U.S. Department of Energy Archives

Public availability session on proposed DOE landfill is Thursday

Posted at 2:18 pm October 8, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

There is a public availability session on the proposed federal landfill in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a proposed plan to build a new landfill on the Oak Ridge Reservation. The landfill, the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, would be in Bear Creek Valley west of the Y-12 National Security Complex. It is intended for disposal of radioactive, hazardous, and toxic wastes. It would be used as cleanup work ends at the East Tennessee Technology Park and the existing landfill, the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility fills up, and cleanup work moves to Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

A press release said the Sierra Club has invited state and federal officials from DOE, Environmental Protection Agency, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to be available for public questions about the Environmental Management Disposal Facility. The public availability session has been scheduled from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday, October 11, at the TDEC office at 761 Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

DNFSB: Moving fissile materials, operations from Y-12 building improves nuclear safety, reduces risk

Posted at 12:44 pm October 7, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Building 9204-2 (Beta 2) is pictured above at center at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Part of Building 9204-2E (Beta 2E) is pictured in the top left. (Photo courtesy Consolidated Nuclear Security)

Nuclear materials and operations have been removed from an old building at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and that improves safety and reduces the risk to workers and the public, a federal safety board said.

The building, 9204-2, or Beta 2, is on the west side of Y-12. It’s one of nine buildings at the 811-acre site that once used machines known as calutrons to enrich uranium for atomic bombs as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. It’s now used to produce lithium for nuclear weapons.

In an early September report, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said Consolidated Nuclear Security and the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office had officially downgraded Building 9204-2. It had been a category two hazard, but it is now less than category three. It’s considered non-nuclear.

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Centrus Energy has $15 million project to prepare K-1600 for demolition

Posted at 6:42 pm October 3, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The "footprint," the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the "footprint." The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The K-25 “footprint,” the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the “footprint.” The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4, and it includes the K-25 History Center. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

Centrus Energy Corporation has a $15 million project to prepare K-1600, a building in the middle of the historic K-25 “footprint,” for demolition.

On Tuesday, Centrus announced that it had received a work authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) work at the building. The work will include removing and disposing of equipment and materials to make K-1600 non-radiologically contaminated and non-possessing (i.e. unclassified), a press release said. The work will occur between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019.

After the work is completed, DOE will be able to turn over K-1600 to a contractor to demolish it, the press release said. It’s one of the last remaining “legacy structures” on the 2,200-acre site of the World War II-era K-25 uranium enrichment plant, now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park, the press release said.

Many other buildings have been demolished there, including the five large gaseous diffusion buildings once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. ETTP is now being converted into a large industrial park in west Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

DOE public bus tour now starts at new AMSE

Posted at 2:28 pm October 2, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities public bus tour started departing from the new American Museum of Science and Energy, which is located at 115 Main Street East in Oak Ridge, on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018. (Photo courtesy DOE Oak Ridge Office)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities public bus tour started departing from the new American Museum of Science and Energy on Monday.

The new AMSE is at Main Street Oak Ridge near JCPenney. The address is 115 Main Street East.

The new museum, which replaces the former museum on South Tulane Avenue, opened to the public on Monday (October 1) with a limited schedule, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed weekends), a press release said.

“Participating in the public bus tour allows visitors to go behind the scenes and explore the lives of those who lived and worked behind the fences of the 1940s city of Oak Ridge, also known as the Secret City,” the press release said. “Visitors will experience the race to build the first atomic bomb through artifacts, audiovisuals, live demonstrations, and interactive exhibits.” [Read more…]

DOE award recognizes UCOR safety performance

Posted at 10:20 pm September 26, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter is pictured above at the K-25 History Center on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter is pictured above at the K-25 History Center on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for outstanding safety performance in its role as lead cleanup contractor for the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, a press release said.

UCOR received the DOE Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star of Excellence at the VPP Participants Association national conference in Nashville. This is the second consecutive year UCOR has won the award, the press release said.

The Star of Excellence recognizes UCOR’s outstanding level of performance in meeting established safety and health goals, actively conducting outreach to others, and in achieving an injury and illness rate significantly below the average of similar businesses and operations, the release said.

“The work we perform every day is some of the most hazardous and challenging in the nation,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and chief executive officer. “As our work continues expanding to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, we have continued our high level of safety performance despite having to tackle new challenges.” [Read more…]

Low-flying helicopters part of emergency exercise Wednesday

Posted at 1:34 pm September 17, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

There will be an emergency exercise on Wednesday, and it will include low-flying helicopters, a press release said.

The emergency exercise is being conducted by emergency responders from the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, along with state and local emergency management personnel.

“The public may observe emergency responders simulating response activities in the area surrounding the Oak Ridge Reservation,” a press release said. “Additionally, low-flying National Guard helicopters will be performing training in the area. The helicopters will be flying in the Melton Hill Lake area near ORNL. These activities are part of the exercise.” [Read more…]

Twenty tons of uranium could be used to produce tritium for nuclear weapons

Posted at 12:08 pm September 14, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image courtesy National Nuclear Security Administration. SRS is the Savannah River Site.

About 20 metric tons of highly enriched uranium could be “down-blended” to low-enriched uranium and transferred to the Tennessee Valley Authority for use as a fuel to produce tritium for nuclear weapons, according to a public notice published in the Federal Register this week.

The project involves the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City in Rhea County, among other sites.

The National Nuclear Security Administration and TVA announced in August that they intend to enter into an agreement to “down-blend” highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium in order to help produce tritium, a key “boosting” component in nuclear weapons.

The highly enriched uranium used for the “down-blending” will be processed, packaged, and shipped from Y-12, according to the NNSA. Y-12 is an NNSA site, and it is the main storage facility for certain categories of highly enriched uranium. [Read more…]

You can comment on DOE landfill

Posted at 3:30 pm September 13, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

You can comment on the proposed new federal landfill in Bear Creek Valley during a public information session in Oak Ridge today (Thursday, September 13).

The landfill would be called the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, and it would be 2.2 million cubic yards on land owned by the federal government. It would be used by the U.S. Department of Energy to dispose of waste from the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The public information session is scheduled from 4:30-6 p.m. Thursday at the DOE Information Center in east Oak Ridge at 1 Science.gov Way. The meeting is hosted by DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The purpose of the meeting is to share information about the proposed plan and hear public comments, according to a public notice sent to Oak Ridge Today on Wednesday afternoon. [Read more…]

K-25 overlook to re-open in October

Posted at 2:29 pm September 7, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Visitor's Overlook, part of the Happy Valley property purchased in November, is pictured above across from East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Visitor’s Overlook, part of the Happy Valley property purchased in November 2016, is pictured above across from East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

K-25 Overlook will be ‘bigger and better,’ provide Manhattan Project and recreational information

The K-25 Overlook next to State Route 58 in west Oak Ridge will soon be re-opening as a much larger and nicer visitor center that will also have a new purpose, a press release said.

Owner John McCormick, vice president of Bionomics, purchased the 160-acre property known as Happy Valley through an auction at the end of 2016. The overlook on SR 58 across from the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, was part of the purchase.

But the overlook needed building repairs and updates to the historical information inside, the press release said. In 2017, McCormick partnered with Pam May, vice president of the Roane Alliance, who reached out to local historians, the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Energy, and Explore Oak Ridge to discuss the future of the overlook.

“The idea to expand the overlook into a visitor center and recreational hub came from the National Park Service in one of the early meetings,” May said. “That aligned perfectly with what John had envisioned—to create trails and open spaces that people could enjoy while also learning Happy Valley’s history through its landmarks still evident on the property.” [Read more…]

Air Force, ORNL partner in high-performance computing & weather modeling system

Posted at 12:50 pm September 5, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

To extend its weather modeling capabilities, the U.S. Air Force has joined the computing experts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a strategic collaboration that includes procurement and operation of a new high-performance weather modeling computer system. Key members of the Air Force and ORNL teams gathered on July 10, 2018, to kick off the project and tour the facilities supporting the new system. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

For the U.S. military, accurate weather prediction is vital to both the planning and execution of worldwide missions. To extend its weather modeling capabilities, the U.S. Air Force has joined the computing experts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a strategic collaboration that includes procurement and operation of a new high-performance weather modeling computer system. Key members of the Air Force and ORNL teams, including computing and global security team members, gathered on July 10 to kick off this project and tour the facilities supporting the new system, according to a story posted by ORNL.

The Air Force 557th Weather Wing provides the Air Force and Army with global- and regional-level numerical weather model forecasts. With the increasing scale of the requirements for the new system, the Air Force and ORNL identified an opportunity to take advantage of the capabilities of ORNL’s National Center for Computational Sciences—including expertise in high-performance computing facilities and infrastructure, systems administration, computing procurement and acquisition, and system operations, the story said.

“We learned about the Air Force’s needs, and it was immediately clear that ORNL could help them solve their problems,” said Jim Rogers, NCCS director of computing and facilities. “We can integrate the Air Force weather team’s needs into our facilities in a cost-effective way, leveraging our capabilities to deliver exceedingly high availability to support their mission.” [Read more…]

Cyber security: Company will use ORNL random number generator for encryption

Posted at 10:17 pm September 3, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 2 Comments

Development of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s quantum random number generator began with basic components including an LED light, the source from which a field of quadrillions of photons are produced. The device can detect and measure the quantum statistics of photons present in the field and use each one as the basis for creating truly unique encryption keys that are impossible to decipher or predict. (Photo credit: Brian Williams/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

A company called Qrypt Inc. will incorporate a quantum random number generator developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory into existing encryption techniques, strengthening cyber security, a press release said.

Qrypt has exclusively licensed the technology from ORNL, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory. It’s intended to help defend against cyber attacks, including those posed by quantum computing.

Encryption uses codes or mathematical algorithms to make information such as messages or stored data unintelligible to unauthorized readers. Quantum computers make use of the quantum states of electrons or other particles to store and process information as quantum bits.

The press release said Qrypt will incorporate ORNL’s quantum random number generator into the company’s existing encryption platform. It will use inherent quantum randomness to create unique and unpredictable encryption keys enabling virtually impenetrable communications, the press release said. [Read more…]

Vacuum helps crews remove contaminated sludge, debris at ORNL

Posted at 1:35 pm September 3, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management now has a powerful, trailer-mounted vacuum for cleaning and maintaining the important liquid and gaseous waste operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

Federal site cleanup workers reported in August that they had begun removing contaminated sludge and debris from tanks, sumps, and valve boxes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s liquid and gaseous waste operations using a powerful, new trailer-mounted vacuum.

The equipment has already enhanced safety and operational efficiency, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

“Without the vacuum, personnel would be required to fully dress in personal protective equipment and remove the sludge and debris with shovels and buckets,” DOE said. “In addition to being closer to contaminated materials in confined spaces, workers would face an increased chance of slips and falls while climbing in and out of slippery areas in the protective suits.”

Using the vacuum technology has eliminated the risk of heat stress for employees, who would otherwise perform manual labor in protective suits during the hot Tennessee summer, DOE said. [Read more…]