Oak Ridge Today

Obama administration delays employer health care mandate until 2015

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Mark Mazur

Mark Mazur

Responding to business concerns, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it would delay until 2015 the new health care law’s mandate that employers provide workers with health insurance.

New reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act will also be delayed a year. Questions about the new employer mandate and reporting requirements have been a concern for businesses across the nation, including in and around Oak Ridge.

“We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively,” said Mark J. Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy. Mazur made the announcement on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website. [Read more…]

Sen. Alexander, others introduce bipartisan nuclear waste legislation

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

Four U.S. senators, including Lamar Alexander, introduced a bipartisan, comprehensive plan this week that they said would safeguard and permanently dispose of tens of thousands of tons of dangerous radioactive nuclear waste currently accumulating at sites dispersed across the country.

A press release said the proposal, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2013, would establish a new nuclear waste administration and create a consent-based process for siting nuclear waste facilities. It would also enable the federal government to “address its commitment to managing commercial nuclear waste, limiting the costly liability the government bears for its failure to dispose of commercial spent fuel.

“The integrated storage and repository system established by this legislation will expand opportunities for nuclear power to supply low-carbon energy, and will provide long-term protection of public health and safety for both commercial and defense high-level waste,” the release said. [Read more…]

Alexander proposes National Day of Remembrance for nuclear workers

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen Lamar Alexander introduced a resolution to designate Oct. 30, 2013, as the fifth National Day of Remembrance for nuclear weapons program workers.

“In Tennessee, more than 14,000 workers have made claims for compensation, many of whom worked countless hours with hazardous materials to build our country’s nuclear deterrent,” Alexander said. “Many Americans labored behind the scenes, and Tennesseans—like those from Anderson and Roane counties, for example—filed more claims than any other state. It’s these workers, and those all around the country, whose sacrifice we seek to honor with this day of remembrance.” [Read more…]

House passes Manhattan Project national park bill that would include Oak Ridge

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X-10 Graphite Reactor

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park would include the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Submitted photo)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday took an essential step toward establishing a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that could include Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash., a nonprofit organization said.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act was included as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House passed Friday, the Atomic Heritage Foundation said in an e-mail.

“The new national park will be the first to recognize the top-secret project in World War II that changed the course of world history, science, and society,” the foundation said. [Read more…]

Energy Secretary Moniz visits Y-12 National Security Complex

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Energy Secretary Visits Y-12

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, right, tours the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility during his visit Monday to the Y-12 National Security Complex. Joining him are, from left, B&W Y-12 President and General Manager Chuck Spencer, Julie Huff of B&W Y-12’s Materials Management Organization, B&W Y-12 Senior Vice President of Security Rod Johnson, and NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart.

New U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited the Y-12 National Security Complex this week.

Before touring production and storage facilities at the site, Moniz held an all-hands meeting with Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and federal employees at Y-12’s New Hope Center. Joining him at the meeting was U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

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

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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…]

TVC Summit next week includes House majority leader

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Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor

Submitted

Business, community, and political leaders and senior decision-makers will convene at the 2013 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit next week to discuss issues that are critical to the economic engine of the Tennessee Valley, a press release said.

Hosted by Third District Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the two-day meeting themed “Securing America’s Future” will focus on energy and environment, innovation and entrepreneurism, public and private partnerships, and advanced manufacturing, the release said.

The Summit will be held at the Y-12 National Security Complex’s New Hope Center in Oak Ridge on May 29-30. [Read more…]

Alexander, Corker support bill allowing states to collect sales tax on online purchases

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved legislation to allow states to collect sales taxes on items sold online or through catalogs, and senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker on Monday said they supported the bill.

Known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, the legislation passed the Senate in a 69-27 vote. A Tennessee Republican, Alexander was a lead co-sponsor of the 11-page bill.

It still has to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, where antitax forces have vowed to kill it, according to the New York Times. [Read more…]

Cleanup work shifts to mercury as new Y-12 water treatment plant announced

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Y-12 Water Treatment Plant Announcement

State and federal officials announce a plant to treat mercury-contaminated water at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Pictured from left are Mark Whitney, Robert Martineau, Lamar Alexander, Dave Huizenga, and Stan Meiburg.

Cleanup work in Oak Ridge could shift from radiological contamination to mercury contamination, and a new $120 million water treatment plant at the Y-12 National Security Complex will help reduce mercury as workers tear down four contaminated buildings that were used to make nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s, officials announced Friday.

“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,” said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. He said mercury contamination can cause brain and nervous system damage in people who eat contaminated fish.

Alexander was at Y-12 on Friday along with other federal and state officials to help announce the new water treatment plant, which will be at the head of East Fork Poplar Creek on the south side of Y-12’s main production area. The plant would be connected to a Y-12 storm water system, and it could begin operating in 2019. It would be able to treat 1,500 gallons of mercury-contaminated water per minute. [Read more…]

Alexander, Corker support legislation to allow states to collect online sales taxes

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker announced their support this week for federal legislation that would allow states to collect sales taxes on items bought online and through catalogs.

“Currently, remote businesses do not have to collect sales taxes in the states they sell into, while brick-and-mortar businesses do, creating a price disadvantage,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.

He said the Marketplace Fairness Act would grant states the option to require that remote businesses, such as those selling online or through catalogs, collect sales taxes on purchases within states’ borders. The U.S. Senate voted 74-20 on Monday to begin debating the legislation. [Read more…]

Sen. Corker also votes against Toomey-Manchin background checks

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, also voted Wednesday against the bipartisan Toomey-Manchin amendment to expand background checks for potential gun purchasers.

Like U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, Corker said he supported what is known as the Grassley amendment.

“Like most Americans, I want to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and dangerous mentally ill people,” Corker said in a press release Wednesday evening. “Today, I supported the Grassley amendment to enhance mental health reporting requirements, which I believe is the central issue, and to improve the background check system in a way that is not an impediment to Second Amendment rights. [Read more…]

Alexander votes against assault weapons ban, expanded background checks

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Wednesday joined senators opposing one amendment that would have expanded background checks for potential gun purchasers and another to ban assault weapons.

New gun-control measures are being considered four months after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Wednesday’s votes were considered major defeats for supporters of tougher gun laws.

A Tennessee Republican, Alexander said he instead supports a proposal offered by senators Chuck Grassley, a Iowa Republican, and Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican. He said the Grassley-Cruz amendment would strengthen federal prosecution under existing gun laws and clarify which records must be included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. [Read more…]