Oak Ridge Today

UT receives DOE funds, ORNL help for spent nuclear fuel studies

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KNOXVILLE—The question of what to do with spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. has never been definitively answered. A University of Tennessee in Knoxville professor has received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop new capabilities for evaluating potential alternatives to directly disposing of used fuel.

The award is part of the DOE’s 2013 Nuclear Energy University Programs which is awarding $42 million to 38 American universities and colleges for nuclear energy research and development projects focused on developing innovative solutions.

A proposal by Steven Skutnik, assistant professor in nuclear engineering, was awarded $755,000 to develop new capabilities for a fuel cycle simulator called CYCLUS by building on an Oak Ridge National Laboratory software package for nuclear fuel modeling called ORIGEN. [Read more…]

ORNL, UT receive Energy Department awards for nuclear training, technologies

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The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday announced more than $60 million in nuclear energy research awards and improvements to university research reactors and infrastructure, including about $1.5 million to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee.

The 91 awards are meant to help train and educate the next generation of leaders in America’s nuclear industry as well as support new and advanced nuclear technologies from reactor materials to innovative sensors and instruments to more efficient manufacturing, DOE said in a press release. [Read more…]

Nuclear goes Hollywood: New film sheds light on old debate

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Pandora's Promise Panel Discussion

Jeff Binder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate lab director of nuclear science and engineering, answers an audience question during a panel discussion following a screening of “Pandora’s Promise” in Knoxville on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

By Scott Jones

About 300 people attended a showing of the new pro-nuclear film “Pandora’s Promise” and heard a panel discussion about nuclear energy on Saturday, including perspectives from Oak Ridge National Laboratory staff.

The lab worked with Regal Entertainment Group to bring the film to the Downtown West theater from July 19-25.

Few phrases carry the ideological weight of the words “nuclear power.” [Read more…]

‘Pandora’s Promise’ comes to Knoxville; panel discussion planned Saturday

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“Pandora’s Promise,” a new film about environmentalists’ support of nuclear energy as a solution to global climate change, will be shown in a limited Knoxville engagement this week, starting today (Friday, July 19) and ending Thursday, a media advisory said.

A panel discussion at 8:45 p.m. Saturday will include representatives of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USEC, and the University of Tennessee. It will follow the 7 p.m. showing of the film. [Read more…]

More than 475 metric tons of Russian highly enriched uranium eliminated

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Deliveries are 95 percent complete, represents 19,000 nuclear warheads converted to civilian use

WASHINGTON, D.C.–The National Nuclear Security Administration on Monday announced it has monitored the elimination of more than 475 metric tons of Russian highly enriched uranium, or HEU, under a landmark nuclear nonproliferation program, commonly known as Megatons to Megawatts.

The rough equivalent of 19,000 nuclear weapons has been permanently eliminated, the NNSA said in a press release. [Read more…]

DOE Oak Ridge Nuclear Energy manager to retire

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J.T. Howell

J.T. Howell (Photo courtesy US DOE/Lynn Freeny)

J.T. Howell, manager of the Nuclear Energy Oak Ridge Site Office, will retire from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office on May 3 after 33 years of federal government service.

Howell has held his current position since 2011, responsible for advancing DOE’s nuclear energy programs in Oak Ridge; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Paducah, Ky. His responsibilities also include oversight of leases, agreements, and technology development and deployment between the DOE and the United States Enrichment Corporation to ensure a secure and viable domestic supply of enriched uranium for the United States defense purposes. [Read more…]

Radiation Safety Information Computational Center at ORNL marks 50th year

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RSICC Directors

Radiation Safety Information Computational Center directors at Tuesday’s celebration were Robert Roussin (1987-96), Bernadette Kirk (1996-2000 and 2004-11), and Tim Valentine (current). (Photo by Curtis Boles)

One of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s longest-running institutions marked its golden anniversary on Tuesday with a recognition ceremony keynoted by U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons, a press release said.

The Radiation Safety Information Computational Center has been a storehouse of invaluable nuclear computational tools and data for modeling and simulating the interaction of radiation with matter since 1962, the release said. The center acquires the state-of-the art codes and data, preserves them, and makes them accessible to the research community.

“Congratulations to the RSICC in its 50th year,” Lyons said. “RSICC’s innovative and adaptive culture has enabled the center to continuously provide a unique service to its nearly 20,000 customers around the world.”

The DOE center has expanded its software and data packages beyond radiation shielding to areas that include criticality safety, radiation protection, reactor physics, atmospheric dispersion and environmental dose, radiation dose in medical applications and space shielding applications, the release said.

The idea for the RSICC, like many that emanated from ORNL during the Cold War, can be traced to the late Alvin Weinberg, who as ORNL director chaired a president’s advisory council convened to deal with the expanse of new data emerging from the nuclear science community. The council recommended the establishment of information analysis centers.

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