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Oak Ridge group sends delegation to Germany to address U.S. nuclear deployment

Posted at 12:03 pm July 11, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Ralph Hutchison

Ralph Hutchison

Members of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance will join peace activists from around the world in Büchel, Germany, from July 12-18 in protests at the Büchel Air Base to call for the withdrawal of the 20 U.S. B61 nuclear bombs that are currently deployed there, a press release said.

University of Tennessee student Carmella Cole, an OREPA Board member, and Ralph Hutchison, OREPA coordinator, will join nuclear abolition advocates from the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Belgium for a week of actions culminating in an international day of action on Sunday, July 16, the press release said.

“We have been invited to participate in this gathering because of the role the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex (the Y-12 National Security Complex) plays in the refurbishment of U.S. nuclear weapons,” Hutchison said in the press release. “Y-12 is currently making plans for the ‘life extension upgrade’ of the B61-Modification 12. The upgrade will result in a new, more threatening nuclear bomb, which will then be deployed in Büchel over the objections of the German Bundestag, which has voted, overwhelmingly, across all parties, for the removal of NATO nuclear weapons from German soil.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: B61 nuclear bombs, B61-Modification 12, Büchel, Büchel Air Base, Carmella Cole, Germany, NATO, nuclear abolition advocates, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, peace activists, Ralph Hutchison, Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, U.S. nuclear weapons, United Nations, United States, Y-12 National Security Complex

Sponsored: International gem hunter to exhibit 60,000 gems at Karen’s Jewelers

Posted at 11:06 am September 26, 2014
By Kay Brookshire Leave a Comment

Gary Bowersox at Luc Yen, Vietnam Gem Market

Gary Bowersox, right, purchases sapphires, aquamarines, and spinels in the Luc Yen, Vietnam, gem market.

 

Gary Bowersox has ridden camels, mules, sheep trucks, and tanks to explore remote mines in eastern Asia in search of gems. He has climbed mountains and watched miners use primitive techniques to blast gems and minerals from the earth.

A gem hunter who has sought gemstones around the world for 47 years, Bowersox will bring his Smithsonian-style show of rough gems and minerals, precision-cut gemstones and designer jewelry to Karen’s Jewelers in Oak Ridge from Thursday through Saturday, October 2-4.

More than 60,000 gems will be on display at the gem show and sale at Karen’s Jewelers, which is at 1120 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The exhibit will be open from noon.-6 p.m. October 2, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. October 3, and from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. October 4.

Gem exploration has taken Bowersox this year to Afghanistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and to Germany to have gems carved. He climbed mountains to Afghanistan’s Sar-e-Sang lapis lazuli mines, where miners have worked veins of the rich blue semi-precious stone for thousands of years. He visited the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan, where explosions set off with little warning reveal green stains marking emerald-bearing rock. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Sponsored Posts Tagged With: Afghanistan, amethyst, antique jewelry, aquamarine, Australia, black opal, Cambodia, citrine, designer jewelry, eastern Asia, emerald, garnet, Gary Bowersox, gem hunter, gems, gemstones, Gemstones of Afghanistan, Germany, jade, jewelry, Karen's Jewelers, lazuli, minerals, morganite, ruby, Sapphire, sculpture, spinel, Sri Lanka, Thailand, The Gem Hunter, topaz, tourmaline, Vietnam, white quartz

Guest column: Explosive interest in ‘Manhattan’

Posted at 6:09 pm August 29, 2014
By Atomic Heritage Foundation 2 Comments

Cynthia C. Kelly

Cynthia C. Kelly

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The WGN America television show “Manhattan” has galvanized the interest of millions of viewers. Shown on Sunday nights, national audiences are riveted by the dramatic tension between rival groups of scientists and the omnipresent security police in Los Alamos in 1943. “Manhattan” follows the scientists as they confront the challenges of making a workable atomic bomb while dealing with an intrusive military force, intense rivalries, and strained marital relations where couples can no longer confide in each other.

The show is a blend of fact and fiction. The primary characters are entirely fictional including the main scientist, Frank Winter; Chinese-American physicist, Sidney Liao; and wunderkind Charlie Isaacs and his most attractive wife, Abby. But “Manhattan” has preserved at least two real persona, J. Robert Oppenheimer as the director of Los Alamos, and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr who visits the laboratory to offer his advice.

The central tension is the race to develop two different approaches to a plutonium-based bomb. Winter believes an implosion bomb offers the best option but most of the scientists—including Oppenheimer—are more confident in a gun-type plutonium bomb similar to the design used for the uranium-based bomb. While the enmity between the two groups is exaggerated for television, “Manhattan” does a good job showing the challenges the scientists and engineers faced knowing little about the newly discovered and quite bizarre element plutonium.

In a 1965 interview with journalist Stephane Groueff, J. Robert Oppenheimer recalled: “I think the set of problems connected with implosion was the most difficult, and it required very new experimental techniques. It was not a branch of physics anyone was very familiar with. It was, from a theoretical, an observational, and a practical point of view, quite an adventure. Plutonium was a terrible test from beginning to end and never stayed quiet: it gets hot, it is radioactive, you cannot touch it, you have to coat it, and the coating always peels. It is just a terrible substance.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Entertainment, Guest Columns, Opinion, Television, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic bomb, Atomic Heritage Foundation, bomb, Charlie Isaacs, Congress, Frank Winter, Germany, Hanford, implosion bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leona Marshall Libby, Los Alamos, Manhattan, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service, Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize, Oak Ridge, oral history, plutonium, plutonium bomb, scientists, security police, Sidney Liao, television show, uranium-based bomb, Voices of the Manhattan Project, WGN America

Chinese supercomputer still No. 1, ORNL’s Titan No. 2

Posted at 9:00 am November 18, 2013
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Titan Supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory stayed at No. 2 in a Top 500 ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers released Monday morning. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

A Chinese supercomputer kept its top ranking, and Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory stayed at No. 2 in a Top 500 ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers released Monday morning.

The top two spots were unchanged from the semiannual rankings released five months ago in June, when Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, bumped Titan from the top spot. The ORNL supercomputer had been named No. 1 one year ago.

The rankings released Monday at the SC13 conference in Denver, Colo., said Tianhe-2 is capable of performing 33.86 petaflops. That’s 33.86 quadrillion calculations per second, on what is known as a Linpack benchmark test.

Titan is a Cray XK7 system that achieved 17.59 petaflops. Titan is one of the most energy-efficient systems on the list, consuming a total of 8.21 megawatts and delivering 2.143 gigaflops per watt, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: AICS, Argonne National Laboratory, Austin, BlueGene/Q, China, Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Cray XC30, Cray XK7, CSCS, Europe, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Fujitsu, Germany, IBM BlueGene/Q, Intel Xeon Phi, Jack Dongarra, Japan, JUQEEN, K computer, Kobe, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Leibniz Rechenzentrum, Linpack benchmark, Lugano, Mira, National University of Defense Technology, NVIDIA GPU, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Piz Daint, RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science, SC13, Sequoia, Stampede, supercomputer, SuperMUC, Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, Switzerland, Texas Advanced Computing Center, Thom Mason, Tianhe-2, Titan, Top10, Top500, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, University of Texas, Vulcan

Chinese supercomputer bumps ORNL’s Titan from No. 1 spot

Posted at 12:32 pm June 17, 2013
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Tianhe-2 Lights

Lights on the Chinese Tianhe-2 supercomputer, which has a theoretical peak that is twice as fast as the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Jack Dongarra)

A Chinese supercomputer has bumped the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from the No. 1 spot on a semiannual ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

The Tianhe-2, which was developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, is capable of 33.86 petaflops, or more than 33,000 trillion calculations per second.

Now ranked No. 2, Titan was able to perform 17,000 trillion calculations per second, or 17.59 petaflops, according to the list published in November. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: 2013 International Supercomputing Conference, AICS, Argonne National Laboratory, Asia, BlueGene/Q, China, Cray XK7, DOE, Europe, France, Fujitsu, Germany, Guangzho, IBM, Intel Xeon IvyBridge, Jack Dongarra, Japan, K computer, Kobe, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Leipzig, Milky Way-2, Mira, National Supercomputer Center, National University of Defense Technology, NVIDIA, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, petaflops, RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science, Sequoia, supercomputer, Tianhe-1A, Tianhe-2, Titan, Top500, U.S. Department of Energy, United Kingdom, United States, University of Tennessee, Xeon Phi

Alexander unveils his four principles for clean, cheap, reliable energy

Posted at 6:08 pm May 29, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

It’s been five years since U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander called for a new Manhattan Project for energy independence, and during a Wednesday update, the senator said four “grand principles” should guide America’s energy policy.

The senator said his principles—which include research and development, free market forces, and cheaper, clean energy—would “end an obsession with taxpayer subsidies and strategies for expensive energy.” They would instead focus on “doubling research and allowing marketplace solutions to create an abundance of clean, cheap, reliable energy,” Alexander said during a Wednesday afternoon speech at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit in Oak Ridge.

The senator called for doubling research funding and ending long-term subsidies for “big oil” and “big wind.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Roane County, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: advanced biofuels, ARPA-E, cap-and-trade, carbon capture, clean energy, electric vehicles, energy independence, Energy Innovation Hubs, energy policy, free market, fusion, Germany, grand principles, green buildings, Lamar Alexander, Manhattan Project, New Hope Center, nuclear waste, renewable energy, Republican, research and development, solar power, subsidies, Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit, U.S. Department of Energy, wind power, Y-12 National Security Complex

Anderson Veterans Officer presents long-overdue medal

Posted at 10:13 pm March 19, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

On Monday morning, Anderson County Veterans Service Officer Leon Jaquet and other officials gathered in his office in the Courthouse to present a long-overdue Purple Heart to the widow of a soldier wounded during World War II.

Former U.S. Army rifleman Louis Allison was wounded in Germany in early 1945 but never received his Purple Heart. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 80. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Federal, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Veterans Service Officer, Cecil Allison, Germany, Leon Jaquet, Louis Allison, Purple Heart, soldier, U.S. Army, World War II

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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