The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has a virtual job fair for its laboratories and production sites on Wednesday, January 27.
The NNSA said it wants to hire about 2,000 new employees in 2021.
The virtual job fair is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. It will include hiring officials from NNSA and its national laboratories, plants, and sites, a press release said. Those include:
[Read more…]AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX (DOE/EA-2145)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Draft Environmental Assessment (EA), which analyzes the potential impacts of constructing and operating the Lithium Processing Facility (LPF) to process and supply the lithium material and components that are needed to support the National Security Enterprise. The LPF would be located at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) on a proposed site that is currently occupied by the former Biology Complex.
NNSA invites the public to review and submit comments on the Draft EA. Copies of the document are available for public review on the NNSA NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) and/or the DOE NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nepa/public-comment-opportunities). Public comments on the Draft EA should be submitted no later than January 8, 2021. Comments may be submitted via regular mail to NNSA NEPA Document Manager, Attn: LPF Draft EA, P.O. Box 2050, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; or by email: [email protected] Comments will not be accepted over the telephone.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of the ORETTC Final Environmental Assessment (EA), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings.
The Final EA analyzes the potential impacts of constructing and operating the ORETTC to train first responders and other experts in nuclear operations, safeguards, and emergency response.
The proposed site for the ORETTC is on the Oak Ridge Reservation, approximately 5 miles west of the Y-12 National Security Site, across from the Horizon Center Industrial Park on the Oak Ridge Turnpike, and approximately 1.5 mile east of the State Route (SR) 95—SR 58 interchange. Copies of the documents are available on the NNSA NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) and/or the DOE NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doe-environmental-assessments).
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, resigned Friday.
The NNSA oversees the work at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and other nuclear weapons sites across the nation. The NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains nuclear warheads, produces fuel for the nuclear navy, and works on nuclear nonproliferation, among other activities.
Gordon-Hagerty, who was also under secretary of energy for nuclear security, became the first woman to lead the NNSA in February 2018.
It’s not clear why she resigned Friday or whether her resignation was voluntary.
Defense News reported that the resignation was driven by almost a year of clashes between Gordon-Hagerty’s office and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, including over budgets.
[Read more…]AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OAK RIDGE ENHANCED TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING CENTER (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Draft Environmental Assessment (EA), which analyzes the potential impacts of constructing and operating the ORETTC to train first responders and other experts in nuclear operations, safeguards, and emergency response.
[Read more…]AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL SUPPLEMENT ANALYSIS FOR THE FINAL SITE-WIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX (Y-12 SWEIS), EARTHQUAKE ACCIDENT ANALYSIS (DOE/EIS-0387-SA-04)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Final Supplement Analysis (SA), which presents an analysis of the potential impacts of earthquake accidents at the Y-12 site. Based on the SA, NNSA has determined that no further NEPA documentation is required. Copies of the document are available on the DOE NEPA web page at https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0387-y-12-national-security-complex-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-oak-ridge.
A project controls manager at the Y-12 National Security Complex has died of health issues related to COVID-19, the nuclear weapons production plant said Tuesday.
The Daily Times has identified the employee as Mark Easterly of Maryville. The newspaper said Easterly was employed by Bechtel for almost 30 years, and he began working at Y-12 as a project controls manager in March.
His death is the first death due to COVID-19 at a National Nuclear Security Administration site. Y-12 is an NNSA site. The NNSA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Daily Times reported that Easterly’s wife, Brandee, is principal of John Sevier Elementary School in Maryville.
[Read more…]
Note: This story was last updated at 3 p.m. June 24.
A Japanese supercomputer has displaced the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as the world’s most powerful and bumped other U.S. and Chinese machines down one spot on a semiannual list of the fastest systems.
Summit had been ranked the world’s most powerful supercomputer on the semiannual TOP500 list since June 2018. It was bumped to number two when the new TOP500 list was released Monday.
The new top system is installed in Kobe, Japan, and it is named Fugaku. In a high-performance test, it performed at 415.5 petaflops. A petaflop is a quadrillion floating-point operations per second.
Fugaku’s performance was 2.8 times better than Summit’s, according to TOP500. Summit delivered 148.8 petaflops on the high-performance test.
[Read more…]
The UCOR contract to clean up federal sites in Oak Ridge has been extended one year to July 31, 2021, and the consideration of a new cleanup contract won’t be considered until November 2020 at the earliest.
The UCOR contract could be extended one additional year, to July 31, 2022, using two six-month options, depending upon contractor performance and progress.
Before the extension, UCOR’s contract had been scheduled to expire July 31, 2020.
UCOR works on cleanup projects for the U.S. Department of Energy at the East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex. The work includes the demolition of old, contaminated buildings that are no longer used. The cleanup work is called environmental management, or EM.
[Read more…]
A low-level aerial shot of Building 9212 at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
A federal contractor violated nuclear safety requirements at the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The violations are associated with the accumulations of uranium-235 in a glovebox, furnace, and casting line in Building 9212 at Y-12. The equipment is used to recover and process uranium-235, a fissile material that can be used in nuclear weapons and reactors.
The buildup of enriched uranium, discovered after hydraulic lines leaked in a glovebox, exceeded limits established by a safety program meant to help prevent a nuclear chain reaction.
An investigation of the uranium accumulations found weaknesses in five areas, according to the NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy and overseas nuclear weapons work at sites like Y-12. Among the deficiencies were procedural compliances, evaluations of process changes, the analyses of causes, the establishment of roles and responsibilities, and the implementation of a program meant to prevent inadvertent accumulations.
“The National Nuclear Security Administration considers these deficiencies to be of high safety significance,” Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty wrote in an April 6 letter. “Although there were no actual consequences to the public, workers, or the environment, these deficiencies eroded the barriers preventing a nuclear criticality and could, if left uncorrected, adversely impact nuclear and worker safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex.”
The letter was sent to Morgan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security. CNS manages and operates Y-12, as well as the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, for the NNSA.
The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.
Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.
Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:
Basic
Pro
Temporary
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
Learn about our advanced subscription options here.
Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today!
The National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday said there were 49 confirmed COVID-19 cases at its sites across the country.
The sites include the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. The NNSA, which oversees work at Y-12, did not say how how many COVID-19 cases there have been among Y-12 employees. The plant is not releasing site-specific numbers of confirmed cases because of operational security concerns, the NNSA said.
Consolidated Nuclear Security, which manages and operates Y-12 for the NNSA, has also declined to say how many COVID-19 cases have been confirmed among Y-12 employees. CNS confirmed the first two cases in March and, when asked about additional cases, would only say that there were several.
[Read more…]AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT SUPPLEMENT ANALYSIS FOR THE FINAL SITE-WIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE Y-12 NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX (Y-12 SWEIS), EARTHQUAKE ACCIDENT ANALYSIS (DOE/EIS-0387-SA-04)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of this Draft Supplement Analysis (SA), which presents an analysis of the potential impacts of earthquake accidents at the Y-12 site.
Based on the SA, NNSA will determine whether the Y-12 SWEIS (DOE/EIS-087) should be supplemented, a new SWEIS is warranted, or if no further NEPA documentation is required. NNSA invites the public to review and submit comments on the Draft SA.
Copies of the document are available for public review on the NNSA NEPA web page (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) under “Open for Public Comment.”
Public comments on the Draft SA should be submitted no later than May 11, 2020. Comments may be submitted via regular mail to: Ms. Terri Slack, Attn: 2020 Draft SA, P.O. Box 2050, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; or by email: [email protected] Comments will not be accepted over the telephone.
