The entrance sign at Y-12 National Security Complex at Bear Creek Road and Scarboro Road is pictured above on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex was supposed to be completed by 2025 for no more than $6.5 billion, but that might no longer be the case.
In the past week, federal officials said construction projects across the country, including UPF, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain delays, inflation, labor shortages, and increased labor costs. Those factors have led to higher construction costs and longer project timelines, the federal officials said.
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John Rice Irwin, founder of the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, plays the mandolin in this photo by Linda Gunderson.
A celebration of the life of museum founder John Rice Irwin will be held in April at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris. The celebration of life is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24.
Irwin was a cultural historian and founder of the Museum of Appalachia, among other notable achievements.
Irwin died Sunday, January 16, in Clinton. He was 91.
He was born on December 11, 1930, in Union County, Tennessee.
“While Irwin was still a toddler, his family was forced to move from their farm to make way for the flooding of Norris Lake and the construction of Norris Dam,” his obituary said. “They first settled in Robertsville (in Oak Ridge), but the Manhattan Project forced them to move yet again, this time to the Bethel Community.”
Irwin’s obituary said he was captivated by the rich cultural history of East Tennessee and its people for as long as he could remember.
“As a young boy, he would sit at the feet of his grandmother, Ibbie Jane Rice, and grandfather, Marcellus Moss ‘Sill’ Rice, and listen intently to their stories of the past,” the obituary said. “Sill took notice of his grandson’s fascination and said to him, ‘you ought to keep the old-timey things that belonged to our people and start you a little museum sometime.’ It was this advice that would ultimately inspire Irwin to create the Museum of Appalachia.”
Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.
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Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.
The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:
Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831
We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.
We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.
The first series of incidents was likely caused by the release of mercury while crews were cleaning up and removing equipment at the Alpha-4 Building on the west side of Y-12, according to scientists and officials. Alpha-4 is the most contaminated of the four major mercury-contaminated buildings at Y-12. Millions of pounds of mercury were used at Y-12 decades ago to produce nuclear weapons parts. Removing mercury-contaminated buildings, equipment, and soil remains one of the top challenges of cleaning up the Oak Ridge Reservation.
Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.
The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, is in self-quarantine after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, the contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.
The staff member, who has not been publicly identified, tested positive on Sunday, David Cleary, the senator’s chief of staff, said in a statement. The staff member is recovering at home and doing well, the statement said.
Alexander has no symptoms, and he tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, Cleary said.
The East Tennessee Economic Council honored four winners of the Muddy Boot Award and one recipient of the Postma Young Professional Medal during its annual awards luncheon this month.
The four Muddy Boot Award recipients have long ré sumés of service in East Tennessee, ETEC said. They are Harold Conner Jr., Edwena Crowe, Lee Riedinger, and Lamar Alexander.
Conner and Crowe have served in “just about every capacity one can in the community and the Oak Ridge Department of Energy Complex,” ETEC said, while Riedinger is recently retired as director of the University of Tennessee’s Bredesen Center. The three were named 2019 Muddy Boot Award winners.
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, on Friday called Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who is resigning later this year, a “very effective” energy secretary.
“Rick Perry has used his considerable executive and political skills to become a very effective energy secretary, solving some tough problems that saved taxpayers money and created more dollars that allowed record funding for national laboratories and supercomputing,” Alexander said in a brief statement. “He has served the country well.”
University of Tennessee Board of Trustees Chair John Compton and Interim President Randy Boyd (Photo by UT/Wade Payne)
An Oak Ridge Institute approved in June is expected to foster a stronger, more coordinated relationship between the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
In June, the University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees approved a resolution creating the Institute, which will be at the University of Tennessee. It will move five joint UT and ORNL programs under a single administrative “umbrella,” the university reported.
It will allow the coordinated expansion of graduate education programs to prepare scientists and engineers for a global economy that demands interdisciplinary problem-solving, teamwork, and innovation, according to a resolution proposing the Institute.
“Coordination of joint efforts through ORI (Oak Ridge Institute) will promote greater focus, efficiency, and accountability; ensure innovative education, training, and workforce development; and provide flexibility to respond to emerging research challenges and the potential of disruptive technologies,” the resolution said.
The Oak Ridge Institute will build on the “track record of success” established by ORNL and UT, the resolution said. It will be led by an executive director who will pursue interdisciplinary research and workforce development in emerging fields.
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, had surgery on his left leg at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Wednesday morning, his office said in a statement.
Surgeon Herbert S. Schwartz at the Vanderbilt Department of Orthopaedic Surgery said he successfully removed an atypical lipoma from Alexander’s left leg.
“The surgery went as planned, and I will consult with my team and Senator Alexander to determine whether additional treatment is necessary,” Schwartz said in the statement, which was provided by David Cleary, Alexander’s chief of staff.
Pictured above from left during an announcement for the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, are Energy Secretary Rick Perry; ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia; Peter Ungaro, Cray president and chief executive officer; and Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 3 p.m. May 21.
The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced a contract with Cray Inc. to build the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It is expected to be the world’s most powerful supercomputer when it debuts in 2021.
The contract with Cray is valued at more than $600 million for the system and technology development, a press release said.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry was at ORNL on Tuesday morning to make the announcement.
“This is a big deal,” Perry said. “Frontier’s record-breaking performance will ensure our country’s ability to lead the world in science that improves the lives and economic prosperity of all Americans and the entire world. Frontier will accelerate innovation in AI (artificial intelligence) by giving American researchers world-class data and computing resources to ensure the next great inventions are made in the United States.”
Besides the supercomputing announcement on Tuesday, Perry also delivered the keynote speech at InnovationXLab: Advanced Manufacturing Summit at ORNL.
Frontier is expected to perform at greater than 1.5 exaflops. It will be able to solve calculations up to 50 times faster than today’s top supercomputers, exceeding a quintillion, or 1018, calculations per second, the press release said. That’s a billion billion calculations per second.
Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that Frontier would be built at ORNL. But the contract with Cray and its value and the specific performance estimate of more than 1.5 exaflops are all new announcements. The contract award includes technology development funding, a center of excellence, several early-delivery systems, the main Frontier system, and multi-year systems support. The Frontier system is expected to be delivered in 2021, and acceptance is expected in 2022.
On Thursday, officials announced a new research collaboration between the University of Maine and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory that they say will advance efforts to 3D print with wood products, creating a new market for Maine’s forest products industry. Pictured above among the officials are U.S. senators Susan Collins, center; Lamar Alexander, third from right; and Angus King, third from left; and Daniel Simmons, the assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at DOE, as well as leaders from UMaine and ORNL. The officials were in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 2, 2019, to announce the launch of this large-scale bio-based additive manufacturing program. (Photo courtesy office of Sen. Susan Collins)
A partnership between the University of Maine and Oak Ridge National Laboratory will use ground-up trees and bioplastics to make “very strong plastics” that can be used in 3D printing, officials said Thursday.
The 3D printing, which will print items one layer at a time, could be used to make boat hull molds, shelters, building components, and tooling for composites and wind blades, among other possibilities.
The $20 million project will be funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.
ORNL is considered the leading laboratory for the type of work known as additive manufacturing, said U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican who was among the officials at the announcement in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
New additive manufacturing technologies are being explored at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. (Photo courtesy ORNL)
Lamar Alexander
Three U.S. senators, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Maine on Thursday will announce a $20 million 3D printing manufacturing partnership that will help the forest products industry, officials said Wednesday.
The announcement is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Washington, D.C. You can watch it here.
The three U.S. senators joining ORNL and the University of Maine at the announcement will be Susan Collins, a Maine Republican; Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican; and Angus King, a Maine Independent.
They will announce the launch of a large-scale bio-based additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, program. 3D printing prints items a layer at a time.
The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $91 million contract to build the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
It’s part of an effort to reduce the amount of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek and allow the demolition of several large Y-12 buildings where mercury was used to help make nuclear weapons during the Cold War.
The contract, which could be in place for up to four years, was awarded to APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC, DOE said Tuesday. [Read more…]
