Oak Ridge Today

Nobel Laureate launches Wigner Distinguished Lecture Series at ORNL

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Albert Fert

Albert Fert

Three more Nobel winners, former Intel chairman among nine confirmed speakers

Four Nobel Laureates are among nine lecturers who will be participating in the new Eugene P. Wigner Distinguished Lecture Series in Science, Technology, and Policy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Albert Fert, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics, opens the series on Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. in the Iran Thomas Auditorium at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source.

“The Wigner lectures aim to invigorate scientific discovery and technological innovation and to initiate productive scientific policy debate,” said Thom Mason, laboratory director. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Storey named fellow of Society of Automotive Engineers

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John Storey

John Storey

John Storey of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been elected fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

He is recognized for pioneering new techniques in the characterization of exhaust emissions, his work for the diesel fuel sulfur rule, and for his multiple contributions to the development of lean exhaust emissions control.

Storey works in ORNL’s Energy and Transportation Science Division. He lives in Oak Ridge.

Powell leads ORNL’s Environment, Safety and Health Directorate

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John E. Powell

John E. Powell

John E. Powell has been named director of the Environment, Safety and Health Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The appointment is effective immediately.

Powell received his bachelor of science degree in environmental engineering from Purdue University. He has 29 years of experience with a variety of environment, safety, and health, or ES&H, disciplines including working with state and federal regulatory agencies, leading multi-disciplinary teams to develop solutions to complex ES&H challenges, and emergency response planning management. [Read more…]

New director named at Climate Change Science Institute at ORNL

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Jack Fellows

Jack Fellows

Jack D. Fellows, who oversaw a $110 billion federal science portfolio under two U.S. presidents and co-founded the U.S. Global Change Research Program integrating all federal Earth system science research programs, has been appointed director of the Climate Change Science Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Martin Keller and Jeff Nichols, leaders of the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate and the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate respectively, announced Fellows’ appointment.

“Jack Fellows is a welcome addition to our climate change science program,” said ORNL Director Thom Mason. “His extensive experience in directing research and education programs, most recently as vice-president for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, will be particularly valuable as CCSI moves forward in its work of advancing the understanding of the Earth system, describing the consequences of climate change, and evaluating and informing policy on the potential outcomes of responses to climate change.” [Read more…]

Shutdown ends: Oak Ridgers relieved, but frustrated with Congress

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Dean's Restaurant and Bakery

Dean Russell, co-owner of Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Jackson Square, has put up a sign expressing frustration with Congress over the government shutdown. Pictured above are restaurant servers Cassandra Prater, right, and Andy Tatum.

The end of the government shutdown last week brought relief to Oak Ridge, especially at the Y-12 National Security Complex, where up to about 3,600 workers were expected to be furloughed starting last Thursday unless a deal was reached.

Chuck Spencer, general manager of B&W Y-12, which manages and operates Y-12, told workers on Thursday that a shutdown to minimum staffing had been averted and the furloughs would no longer be necessary. There had been reports that only about 900 workers might have remained starting today.

Spencer said the nuclear weapons plant, which started an orderly shutdown two weeks ago on Monday, Oct. 7, will begin planning to resume normal operations.

Normal operations resumed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Thursday, Director Thom Mason said in a message to staff. ORNL had enough funding to continue operating through October and into November, but officials had started preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs in case the shutdown continued.

Oak Ridge residents remained frustrated even after Congress and the White House reached a last-minute, short-term spending agreement late Wednesday night that averted the shutdowns and furloughs, just hours before a deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and after some local businesses had already reported that the shutdown had affected their operations. [Read more…]

Fleischmann, DesJarlais, Duncan vote ‘no’ on bill to reopen government, raise debt limit

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Barack Obama and House Democratic Leaders

President Barack Obama meets with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other members of the House Democratic leadership in the Oval Office on Oct. 15. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

The epic budget battle that resulted in the first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years and led the nation to the brink of default again ended late Wednesday.

President Barack Obama signed the legislation reopening the federal government and raising the debt ceiling early Thursday morning, a few hours after it passed the House and Senate, and federal workers were told to report to work Thursday, ending a 16-day shutdown.

“We’ll begin reopening our government immediately,” Obama said in remarks before the House passed the bill. “And we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people.”

Officials at the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration weren’t immediately available to comment early Thursday morning on the impact on federal facilities in Oak Ridge, where workers have been preparing for shutdowns and furloughs, including at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex.

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, voted for the last-minute, short-term agreement, which keeps the government open through Jan. 15 and raises the federal government’s debt ceiling through Feb. 7.

Tennessee’s two Democratic representatives also voted for it, while all seven Republican representatives—including East Tennessee congressmen Chuck Fleischmann, John J. Duncan Jr., and Scott DesJarlais—voted against it. [Read more…]

With thousands of Oak Ridge jobs at stake, union leader, nonprofit urge Congress to reopen government

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Organizing for Action and Steve Jones

About 3,600 workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex could be furloughed starting Monday if Congress doesn’t reach a budget deal, and Steve Jones, center, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, urges legislators to reopen the government during a Tuesday press conference at the ATLC union hall.

With the clock ticking on negotiations and thousands of Oak Ridge jobs at stake, a union leader and nonprofit volunteers on Tuesday urged Congress to reopen the federal government, now shut down for more than two weeks.

If Congress can’t settle its budget disputes by Monday, roughly 3,600 workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex could be furloughed, said Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council. Thursday would be their last day at work.

The high-stakes negotiations between Democrats and Republicans continued Tuesday, with the U.S. Senate moving toward a deal, just two days ahead of a possible default on the nation’s debt. But it remained unclear whether the House of Representatives, particularly its conservative Republican members, would support the deal by the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

Jones said Y-12 will go into a “safe and secure” shutdown mode starting Thursday if Congress hasn’t passed a budget for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. [Read more…]

UT professor, ORNL staff member to be honored for supercomputing accomplishments

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Jack Dongarra

Jack Dongarra

KNOXVILLE—Jack Dongarra, distinguished professor of computer science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, is being honored for his leadership in high performance computing.

He will receive the Association for Computing Machinery-Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society Ken Kennedy Award on Nov. 19 in Denver at SC13, the International Conference on High Performance Computing.

Dongarra, who is also a distinguished research staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is being recognized for designing and promoting standards for mathematical software used to solve numerical problems common to high-performance computing. His work has led to the development of major software libraries of algorithms and methods that boost performance and portability in high-performance computing environments. [Read more…]

ORNL prepares for possible temporary shutdown, unpaid furloughs

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Central Campus

Officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, pictured above, are preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs in case Congress is unable to pass a federal spending bill. (Courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory/U.S. Dept. of Energy)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has enough funding to continue operating through this month and into November, but officials are preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs, Director Thom Mason told employees Monday.

The potential shutdown of ORNL would be triggered by Congress’ failure to pass a spending bill in the fiscal year that began Tuesday, Oct. 1. The federal government has already partially shut down, and the Y-12 National Security Complex started an “orderly shutdown” Monday.

Before the Sept. 30 end of the last fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Energy had told federal employees to continue reporting for work in the new fiscal year unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent. And Mason told employees of UT-Battelle, which manages the lab, to report to work starting Oct. 1, even if the government shut down, because ORNL had enough funding to continue operating. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Jeskie active on chemical safety panels

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Kim Jeskie

Kim Jeskie

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Kim Jeskie led the 12-member committee that developed new chemical safety guidelines described in the report, “Identifying and Evaluating Hazards in Research Laboratories,” released by the American Chemical Society at its 246th National Meeting and Exposition held in September.

Jeskie was also appointed last spring to serve on the National Research Council Committee on Establishing and Promoting a Culture of Safety in Academic Laboratory Research. That panel is examining chemical research laboratory safety in nonindustrial settings.

She is the 2013 past chair of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety. At ORNL, Jeskie directs the Integrated Operations Support Division, where she is responsible for work planning and hazards analysis systems and tools. She lives in Harriman.

Voce starts today as general manager of Oak Ridge security force

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Michael Voce

Michael Voce

Michael Voce started today as general manager of the National Strategic Protective Services’ protective force contract at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge.

NSPS, a joint venture of Triple Canopy Inc. and Securiguard Inc., announced last month that Voce would start Oct. 1. He replaces general manager Greg McDowell, whose resignation was announced in July.

NSPS is responsible for providing protective force services to the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Joe L. Evins Federal Building. Voce will be responsible for directing the safe and efficient performance of the protective work force and overseeing all administrative operations, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL physicist to discuss sensors, detection technologies

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Bruce Warmack

Bruce Warmack

A physicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss sensors and detection technologies, such as those used in smoke alarms, at a Friends of ORNL meeting on Tuesday.

The talk by Bruce Warmack of the ORNL Measurement Science and Systems Engineering Division is titled “Making machines sense our world.”

The meeting is open to the public, and it starts at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]