Oak Ridge Today

URS names new UCOR president, project manager

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Ken Rueter

Ken Rueter

URS Corporation has named new leaders at UCOR in Oak Ridge and SRR at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

Ken Rueter has been named president and project manager of UCOR, a partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. The URS-led consortium is responsible for the cleanup of the U.S. Department of Energy’s East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in Oak Ridge.

Rueter will become president and project manager on Aug. 1. He will replace Leo Sain, who will lead the URS Decontamination and Decommissioning and Waste Management Strategic Business Group, which is based in Oak Ridge.

“Ken’s prior leadership in UCOR’s successful deactivation and decommissioning of the K-25 facility will be invaluable as we continue the D&D of the K-27 and K-31 gaseous diffusion facilities,” said Randall A. Wotring, president of federal services for URS. “I am confident he will build on the UCOR team’s recent accomplishments as well as his previous experiences at the East Tennessee Technology Park to ensure we continue to make safe progress for our DOE client.”

In a press release, URS said Rueter has 26 years of experience in the nuclear industry focusing on high-hazard nuclear operations, project management and integration, construction, and risk management. In his new assignment, he will be the senior executive for UCOR responsible for all deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) activities at the East Tennessee Technology Park. He was previously president and project manager of Savannah River Remediation LLC, or SRR, and prior to his role there, he was the chief operating officer for UCOR. [Read more…]

Workers prepare K-31 Building for demolition

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K-31 Transite Panel Removal

Workers begin removing transite paneling from the outside of the K-31 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park. (DOE Photo/Lynn Freeny)

 

Preparing the building for demolition, workers on Tuesday began removing transite paneling from the outside of the K-31 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park.

The former gaseous diffusion building, which is about 1.5 million square feet, was once used to produce enriched uranium for defense and commercial purposes. It was permanently shut down in 1987.

UCOR, a partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge, is preparing the building for demolition, which is scheduled for later this year. Approximately 10,000 transite panels are expected to be removed during the next several months, a press release said. These panels are removed ahead of demolition because they contain asbestos and must be handled and treated with separate hazard abatement crews. [Read more…]

DOE, UCOR demolish last piece of K-25, once the world’s largest building

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K-25 Building Demolition Final

The last section of the former K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge was demolished on Thursday.

It was once the world’s largest building under one roof, built by the U.S. government in less than two years as part of a top-secret race to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

Officials say it also helped win the Cold War.

But five years after demolition started, the K-25 Building is gone. Officials, workers, and invited guests watched the last section of the giant building crash to the ground on Thursday.

The mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building enriched uranium through a process called gaseous diffusion. It was the largest facility in the U.S. Department of Energy complex. Debris shipments are expected to be completed in the spring of 2014.

The $1.1 billion project is under budget and ahead of schedule. [Read more…]

Federal contractors, agencies consider shutdowns, furloughs as funding dispute drags on

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Joe L. Evins Federal Building

The U.S. Department of Energy will soon start shutting down nonessential operations, resulting in employee and contractor furloughs, unless Congress passes a spending bill. Pictured above is DOE’s Oak Ridge Office at the Joe L. Evins Federal Building.

Furloughs possible at DOE, UCOR, other federal contractors; some SAIC employees on leave

The government shutdown is now in its second week, and the U.S. Department of Energy could start shutting down nonessential operations soon—resulting in employee and contractor furloughs—unless Congress quickly approves a spending bill, officials said Tuesday.

Federal contractors with operations in Oak Ridge are also considering possible shutdowns and furloughs because congressional Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill to keep the government operating in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

In a Tuesday message to employees, UCOR President Leo Sain said the company, the government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, has not been told to shut down yet. [Read more…]

UCOR names new chief operating officer

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Matt Marston

Matt Marston

UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, has picked Matt Marston as its new chief operating officer.

Marston will replace Kenneth Rueter, who was recently named as the new president and project manager at the Savannah River Remediation Project, a press release said.

It said Marston joined the UCOR team as manager of project support for the Deactivation and Decommissioning, or D&D, group in September 2011. He led an organization of project support staff that included engineering, planning, radiological protection, characterization, environmental compliance, waste management, industrial safety, industrial hygiene, and procurement personnel. [Read more…]

UCOR celebrates two years in Oak Ridge

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Leo Sain at K-25

Leo Sain, president and project manager for cleanup contractor UCOR, near the east wing of the mostly demolished K-25 Building, built to enrich uranium during World War II and also used during the Cold War.

It’s been two years since UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, started working in the Secret City.

UCOR president Leo Sain celebrated with an Aug. 1 letter to employees that thanked them but also issued a reminder and challenge. Read the letter here.

Sain said he is very proud of the workforce—he called the company’s performance spectacular—and said work has been done safely, under budget, and ahead of schedule.

“At the end of two years, we’re one of the safest sites in the U.S. Department of Energy complex,” Sain said. “The credit for that goes entirely to you, the workforce, for staying focused on your work through all the distractions and changing hazards that come with the tasks we perform.” [Read more…]

Letter: UCOR celebrates two years in Oak Ridge

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Leo Sain at K-25

Leo Sain, president and project manager for cleanup contractor UCOR, near the east wing of the mostly demolished K-25 Building, which was built to enrich uranium during World War II.

Note: This is an edited copy of a letter that UCOR President Leo Sain sent to company employees on Aug. 1.

To All UCOR Employees:

As we begin our third year on the job here at East Tennessee Technology Park, I want to thank everyone for an outstanding two years.

I am so very proud of this workforce. Our performance has been truly spectacular in every way. K-25, one of our nation’s largest deactivation and decommissioning projects, is nearly on the ground, and we’ve begun pre-demolition work in K-27 significantly ahead of schedule. We’ve disposed of over 120,000 cubic yards of waste while safely traveling over 1.5 million miles. [Read more…]

UCOR presents awards to small businesses

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UCOR Small Business Awards

UCOR presented awards to eight small business at its Inaugural Small Business Awards ceremony, held Wednesday, June 12, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge.

UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation, and it has subcontracted more than 70 percent of its work to small businesses, exceeding its subcontracting commitment to DOE, a press release said. [Read more…]

East Tennessee teachers win UCOR ‘mini-grants’

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Teachers in more than a dozen East Tennessee schools have won 25 “mini-grants” in an education program meant to recognize and support teaching excellence, and help teachers with specific projects or curricula.

The grants focus primarily on projects meant to help students learn about science, technology, engineering, and math, a press release said. UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, announced the grant winners Wednesday.

The winners and their proposed projects and schools are: [Read more…]

UCOR makes second $20,000 donation to Emory Valley Center

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UCOR Donates to Emory Valley Center

Pictured above from left are Gene Caldwell, Jennifer Enderson, Leo Sain, and Dottie Thompson. (Submitted photo)

UCOR, the federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, recently donated a second installment pledge of $20,000 to the Emory Valley Center, a press release said.

In 2010, UCOR pledged to Emory Valley Center fundraising co-chairs Gene Caldwell and Dottie Thompson that it would donate $100,000 during the next five years to help build a new center.

“We believe in the importance of the work done to help so many people at Emory Valley Center,” UCOR President Leo Sain said in the press release. [Read more…]

Ferri retires, UCOR organization changing

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Mark Ferri

Mark Ferri

Jeff Bradford

Jeff Bradford

Mark Ferri, who has led the safe, successful deactivation and demolition work at K-25 since UCOR arrived in Oak Ridge in August 2011, has announced that he will retire from the company at the end of February and will accept a CH2M Hill corporate opportunity in the United Kingdom.

Ferri was part of UCOR’s original, handpicked leadership team. His selection proved a wise one, as progress under his leadership has been stellar. Workers have demolished more than two million square feet of the old gaseous diffusion facility, and more than 15,000 loads of waste have been shipped under the “pack as you go” philosophy that he and his counterpart, Waste Management Manager Jeff Bradford, installed as part of the UCOR way of doing business.

[Read more…]

Demolition starts on K-25’s north end

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K-25 North End Demolition

Demolition started Wednesday on the north end of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Photo submitted by UCOR)

Demolition work started Wednesday on the north end of the K-25 Building at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

The building was constructed to enrich uranium during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

Previous plans had called for the north end of the mile-long, U-shaped building to be preserved for historic purposes. But an agreement signed this summer by federal, state, and local historic preservation groups allowed for the entire building to be demolished, including the north end, while still recognizing the historic significance of the site.

Demolition of the building’s east and west wings is complete, except for a small section of the east wing that has technetium-99, or Tc-99, a slow-decaying radioactive metal, according to a Wednesday press release from UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge. The north end forms the base of the “U” and is the smallest of the three sections.

“This is a tremendous day for employees,” said Leo Sain, UCOR president and project manager. “We have been working toward this since we arrived at ETTP, and it’s a testament to people here, at the Department of Energy, and at all the agencies who worked together to make this happen.”

DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or EM, expects the north end demolition to be complete in January. After that, workers will continue pre-demolition activities in the remaining Tc-99 area of K-25’s east wing, the release said.

“Completing demolition of the K-25 Building is our highest priority, and this is another significant step toward that goal,” said Mark Whitney, Oak Ridge’s EM manager.

The preservation agreement approved this summer calls for a replica equipment building and viewing tower, proposes a history center at a city-owned fire station at ETTP, and provides a $500,000 grant for the run-down Alexander Inn in central Oak Ridge.

During the decade-long discussion over preserving the north end, federal officials had expressed concerns about safety, the deteriorated condition of the building, and the cost of trying to keep that section.