Oak Ridge Today

ORNL, University of Maine to announce $20 million 3D printing manufacturing partnership

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ORNL Manufacturing Demonstration Facility Entrance
New additive manufacturing technologies are being explored at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. (Photo courtesy ORNL)
Lamar Alexander
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.

[Read more…]

Atomic Heritage Foundation launches “Oak Ridge Innovations” program

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“Nuclear medicine, nuclear energy, nuclear weapons. All of that goes back to Oak Ridge,” explains Denise Kiernan, bestselling author of “The Girls of Atomic City.” Oak Ridge, Tennessee has been a center for nuclear research since General Leslie Groves selected it as the Manhattan Project’s uranium enrichment site in 1942. Today, Oak Ridge is the home of many leading scientific and engineering research facilities, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Atomic Heritage Foundation has launched a new online interpretive program, “Oak Ridge Innovations,” to explore Oak Ridge’s legacies for science and society today. Available on AHF’s “Ranger in Your Pocket” website, “Oak Ridge Innovations” includes more than 30 video vignettes describing ORNL’s history and current research in fields such as energy, particle physics, computer science, and medicine, a press release said. The program was developed in partnership with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers East Tennessee Section and funded by the IEEE Foundation. Featuring perspectives from current ORNL scientists and Manhattan Project veterans, the program illuminates Oak Ridge’s history and how the laboratory responds to some of today’s biggest challenges, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Celebrate Oak Ridge Business Awards Breakfast to be held May 7

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Consolidated Nuclear Security, UT-Battelle, and the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce are joining together to host a breakfast in May to honor local business leaders and outstanding small businesses. May is National Small Business Month.

The honorees at the May 7 breakfast will be ARS International LLC, Karen Prillhart, Kelsan, Dustin Mackey, and Stephanie Hale-Smith of State Farm.

The Celebrate Oak Ridge Business awards breakfast will be held from 7:30-9 a.m. Tuesday, May 7, at the Doubletree by Hilton.

To reserve a spot at the breakfast, visit the Oak Ridge Chamber’s website at www.oakridgechamber.org. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge nature walks scheduled for April-June

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The 2019 season of Oak Ridge Reservation nature walks continues on Sunday, April 14, with a wildflower and old growth forest walk.

More than 1,100 vascular plants, 72 fish, 34 mammals, and more than 200 bird species have been observed on the U.S. Department of Energy reservation. This year, the public is invited to eight nature walks designed to highlight the rich flora and fauna diversity of the ORR and to demonstrate the work being done to sustainably manage and conserve this resource, a press release said. The series closes with a history talk in August.

Reservations for the following events must be made in advance by noon the Thursday prior to each walk by contacting Tracy Clem at (865) 574-5151 (bodinetm@ornl.gov). If weather forces postponement of an event, it will be announced on Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Information Line at (865) 574-9836 (i.e. 574-XTEN) at least two hours before the scheduled start of the walk. Children are allowed on the walks; no pets, please.

Sunday, April 14: Wildflower and old growth forest walk

[Read more…]

Company could invest $500 million at medical isotope production facility

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Pictured above is a rendering of the proposed Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corporation medical isotope production facility at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Coquí)

Pictured above is a rendering of the proposed Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corporation medical isotope production facility at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Coquí)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 p.m.

Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced Wednesday that it could invest $500 million at a new medical isotope production facility at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge.

The facility could start production in late 2025, said Carmen Bigles, founder and chief executive officer of Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals.

The U.S. Department of Energy has transferred land for the facility and provided research support through the national laboratories, the company said in a press release Wednesday morning.

Coquí’s facility will produce medical isotopes that diagnose and treat diseases, primarily molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is used in 18 million medical procedures a year in the U.S., the press release said.

The facility will provide more than 200 high-paying, permanent jobs, Coquí said. [Read more…]

DOE needs more time for K-25 history projects

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An outside view showing the K-25 History Center, Equipment Building, and Viewing Tower at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

An image published in October 2017 shows the K-25 History Center, Equipment Building, and Viewing Tower at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy is requesting more time to complete projects to commemorate the historic contributions of the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

Built during World War II, the K-25 site helped enrich uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The plant continued to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants after the war, and those who have worked at the site have said it helped win the Cold War.

The history of the site will be honored by preserving the concrete slab of the former K-25 Building, building a Viewing Tower and replica Equipment Building on the south side of the building site, and opening a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the adjacent Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4.

A historical interpretation agreement was signed in August 2012. But it expires this August. And the roughly $20 million worth of projects won’t be complete by then.

DOE is making “good progress,” but “the reality is we need a little more time,” said Dave Adler, acting deputy manager for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. Adler and Steve Cooke, K-25 preservation coordinator for DOE, briefly discussed the proposed amendment to the agreement during a Tuesday evening work session with the Oak Ridge City Council. [Read more…]

Hearne joins ORNL as director of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences

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Sean Hearne (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Sean Hearne (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Sean Hearne director of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences.

The center is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility that brings world-leading resources and capabilities to the nanoscience research community, a press release said. National and international researchers benefit from CNMS expertise in nanomaterials synthesis and nanofabrication to develop new materials, as well as from state-of-the-art imaging, characterization, and microscopy equipment used to explore material properties at the nanoscale, the press release said.

“I am very pleased and excited to add Sean to our team and look forward to continuing excellence in nanomaterial research and development under his leadership at CNMS,” said David Dean, associate laboratory director for Physical Sciences.

Hearne comes to Oak Ridge from Sandia National Laboratories, where he served as senior manager of the Ion Beam Facility and co-director of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, a DOE Office of Science User Facility jointly operated by Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratory. [Read more…]

(For members) Three national labs building exascale computers

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The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo by ORNL)

The central campus at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo by ORNL)

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo by ORNL)

Three national laboratories, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are building new computer systems that could be many times more powerful than today’s top supercomputers.

The new machines are exascale systems. None have been delivered yet, but the planning for them started more than a year ago and the new high-performance systems could be delivered to the three laboratories in the next several years. Planning for the exascale computers was under way even before the world’s most powerful supercomputer, a petaflop system called Summit at ORNL, was unveiled in June 2018.

Exascale computers could be 50 to 100 more powerful than today’s petaflop computers, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Besides ORNL, they could be located at Argonne National Laboratory southwest of Chicago and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory east of San Francisco. The first system is expected at Argonne, followed by a second system at ORNL.

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Crews start project to reduce maintenance, operations costs at Molten Salt Reactor

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The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Cleanup crews started a $4.7 million project this month to reduce maintenance and operations costs at the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, which was shut down 50 years ago at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The project is expected to save nearly $25 million in costs, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management said in an “EM Update” published Tuesday.

The cost-reduction project will relocate employees stationed at the decades-old facility. Personnel currently housed in the building will move to other site locations to help with other projects, the “EM Update” said.

The project is expected to enhance the facility’s electrical distribution, sump pump, fire suppression, and monitoring systems.

“Although it was shut down 50 years ago, certain systems within the reactor building have continued to operate to keep the facility safe and stable until it can be demolished,” said the “EM Update,” with the Oak Ridge story contributed by Mike Butler. [Read more…]

Monday: AC Operations Committee to discuss proposed DOE landfill

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The Anderson County Operations Committee will discuss the proposed U.S. Department of Energy landfill in a meeting this evening (Monday, January 14).

The meeting will start at 6 p.m. at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

The proposed landfill is known as the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, or EMDF. It would be in Bear Creek Valley west of the Y-12 National Security Complex. [Read more…]

K-25 Equipment Building & Viewing Tower: Design complete, construction funding available

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An outside view showing the K-25 History Center, Equipment Building, and Viewing Tower at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

An image published in October 2017 shows the K-25 History Center, Equipment Building, and Viewing Tower at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. It wasn’t immediately clear Friday evening, Jan. 11, 2019, if the design has changed. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The design is complete and funding is available for the construction of an Equipment Building and Viewing Tower that will help commemorate the history of the K-25 Building, once the world’s largest building under one roof.

K-25 was built in Oak Ridge during World War II to help enrich uranium for the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons. During the war, Oak Ridge enriched the uranium for “Little Boy,” the first atomic bomb used in wartime. “Little Boy” was detonated over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the end of World War II.

After the war, the four-story, 44-acre K-25 Building and four other large buildings at the K-25 site continued to use a process known as gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Officials say the K-25 site, which is in west Oak Ridge, helped win the Cold War.

After decades of use, the K-25 site was shut down in the mid-1980s, and as part of a cleanup effort in recent years, the five large gaseous diffusion buildings have been demolished. But the history of the K-25 building and the site will live on in a History Center on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4, which is next to K-25’s concrete slab, and at the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower, which will be just west of the History Center.

The History Center, Equipment Building, and Viewing Tower will be on the south side of the former K-25 Building. The site is now known as Heritage Center or East Tennessee Technology Park. [Read more…]

ORNL adding three-story office, laboratory building

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory is adding a three-story office and laboratory building on its central campus.

It would be the first time a building of this size has been added at ORNL since the Chemical and Materials Science building (Building 4100) was completed in 2011, spokesperson Morgan McCorkle said in a response to questions Thursday.

She said the new building will be located in the central part of the main ORNL campus between buildings 3500 and 3525.

“The facility will offer state-of-the-art laboratory space and offices to support a range of research activities, including growing missions in computing and materials science and development,” McCorkle said. “The space can be adapted to serve the needs of changing scientific programs and priorities.” [Read more…]