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(For members) Three national labs building exascale computers

Posted at 6:39 pm February 4, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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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Filed Under: National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: ANL, Argonne National Laboratory, Aurora, Christopher J. Kramer, Collaboration of Oak Ridge Argonne and Livermore, computer systems, CORAL, Cray, DOE Office of Science, El Capitan, exascale, exascale computers, Frontier, Intel, Jeremy Thomas, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL, Mark Anderson, Morgan McCorkle, most powerful supercomputer, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, petaflop computers, petaflops, request for proposals, RFP, Rick Perry, summit, supercomputers, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, UT-Battelle LLC

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

Posted at 9:51 pm January 11, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, K-25, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 9731, atomic bomb, atomic weapons, Beta 3, enrich uranium, enriched uranium, equipment building, gaseous diffusion, Graphite Reactor, history center, K-25, K-25 Building, Little Boy, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Michael Butler, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, pre-qualification, request for proposals, RFP, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, viewing tower, World War II, X-10, Y-12

DOE announces $1.8 billion program for new supercomputers, with one at ORNL

Posted at 11:23 am April 9, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Rick Perry

Rick Perry

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

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a new supercomputing program on Monday that could be worth up to $1.8 billion and deploy two systems, with one at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, that would be 50 to 100 times more powerful than today’s computers.

The new systems are called exascale computers. DOE said the new supercomputers will solidify United States leadership in exascale computing.

The initiative was announced by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Perry announced a request for proposals, or RFP, for the development of at least two new exascale supercomputers to be deployed at DOE national laboratories sometime around 2021-2023.

“The new supercomputers funded through this RFP will be follow-on systems to the first U.S. exascale system authorized by Secretary Perry this past June, named Aurora, which is currently under development at Argonne National Laboratory and scheduled to come online in 2021,” a press release said. The RFP announced Monday envisions the possibility of upgrades to Aurora or even a follow-on system in 2022-2023, “depending on an assessment of needs and opportunities at that time.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Argonne National Laboratory, Aurora, Chuck Fleischmann, Collaboration of Oak Ridge Argonne and Livermore, CORAL, DOE, DOE national laboratories, DOE Office of Science, exascale computer, exascale computing, Exascale Computing Project, exascale supercomputer, Frontier, House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, request for proposals, RFP, Rick Perry, summit, supercomputer, supercomputing, supercomputing supremacy, Titan, Top500, U.S. Department of Energy, UT-Battelle LLC

AC Senior Center continues march to fruition

Posted at 10:43 am June 17, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission approved a measure Monday night that knocks down one more hurdle in senior citizens’ quest for a new senior center.

Commissioners voted unanimously to ask Mayor Terry Frank to formally request, in writing, that ETHRA voluntarily end its contract to operate the Office on Aging and instead cede control to the county. That, coupled with the formality of submitting a request for proposals—or RFP—for vendors with a possible site, means that the Office on Aging is indeed one step closer to moving into a new and larger building.

Currently, they have an offer for a lease on a building on South Seivers Boulevard in the heart of Clinton to serve as a new senior center and all indications are that once the bureaucratic hurdles are cleared, they could begin moving in by the end of this summer. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Front Page News, Government, Meetings and Events Tagged With: Alternatives to Incarceration Committee, Anderson County Commission, ankle bracelet, ETHRA, Office on Aging, request for proposals, RFP, Senior Center, Terry Frank

NNSA declines to comment on new protest over Y-12, Pantex contract

Posted at 8:24 pm June 18, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Y-12 National Security Complex

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex at Scarboro and Bear Creek roads.

Federal officials and a contracting team declined to comment Tuesday on a new protest filed over the competition to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The Babcock and Wilcox Co. announced Monday that its contracting team, Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, has filed a new protest with the Government Accountability Office related to the consolidated Y-12 and Pantex contract.

The new protest came about five months after earlier protests filed by NP2 and another contracting team, Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions LLC. Those protests were filed in January, after the National Nuclear Security Administration announced it had awarded a contract valued at about $23 billion to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, to manage and operate Y-12 and Pantex. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Amarillo, B&W, Babcock and Wilcox Co., Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Group Inc., bid, CNS, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, contract, GAO, George Dudich, Government Accountability Office, Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions LLC, Josh McConaha, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, NP2, Nuclear Production Partners LLC, Oak Ridge, Pantex Plant, procurement, protest, request for proposals, RFP, Y-12 National Security Complex

B&W-led team files new protest over Y-12, Pantex contract

Posted at 7:15 pm June 17, 2013
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)

The Babcock and Wilcox Company announced Monday that Nuclear Production Partners LLC, or NP2, has filed a new protest with the Government Accountability Office related to the combined management and operating contract at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

“NP2 has expressed concern over the fairness of the procurement and selection process and the form and scope of the revised request for proposals issued to bidders on June 6,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, Federal, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Top Stories, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Amarillo, B&W, Babcock and Wilcox Company, Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Group Inc., CNS, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, GAO, George Dudich, Government Accountability Office, Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions LLC, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, NP2, Nuclear Production Partners LLC, Oak Ridge, Pantex Plant, procurement, request for proposals, RFP, Y-12 National Security Complex

City starts search for Jackson Square design firm this week

Posted at 6:21 pm October 15, 2012
By John Huotari 1 Comment

TDOT Commissioner John Schroer Tours Jackson Square

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer, left, tours Jackson Square on Monday with Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, center, and City Manager Mark Watson.

The search for a company to help transform historic Jackson Square with the help of an $800,000 grant could start this week, Oak Ridge officials said Monday.

The city plans to release a request for proposals, or RFP, for consulting engineers this week, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. The winning firm will help design and configure the new square, and meet with the public. Picking a company could take three to four weeks, Watson said.

A separate company will be selected to do an environmental review of historic buildings at Jackson Square, Oak Ridge’s original town center.

The redevelopment of the square will use a roughly $800,000 state award of federal highway money to improve the parking lot on Broadway Avenue, build and repair sidewalks, add trees and pedestrian lighting, and make the square an “attractive, landscaped plaza and parking area.”

Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John Schroer toured the square on Monday afternoon with TDOT and local officials, but he declined to put a timeline on the project, which requires a local funding match of $200,000.

Watson said it would take at least 18 months to get to the construction bidding stage.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Government Tagged With: Jackson Square, John Schroer, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge, request for proposals, RFP, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Tom Beehan, traffic enhancement grant

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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