinberg Poster

The world premiere of a new film on the life of former Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Alvin Weinberg will be held on Thursday, April 23, at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. The film was written and directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker and Oak Ridge resident Keith McDaniel.

Although McDaniel has written and directed more than a dozen documentary films, he is generally best known for his films “Secret City: The Oak Ridge Story” and “The Clinton 12.”

According to McDaniel, the biographical documentary entitled “Alvin Weinberg” explores the life of the internationally renowned nuclear scientist.

“I didn’t know Dr. Weinberg very well although I did interview him a couple of years prior to his death,” McDaniel said. “His was a fascinating life. In making this film, I wanted to not only tell stories of his professional achievements but I also wanted to show what Dr. Weinberg was like as a person.” [Read more…]

Planning to preserve history of K-25, which could be part of national park

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K-25 Building Aerial View

Now demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, pictured above, was once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Located in west Oak Ridge, the site could become part of a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. There is a separate effort to preserve K-25’s history; that work could be incorporated into the new park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

 

It was once the world’s largest building under one roof and part of the one of the largest industrial projects ever, a top-secret program to build the world’s first atomic weapons in World War II.

Today the building is gone—demolition was completed in December 2013—but the stories of what took place inside the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building could live on in a replica equipment building, viewing tower, and history center.

And K-25 could become part of a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park approved by Congress in December and signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 19. The 14-page bill was the culmination of 15 years of work, said Colin Colverson, Manhattan Project Park lead in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

The law recognizes the Manhattan Project as one of the most significant events in U.S. history, with assets and history that must be preserved. It’s considered one of the top scientific achievements of the 20th century, and Oak Ridge residents still marvel at how quickly the three local sites (K-25, X-10, and Y-12) were built and began operating in all-out race to build an atomic bomb before Germany. [Read more…]

K-25 historic preservation the subject of Thursday lecture

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K-25 Footprint

A view of the K-25 footprint. (Image courtesy Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association)

 

The project to preserve the history of the former K-25 Building, once the world’s largest building under one roof, will be discussed during a Thursday evening lecture in Oak Ridge.

It’s the opening of the 18th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series. It’s jointly sponsored by Friends of ORNL and the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association.

The presentation will provide an update on the K-25 historic preservation efforts by the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management, a press release said. [Read more…]

Energy policy professor, former ORNL manager to discuss sustainable energy

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Marilyn Brown

Marilyn Brown

The 17th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series opens on Thursday, June 26, featuring Professor Marilyn Brown, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Lab in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The title of her June 26 lecture is “Technologies and Policies for a Sustainable Energy Future.” It’s sponsored by Friends of ORNL. The event is free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 S. Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge.

Before moving to Georgia Tech in 2006, Brown managed the Efficiency, Renewables, and Electric Grid Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She is also a board member of the Tennessee Valley Authority. [Read more…]

FORNL has third talk on international thermonuclear project on Tuesday

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Graeme Murdoch

Graeme Murdoch

Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will have its third talk on the U.S. ITER project on Tuesday. ITER is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, and it will be constructed at Cadarache, France, and is expected to be completed within 10 years.

The Friends of ORNL lecture starts at noon Tuesday at the University of Tennessee Resource Center. It will feature Graeme Murdoch, who will discuss U.S. ITER non-nuclear systems.

“The United States has joined with China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, and Russia to construct and operate ITER, a full-scale, 500 megawatt experimental fusion device,” a press release said. “U.S. Contributions to ITER include hardware (with supporting research and development and design), personnel (U.S. engineers and scientists) to the ITER site in Cadarache, and cash contributions to the ITER organization. US-supplied hardware includes magnets, blankets, diagnostics, tritium processing, ion cyclotron and electron cyclotron heating and current drive systems, pellet fueling, and more conventional systems such as cooling water and electrical power systems.”

ITER is a large-scale project that presents many engineering challenges, the press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL division director to discuss international thermonuclear reactor Tuesday

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Hans Vogel

Hans Vogel

A division director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss heating, fueling, and cooling the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project at ORNL during a Tuesday meeting in Oak Ridge.

The lunchtime meeting featuring Hans Vogel will be hosted by Friends of ORNL.

This will be the second in a series of three talks on the U.S. ITER project. The next one on May 13 will feature Graeme Murdoch.

During the Tuesday talk, Vogel, who is the ORNL Nuclear Systems division director, will discuss the Tokamak cooling water system, ion cyclotron transmission lines, electron cyclotron transmission lines, pellet injection system, disruption mitigation system, and the tokamak exhaust processing system. These systems are valued at more than $500 million, a press release said. [Read more…]