Oak Ridge Today

City wants to renovate fire station as DOE, contractors work on K-25 History Center

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K-25 History Center and Equipment Building

An image showing the K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station, right, at East Tennessee Technology Park, with the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at left. (Graphic by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m.

Oak Ridge wants to renovate the fire station where the federal government and its contractors are building the K-25 History Center, a project that is expected to help preserve the history of the World War II-era Manhattan Project.

The K-25 History Center will be built on the second floor of Oak Ridge’s Fire Station Number 4. The fire station is at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

K-25 was one of three major federal sites built in Oak Ridge during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That was a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could.

K-25’s signature facility, the K-25 Building, has been demolished. But a 2012 agreement that allowed the complete demolition of that building, once the world’s largest building under one roof, called for the history center at the fire station, among other projects.

Work is proceeding on the K-25 History Center, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said in a July 21 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. The K-25 History Center is a project of the U.S. Department of Energy and UCOR, DOE’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

As that project proceeds, several upgrades will be needed to the first floor of the city-owned fire station in order to create the required living space for fire department personnel, Kerley said. [Read more…]

CH2M, part of UCOR, being acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

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CH2M, which is based in Colorado, is a partner in UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy's cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, and it is primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site), which is pictured above. (Photo by UCOR)

CH2M, which is based in Colorado, is a partner in UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, and it is primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site), which is pictured above. (Photo by UCOR)

 

CH2M, which is part of UCOR, the federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is being acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

The acquisition was announced Wednesday. It’s a a cash-and-stock transaction of about $3.27 billion, including a $2.85 billion purchase and roughly $416 million of CH2M net debt. It’s expected to close in the first quarter of Jacobs’ fiscal year 2018, which ends at the end of 2017.

The two companies are separate until then.

It’s too early to say whether the acquisition would have any effect on the federal contract with UCOR, but the companies said the transaction is about growth, acquiring the expertise of CH2M, and expanding the presence of the combined company.

CH2M, which is based in Colorado, is a partner in UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, and it is primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site). But UCOR also works on cleanup and waste management activities at other Oak Ridge Reservation sites. [Read more…]

Workers start demolishing Poplar Creek facilities at ETTP

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Workers tear down the K-832 Cooling Water Pumphouse at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Workers tear down the K-832 Cooling Water Pumphouse at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

 

Note: This is an edited version of a story that was first published by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management in an EM Update on Friday, July 28.

Workers began demolishing the Poplar Creek facilities this month, bringing Oak Ridge’s environmental management, or EM, program closer to completing major cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park by 2020.

“Demolishing the Poplar Creek facilities is significant for our program because it continues the visible transformation of ETTP’s skyline, and it removes the most contaminated facilities remaining at the site,” said Jay Mullis, acting manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM.

OREM has taken down more than 400 facilities at ETTP, including all five former uranium enrichment facilities. That’s about 10 million square feet of buildings that have been removed.

ETTP, also known as Heritage Center, is the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. The site was built to help enrich uranium for atomic bombs during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II, and it continued to operate through the Cold War, including to enrich uranium for nuclear power plants. [Read more…]

Senate bill recommends $8 million for K-25 historic preservation work

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K-25 Historic Preservation Footprint at ETTP

An image showing the footprint of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. Built during World War II to enrich uranium, the K-25 Building has been demolished but its “footprint” has been preserved. This image shows the footprint at center, the K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station, front right, and the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at front left. (Graphic by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

A bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday recommends $8 million for K-25 historic preservation work.

If approved, the funding would help preserve the historic contributions that the K-25 Site made to the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

The historic preservation work is required under a 2012 agreement that allowed the complete demolition of the K-25 Building, which was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

The 2012 agreement allowed workers to demolish the North Tower at the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. Historic preservationists had lobbied for years to save the North Tower.

In exchange for the complete demolition of K-25, the agreement, announced in August 2012, called for a replica equipment building, a viewing tower, and a history center at a city-owned fire station. It also included an online virtual museum and a $500,000 grant to buy and stabilize the historic Alexander Inn in central Oak Ridge, which has since been converted into an assisted living center. [Read more…]

House bill would fund commission that has helped Oak Ridge Airport

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Image courtesy of a presentation at Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority General Aviation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

Image courtesy of a presentation at Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority General Aviation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

 

A bill approved Wednesday by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee funds the Appalachian Regional Commission, which has provided money for the Oak Ridge Airport project. The legislation does not include money to shut down the commission, as the Trump administration has proposed.

The budget request submitted to Congress by President Donald Trump in May proposed eliminating the Appalachian Regional Commission and other independent agencies, providing funding only for the orderly closure of the agencies. The request would apply to fiscal year 2018, which starts October 1.

The Appalachian Regional Commission, or ARC, is one of several independent agencies that award federal grants for regional development, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget said earlier this year. “The proposed elimination of the regional commissions reflects the need to reduce unnecessary federal spending and streamline the federal government’s role, while encouraging states and localities to partner with the private sector to develop locally tailored solutions to local problems,” the OMB said.

But an energy and water appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee in a voice vote on Wednesday does not include money to shut down the ARC.

Instead, the House bill, if approved, would cut ARC funding from $152 million in fiscal year 2017 to $130 million in fiscal year 2018. The Trump administration had proposed $26.6 million, to be used only for the shutdown.

The Oak Ridge Airport project has received $2 million in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission. That money wouldn’t be affected by the president’s proposal to eliminate the independent agency, an airport spokesperson said in May.

But future project funding could be affected by a decision to close the commission. [Read more…]

President’s budget: DOE cleanup funding could be up, with benefits for Oak Ridge

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Jay Mullis, front center, acting manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, talks about federal site cleanup work in Oak Ridge during a visit by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, left, on Monday, May 22, 2017. Pictured between Perry and Mullis are U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, both Tennessee Republicans. (Photo by DOE)

Jay Mullis, front center, acting manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, talks about federal site cleanup work in Oak Ridge during a visit by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, left, on Monday, May 22, 2017. Pictured between Perry and Mullis are U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, both Tennessee Republicans. (Photo by DOE)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:30 p.m.

Cleanup funding could be up for the U.S. Department of Energy under the budget request from the Trump administration for fiscal year 2018, and there could be benefits for Oak Ridge, according to budget documents.

President Donald Trump submitted his budget request to Congress on Tuesday, May 23. In that request, the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, asked for $6.5 billion, the largest request in a decade. That would be $290 million above fiscal year 2016.

The funding request for Oak Ridge includes $390 million, or $78 million below fiscal year 2016, to continue deactivation and demolition of remaining facilities at East Tennessee Technology Park, continue preparing Building 2026 to support the processing of the remaining U-233 material at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and to support activities for the Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex.

It’s not clear whether that $390 million in the funding request includes part of the $225 million in funding requested for high-risk excess contaminated facilities at Y-12 and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. It’s also not clear whether the total funding for Oak Ridge cleanup programs would be up or down, compared to previous years. The DOE public affairs office in Washington, D.C., has not responded to about a dozen budget-related inquiries from Oak Ridge Today since May 23.

Among the highlights of the EM request for Oak Ridge, according to budget documents posted online by DOE and an EM press release: [Read more…]

Proposal to eliminate ARC wouldn’t affect current airport funding, but could affect future funding

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Image via Billy Stair presentation at Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority General Aviation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

Image via Billy Stair presentation at Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority General Aviation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

 

The Oak Ridge Airport project has received $2 million in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, and that money wouldn’t be affected by the president’s proposal to eliminate the independent agency in the next fiscal year, a spokesperson said.

But future funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission will depend upon what Congress decides to do with ARC and whether it continues funding the commission, said Becky Huckaby, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.

The budget request released by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, May 23, proposes to eliminate the Appalachian Regional Commission and other independent agencies, providing funding only for the orderly closure of the agencies. The request would apply to Fiscal Year 2018, which starts October 1.

ARC is one of the funding sources for the Oak Ridge Airport, which could cost an estimated $35 million to $40 million and have a mix of state and federal funding, and local funding from the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, or MKAA. Besides ARC, other direct and indirect funding sources include the U.S. Department of Energy, which would provide the land; the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA; the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission; and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. [Read more…]

Construction could start this year on K-25 History Center

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K-25 History Center and Equipment Building

An image showing the K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station, right, at East Tennessee Technology Park, with the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at left. (Graphic by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Construction could start this year on the K-25 History Center at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge, federal officials said. Plans also call for an Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at the site. Although the projects depend upon funding, the goal is to finish the work by 2019.

The K-25 site was one of three large sites built by the federal government in Oak Ridge during World War II to help make the world’s first atomic weapons as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The other two sites were X-10, which is now known as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12, now the Y-12 National Security Complex.

At K-25, the three history-related facilities will have three missions. The History Center will tell the story of the workers. The Equipment Building will focus on the technology. And the Viewing Tower will show visitors the size of the site. All three facilities will be on the south side of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building.

K-25 used a process called gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and, later, for commercial nuclear power plants. Officials and contractors have said that K-25 helped win the Cold War. The site is now known as Heritage Center or East Tennessee Technology Park.

Preserving its history is part of a Memorandum of Agreement that was signed in August 2012 and allowed for the complete demolition of K-25, once the world’s largest building under one roof. The historic preservation work is expected to cost about $20 million total. [Read more…]

Site prep could start this year for mercury treatment plant at Y-12

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Y-12 Mercury Treatment Facility

The Mercury Treatment Facility that will be at the east end of Y-12 National Security Complex could start operating in 2022. (Image by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m.

Site preparation could start later this year for the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex as the U.S. Department of Energy prepares for demolition and cleanup work at the nuclear weapons plant.

DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, expects to complete demolition and cleanup work at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in 2020. It will then focus on the large-scale demolition work at Y-12.

Among the Y-12 buildings that could be demolished are Alpha 4, Alpha 5, and Beta 4, all large buildings where mercury, a toxic metal, was once used. The buildings used mercury to separate lithium for nuclear weapons. The lithium separation operations started in 1955 and ended in 1963.

But before that cleanup work can begin, OREM needs the Mercury Treatment Facility. The plant was first announced at a press conference featuring U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, about four years ago, in May 2013.

“This water treatment plant is a major step in addressing one of the biggest problems we have from the Cold War era—mercury once used to make nuclear weapons getting into our waterways,” Alexander said at the time. [Read more…]

Energy Secretary Perry honors Oak Ridge’s EM program with two awards

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Energy Secretary Rick Perry, right, presents Wendy Cain, left, with DOE’s Federal Project Director of the Year award for 2016. He also presented the Oak Ridge K-31 Facility demolition team with the Department's Achievement Award. The employees received the awards at the 2017 DOE Project Management Workshop in Washington, D.C., on March 22. (Photo by DOE)

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, right, presents Wendy Cain, left, with DOE’s Federal Project Director of the Year award for 2016. He also presented the Oak Ridge K-31 Facility demolition team with the Department’s Achievement Award. The employees received the awards at the 2017 DOE Project Management Workshop in Washington, D.C., on March 22. (Photo by DOE)

 

At a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry honored the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s Wendy A. Cain as Federal Project Director of the Year for 2016, and a team under Cain’s oversight won a U.S. Department of Energy Achievement Award.

Cain, who oversees the cleanup portfolio at the East Tennessee Technology Park, was described as the best of DOE project management leadership. She earned the award by demonstrating exceptional leadership and project management acumen while overseeing the demolition of a former uranium enrichment facility. Her leadership, attention to detail, empowerment of team members, and fostering of open communications enabled the demolition of the K-31 Building at ETTP almost four months ahead of schedule and about $4 million under budget, a press release said.

“This is an incredible honor for Wendy and the Environmental Management program in Oak Ridge,” said Jay Mullis, acting manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. “Everyone who works with Wendy knows how deserving she is of this distinguished award. She brings an impeccable work ethic and commitment to achieve our mission every day, and is representative of all the dedicated and skilled federal and contractor employees executing the important cleanup mission here.” [Read more…]

DOE finishes demolishing another building at ETTP

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Building K-731 at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above during demolition. (Photo by DOE)

Building K-731 at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above during demolition. (Photo by DOE)

 

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its cleanup contractor have finished demolishing another building at East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The work is part of an effort to advance toward Vision 2020, a goal to complete cleanup at ETTP by 2020 and continue transferring the remaining land to private industry, benefiting the regional economy, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in a story published February 28.

The latest progress involves the removal of Building K-731. The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, and cleanup contractor URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, began demolishing Building K-731 on August 30, moments after taking down the final pieces of Building K-27 and fulfilling Vision 2016. That was Oak Ridge’s ambitious goal to be the world’s first to successfully remove all of its former uranium enrichment facilities by the end of 2016. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs donate $10,000 to Friendship Bell project

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oak-ridge-rotary-clubs-donate-to-oak-ridge-friendship-bell-nov-17-2016

Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs announced on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, a $10,000 donation to the project to rebuild the pavilion for the International Friendship Bell and relocate it at Alvin K. Bissell Park. From left are Devrin Kuipers, president of Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club; Jennifer Campbell, president of Oak Ridge Rotary Club; Emily Jernigan, president of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club; and Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

 

Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs announced Thursday that they are donating $10,000 to the project to build a new Peace Pavilion to house the International Friendship Bell at a new location in Oak Ridge’s Alvin K. Bissell Park.

The donation was announced by Devrin Kuipers, president of Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club; Jennifer Campbell, president of Oak Ridge Rotary Club; and Emily Jernigan, president of Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. It was accepted by Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee.

The check presentation was the start of a public campaign to raise $750,000 for the project. A total of $416,000, or more than half the money, has either already been raised or pledged.

Also Thursday, UT-Battelle announced a $150,000 donation to the project. [Read more…]