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DOE, UCOR to highlight ETTP transformation, opportunities

Posted at 2:56 pm February 21, 2022
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

An artist’s rendering of what the redeveloped East Tennessee Technology Park could look like. (Image provided by U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The U.S. Department of Energy and its contractor UCOR will highlight the transformation of the East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) and discuss the economic opportunities there during a virtual event on Thursday.

The hour-long presentation is free and open to the public, and it is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

“Leadership from both organizations will share the final steps required to complete environmental cleanup activities at the former uranium enrichment complex and transition the site to private ownership, a process known as reindustrialization,” a press release said. “The event also includes a panel discussion with partners who helped create the vision and blueprint for this ambitious conversion.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR Tagged With: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR

Workers devise strategies to clean up high-risk contaminated lab at ORNL

Posted at 3:05 pm February 17, 2022
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Workers lower detection equipment through an opening in the roof of the East Cell Bank at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to capture readings inside the facility. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management/UCOR)

Innovation has been required as federal cleanup crews work to deactivate and demolish the final portion of the former Radioisotope Development Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The structure is known as the East Cell Bank, and it is on the U.S. Department of Energy’s list of high-risk excess contaminated facilities, said a press release from DOE Office of Environmental Management. The East Cell Bank is located in the heart of ORNL, near ongoing research missions.

Workers with cleanup contractor UCOR characterized the final cell to identify potential radiological and hazardous contamination, the press release said. They conducted the work in stages under a six-story protective structure erected to ensure nearby facilities and ongoing research missions at ORNL aren’t impacted by the cleanup.

The crews began by taking surveys and readings from an opening at the front of the structure, the release said. They used long-reach tools and a specialized radiation detector. The detector overlays a radiation-intensity color map on a picture of the environment and identifies gamma-ray emitting nuclides and their locations.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: deactivation, demolition, DOE, East Cell Bank, federal cleanup, high-risk contaminated facilities, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, Radioisotope Development Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR

DOE makes upgrades to Molten Salt Reactor Experiment

Posted at 11:49 pm February 2, 2022
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

An aerial view of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment. The facility was shut down in 1973, and the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is responsible for keeping it in a safe mode until its demolition is scheduled. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

The U.S. Department of Energy is upgrading a historic reactor in Oak Ridge to keep the facility safe until it can be demolished.

The reactor, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, is at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and it was shut down nearly 50 years ago. At some point, the MSRE will be deactivated, and that will save about $5 million in annual operating costs, a press release said.

The work is being overseen by the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

“We have the important responsibility of keeping it safe until major cleanup operations begin,” said Nathan Felosi, EM’s ORNL portfolio federal project director. “The latest round of projects is making sure that’s the case and achieving considerable cost savings to taxpayers.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: DOE, Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, MSRE, Nathan Felosi, nuclear reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium-233, uranium-235

Updated: K-25 Viewing Platform will be built

Posted at 4:12 pm February 2, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Artist rendering 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 David Brown)

Note: This story was updated at 9 a.m. Feb. 4.

Two federal agencies have agreed to build a K-25 Viewing Platform at the historic site in west Oak Ridge that was used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants during World War II and the Cold War. The design is expected to be complete in March and the building completed by the end of 2023.

The construction agreement for the viewing building at the former K-25 site was signed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The viewing platform will give visitors a view of the large 44-acre footprint of the former K-25 Building. K-25, which was the world’s largest building, was erected during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. The K-25 Building was demolished in 2013, and many other structures at the site have been removed as the federal government turns over property for private development.

The K-25 Building site itself is now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. That project commemorates the workers, equipment, and processes used during the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The K-25 Viewing Platform and associated exhibits are the final components of a multi-project agreement that the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management signed in 2012, clearing the way for demolition of the North Tower of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building. The projects commemorate the history of the K-25 site, which has also been known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, K-25, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Ben Williams, Cold War, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, equipment building, Joseph Sahl, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, K-25 Viewing Platform, Laura Wilkerson, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, OREM, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium enrichment, USACE

ETTP cleanup team receives Secretary’s Award

Posted at 12:50 pm January 13, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, is pictured above in west Oak Ridge after most cleanup work, including demolition of the five large gaseous diffusion buildings, was completed. (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge team that mostly cleaned up the former K-25 site, demolishing five large gaseous diffusion buildings and more than 500 structures, has received a Secretary’s Achievement Award from U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. The work was done ahead of schedule and under budget, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

Granholm honored the DOE Office of Environmental Management team from Oak Ridge in a virtual ceremony Wednesday, a press release said.

K-25 was used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants from World War II to the 1980s.

It was the first removal of a uranium enrichment complex, and it cleared 13 million square feet of deteriorated, contaminated structures from the site, the press release said.

“The Secretary’s Achievement Award honors a group or team of DOE employees and contractors who accomplish significant achievements on behalf of the department, demonstrating cooperation and teamwork in attaining their goals,” the press release said. “The award was given to the Oak Ridge Vision 2020 Project Team based on its achievements from 2020.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR Tagged With: DOE, DOE Office of Environmental Management, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, Jennifer Granholm, K-25, K-25 Building, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Secretary’s Achievement Award, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium enrichment, Vision 2020, William "Ike" White

DOE, state pave way to transfer 3,500 acres

Posted at 3:05 pm December 30, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment


From left, TWRA Executive Director Bobby Wilson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Acting Manager Laura Wilkerson, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office Manager Johnny Moore sign an agreement that lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the state of Tennessee. (Submitted photo)

 

More than 3,500 acres of federal land could be transferred to the state of Tennessee, including Clark Center Park and Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement.

The land could be transferred under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The two organizations signed an Agreement in Principle on Wednesday, December 15, that “lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land to the state,” a press release said.

“Transferring this federally owned land will increase natural resource management and designate areas for greenspace and mixed-use recreational opportunities for the public,” the press release said.

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From left, TWRA Executive Director Bobby Wilson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Acting Manager Laura Wilkerson, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office Manager Johnny Moore sign an agreement that lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the state of Tennessee. (Submitted photo)

 

More than 3,500 acres of federal land could be transferred to the state of Tennessee, including Clark Center Park and Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement.

The land could be transferred under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The two organizations signed an Agreement in Principle on Wednesday, December 15, that “lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land to the state,” a press release said.

“Transferring this federally owned land will increase natural resource management and designate areas for greenspace and mixed-use recreational opportunities for the public,” the press release said.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today. Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here. Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here: Basic

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Filed Under: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Premium Content, Slider, State, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement, Bobby Wilson, Clark Center Park, DOE, DOE Office of Science, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, federal land, Johnny Moore, Laura Wilkerson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Randy McNally, state of Tennessee, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, TWRA, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR

Mercury cleanup: COLEX equipment deactivated at Y-12

Posted at 7:54 pm November 8, 2021
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge workers remove mercury and mercury-contaminated solids from process pipes in the column exchange, or COLEX, equipment at the Alpha-4 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Submitted photo)

Crews are nearly finished deactivating the second of three collections of old, mercury-contaminated equipment around the Alpha-4 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The project addresses potential environmental risks and moves the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management a step closer to preparing one of Y-12’s largest high-risk contaminated facilities for demolition, the press release said.

The column exchange, or COLEX, structures are connected to the four-story 500,000-square-foot Alpha-4 building, which was used for uranium separation from 1944 to 1945. Workers finished installing the COLEX equipment in 1955 for lithium separation, a process that required large amounts of mercury. A significant amount of the mercury was lost into the equipment, buildings, and surrounding soils, and its cleanup is one of EM’s top priorities.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha-4, COLEX, column exchange, Dan Macias, DOE, mercury, mercury cleanup, Mercury Treatment Facility, Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, Y-12 National Security Complex

Street Painting Festival honors Scarboro 85, raises funds for Roane State scholarships

Posted at 11:01 am October 27, 2021
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The theme for the 2021 Street Painting Festival, “Honoring Scarboro 85,” recognized the first Black students from the former Scarboro School who integrated Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High on Sept. 6, 1955. The Honoring Scarboro 85 award went to the team of Dawn and Her Guys. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

The 2021 Street Painting Festival, hosted by the Noon Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, is in the books having raised more than $14,000 to help fund scholarships for Roane State Community College students in Anderson County.

Held in Oak Ridge’s Historic Jackson Square each October, the festival blends art, history, and community for a fun event in support of local students. Nearly $300,000 in scholarships issued by the nonprofit Roane State Foundation have been provided since the start of the festival in 1999, a press release said.

Festival sponsors make a tax-exempt donation to the Foundation, with levels ranging from $5,000 for Platinum down to $100 for Individual. Sponsors’ names are assigned to sidewalk squares upon which the artists then paint pictures with chalk. Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc. once again sponsored the event at the Platinum Level. 2021 marked the 20th consecutive year of festival sponsorship for the company.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Arts, College, Community, Education, Education, Entertainment, Festivals, Front Page News, Slider Tagged With: Dawn and Her Guys, Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc., ORNL Federal Credit Union, Roane State Community College, Roane State Foundation, Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, Ruby Melton, Scarboro 85, Scarboro School, street painting festival, UCOR, William Wensell, Zoie Ruble

DOE: Feds must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22

Posted at 7:47 pm October 1, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Joe L. Evins Federal Building is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The executive order issued by President Joe Biden in September requires federal employees to be fully vaccinated by November 22, the U.S. Department of Energy said. DOE said 84 percent of the department’s federal workforce was, at the time, fully vaccinated.

To comply with the November 22 deadline, DOE’s employees must complete their vaccinations by November 8. This would apply to the first Johnson & Johnson shot, a one-shot vaccine, or the second Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shots, both two-shot vaccines. People aren’t considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after the final dose of a vaccine.

The U.S. Department of Energy notified its staff of the vaccine requirement on Tuesday last week.

“Protecting your health and safety is our top priority,” DOE told its staff. “To help ensure this, President Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal employees to be fully vaccinated by November 22, 2021. This applies to all federal employees regardless of remote, telework, or onsite reporting status, except in limited circumstances in which an employee may be exempt due to a legally required accommodation.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: COVID-19, DOE, Front Page News, Health, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Ben Williams, DOE, executive order, fully vaccinated, Joe Biden, Kevin Liao, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Steven Wyatt, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, vaccination, Y-12 National Security Complex

UCOR requiring COVID vaccinations

Posted at 12:38 pm September 21, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

UCOR is requiring its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The requirement applies to all of its nearly 2,000 employees, and it is a condition of employment, the company said Tuesday.

The vaccination requirement was announced by UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter on August 26.

The company, an Amentum-led partnership with Jacobs, is the U.S. Department of Energy’s lead environmental cleanup contractor on the Oak Ridge Reservation, and it has an award-winning safety record, the company said. Rueter said that the decision to require the vaccine was in line with the company’s commitment to safety and its culture of caring.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, COVID-19, Front Page News, Health, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR Tagged With: COVID vaccinations, COVID-19, Ken Rueter, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, vaccination requirement

For members: More than 4,000 fish, crayfish killed by Y-12 chlorinated water, mercury

Posted at 2:35 pm July 6, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

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Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Premium Content, Slider, State, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha-4, Amy Fitzgerald, Aquatic Ecology Group, chlorinated water, City of Oak Ridge, CNS, COLEX, column exchange, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, crayfish, Division of Water Resources, DOE, draft permit, East Fork Poplar Creek, EPA, Eugene Sievers, fish, Jennifer Dodd, Kathryn King, Lamar Alexander, Mark Watson, mercury, Mercury Treatment Facility, Michael Atchley, National Nuclear Security Administration, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, NNSA, notice of violation, NPDES, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, OREM, ORNL, Outfall 200, Patrick Berge, public hearing, Susan Morris, TDEC, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, UCOR, violation notice, Warren Gooch, water discharge permit, Y-12 National Security Complex

Demolition work at ORNL radioisotope lab could be complete this spring

Posted at 8:59 am April 22, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A view of the demolition of a hot cell inside a protective cover at the former Radioisotope Development Lab at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

Demolition work at a former radioisotope laboratory in Oak Ridge could be complete this spring.

The U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and UCOR announced earlier this year that UCOR, a contractor, had begun removing the two remaining structures at the former Radioisotope Development Lab at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“This project launches our next phase of major demolition and cleanup at ORNL,” said Nathan Felosi, OREM’s portfolio federal project director for ORNL. “Our work is eliminating contaminated structures, like this one, that are on DOE’s list of high-risk facilities and clearing space for future research missions.”

Known as “hot cells,” the structures being demolished are heavily shielded concrete rooms that provided researchers protection from highly radioactive material during the years the laboratory was operational, a press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: demolition, Graphite Reactor, Manhattan Project, Nathan Felosi, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, Radioisotope Development Lab, radioisotope laboratory, radioisotopes, Susan Reid, U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, UCOR

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Classifieds

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

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