Oak Ridge Today

DOE asks for public comment about ETTP groundwater decision

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The U.S. Department of Energy has asked for public comment about a proposed plan to reduce groundwater contamination in the main plant area of East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

Comments are for an interim record of decision. There will be a public meeting Tuesday evening in Oak Ridge.

“The proposed plan identifies enhanced in situ bioremediation (EISB) as DOE’s preferred alternative to remediate six specific areas of groundwater in the main plant area of the East Tennessee Technology Park,” DOE said in a public notice distributed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. “EISB is a method that involves using microorganisms to reduce contamination levels in these specific areas of groundwater. For these six areas, workers have excavated, or will excavate, the primary sources of contamination, as specified in the Record of Decision for Soil, Buried Waste, and Subsurface Structure Actions in Zone 2, East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (DOE/OR/01-2161&D2).

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Contract awarded for K-25 Viewing Platform

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Artist rendering of the exterior of the new Viewing Platform, which will be located next to the recently constructed K-25 History Center overlooking the footprint of the K-25 Building. (Artist renderings by Smee + Busby Architects)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded Geiger Brothers a $9.9 million contract to build the K-25 Viewing Platform at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. The Viewing Platform will help commemorate what was once the world’s largest building and part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. The site enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants through the Cold War.

The K-25 Viewing Platform will be next to the K-25 History Center, which opened about three years ago. It will give visitors a complete view of the former building’s massive 44-acre footprint.

While the K-25 History Center focuses on the men and women who built and operated the Oak Ridge Diffusion Plant during the Manhattan Project and Cold War, this facility will help visitors understand the scope and magnitude of the former K-25 Building, a press release said.

The U-shaped K-25 Building was a mile long. It was demolished in 2013.

Construction on the Viewing Platform is scheduled to begin in May 2023, and it is expected to be complete in late 2024, the press release said.

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Eight new members join DOE’s environmental advisory board

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The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) welcomed eight new members during the board’s February monthly meeting in Oak Ridge. From left (front), Bonnie Shoemaker, Leon Shields, Michelle Lohmann, and Harriett McCurdy; from left (back), Tom Tuck, Mary Butler, Atilio Anzellotti, Christine Michaels, Noah Keebler, Mike Mark, Harold Conner, Jr., Rosario Gonzalez, Roger Petrie, Paul Dill, Melyssa Noe and Kristof Czartoryski. (Submitted photo)

The U.S. Department of Energy recently welcomed eight new members to its Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management citizen advisory board.

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board is a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides independent recommendations to OREM, which is responsible for the cleanup of the Oak Ridge Reservation.

“ORSSAB is a core element of our outreach and engagement with the community,” said OREM Manager Jay Mullis. “We’re very grateful to have area residents who are willing to invest their time and energy to learn more about our work, share their perspectives, and provide recommendations. Their insight and feedback greatly benefit our cleanup program.”

All board members are volunteers from the region and have a variety of backgrounds.

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DOE conducting controlled burns on Oak Ridge Reservation

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The U.S. Department of Energy is conducting controlled burns of grassland areas on the Oak Ridge Reservation through mid-April, weather permitting.

People may see smoke from this activity. However, smoke in Oak Ridge and other areas in the region could also be the result of prescribed burns currently being undertaken by other federal and state agencies, a press release said.

It said the controlled burns are planned on the Three Bend Area off Pump House and Bull Bluff Roads and other managed grassland areas off Bethel Valley Road and off Highway 58.

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UCOR announces management change

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Tom Dieter

United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC, the lead cleanup contractor at federal sites in Oak Ridge, has announced a top management change that will be effective April 1.

UCOR Chief Operating Officer Tom Dieter has announced he will retire March 31, and Kent Fortenberry has been appointed to take his place.

In a press release, UCOR said Dieter has had a 30-year career, and during that time, he has earned a national reputation, leading more than $3 billion in cleanup successes in complex nuclear enterprises in several states.

“Tom led UCOR’s transition for our 10-year, $8.3 billion Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup contract, and we’re grateful for his leadership in the company maintaining a strong safety performance in our first year,” said UCOR President and Chief Executive Officer Ken Rueter.

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Y-12 honored with DOE sustainability partnership award

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Pictured above are Y-12 refrigerant cylinders to be sent for reclamation. (Photo by CNS Y-12)

The Y-12 National Security Complex recently received a U.S. Department of Energy Sustainability Award for Strategic Partnerships for Sustainability.

The Y-12 team was recognized for its efforts to improve efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency of the site through partnerships with other DOE contractors and private companies, a press release said.

Through its sustainability program, Y-12 said it is reducing greenhouse gases, minimizing waste, and improving waste treatment on a large scale.

The partnership efforts for which the team was recognized include Energy Savings Performance Contract implementation, including helping to reuse refrigerant, using additive manufacturing for unique part production, and implementing wastewater treatment process improvements.

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UPF construction could cost more, take longer

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The entrance sign at Y-12 National Security Complex at Bear Creek Road and Scarboro Road is pictured above on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex was supposed to be completed by 2025 for no more than $6.5 billion, but that might no longer be the case.

In the past week, federal officials said construction projects across the country, including UPF, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain delays, inflation, labor shortages, and increased labor costs. Those factors have led to higher construction costs and longer project timelines, the federal officials said.

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Y-12 celebrates new fire station, emergency operations center

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Y-12 Site Manager Gene Sievers talks about the plant’s new fire station and emergency operations center during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new fire station and emergency operations center at the Y-12 National Security Complex will replace “severely outdated” buildings that were constructed in the 1940s, about eight decades ago. The new buildings will improve working conditions, consolidate operations now conducted in separate places, and provide ample space for large equipment like fire trucks, federal officials and Y-12 leaders said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.

Workers at the plant, which manufactures components for the nation’s nuclear weapons, among other activities, have been talking about the new facilities for at least 13 years. The start of construction was celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony in April 2021. The new buildings, reported to have cost $68 million, are part of a “huge transformation,” an effort to modernize the site.

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With director search under way, Jeff Smith leads ORNL for now

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Jeff Smith

While UT-Battelle searches for a new director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, it has appointed former chief operating officer Jeff Smith to serve as interim lab director.

Smith retired in April 2021. He had been ORNL’s chief operating officer when UT-Battelle began managing ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy in 2000, and he served in the position until his retirement.

To help find the next lab director, UT-Battelle has hired executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates.

The company will help find a successor to Thomas Zacharia, who retired at the end of 2022 after a 35-year career at ORNL, including five years as director.

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Railroad could jeopardize airport

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If not removed, this section of railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, would be a “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport because the runway would be built in this area but could not be with the railroad tracks there. This is looking east across the main entrance to Heritage Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, have emerged as a potential “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport.

On Tuesday, Oak Ridge city leaders said a new company in west Oak Ridge might want to use the rail line to ship materials, but the tracks run through and roughly perpendicular to where the airport runway would be. Officials had expected the rail line, which had been “very inactive,” to be transferred.

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Thornton named director of ORNL Climate Change Science Institute

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Peter Thornton has been named director of the Climate Change Science Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory appointed Peter Thornton as director of its Climate Change Science Institute, or CCSI, effective November 1.

“CCSI was launched at ORNL in 2009, bringing together the lab’s multidisciplinary expertise and big science capabilities to predict the future of the planet’s climate and to evaluate potential mitigation solutions at the intersection of climate, clean energy, national security, and environmental justice,” a press release said. “ORNL’s modeling work informs solutions to meet the nation’s climate goals of a 40% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.”

“I am very pleased that Peter will help develop and guide new local, regional, and national activities within CCSI,” said Stan Wullschleger, associate laboratory director for Biological and Environmental Systems Science. “Peter’s extensive expertise will ensure that our Earth system models provide the best projections of our changing planet and potential resilience strategies for our citizens, industry and society.”

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Busby named ORNL associate lab director for fusion, fission energy & science

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Jeremy Busby will oversee Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s research directorate focused on fusion and fission energy. (Photo credit: ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy)

Jeremy Busby has been named associate laboratory director for the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His appointment became effective January 1.

Busby will oversee the directorate’s “unique facilities, capabilities and talented scientists and engineers who are tackling such challenges as extending operations of the current U.S. nuclear reactor fleet; investigating economical and flexible advanced reactor systems; and making fusion energy a viable part of the nation’s energy portfolio,” a press release said.

“ORNL has a proud history of addressing compelling challenges in both fusion and fission energy systems, and I’m honored to contribute to our success moving forward,” Busby said. “ORNL’s Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate has the world-leading expertise to advance the development and deployment of both fusion and fission. Combined with the additional strengths across ORNL’s research and support organizations and ORNL’s unique capabilities, we will fortify our nation’s energy transition.”

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