Oak Ridge Today

Safety Fest TN opens with Community Safety Forum on Tuesday

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On September 12, Safety Fest TN will hold a Community Safety Forum, an annual event that officially kicks off Safety Fest TN and its Safety Expo.

Safety Fest TN offers free safety classes to residents and companies September 11-15.

This year’s Community Safety Forum will be held in the Wamp Auditorium at 9 a.m. Tuesday, September 12, at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex. More than 900 people have registered for the event.

Headlining the Community Safety Forum are Burns Phillips, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce; Steve Hawkins, administrator of the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration; David Purkey, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security; and Patrick Sheehan, the director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

“We wanted to offer our audience a statewide perspective on workplace safety and emergency preparedness, and who best to deliver that message than the commissioners and their administrators?” said Tom Wantland, a Safety Fest TN organizer. [Read more…]

UCOR recognized for industry safety leadership

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The National Safety Council has named URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, known as UCOR, as one of its 2017 Industry Leader Award winners for safety performance. The award, a component of the NSC Occupational Awards Program, recognizes outstanding safety achievements of NSC members, a press release said.

Participants in the NSC 2017 Occupational Excellence Achievement Award (based on 2016 calendar year data) are automatically entered into the running for the Industry Leader Award, the press release said.

“Only the top 5 percent of members earn the recognition based on the best self-reported performance for its North American Industry Classification System code, lowest total incidence rate, and employee work hours,” the release said.

“We are pleased to receive this prestigious recognition from the National Safety Council,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project manager. “This is yet another in a series of recent awards that recognize UCOR and underscore our commitment to a strong safety culture. [Read more…]

Boys & Girls Clubs has fundraising Reverse Raffle on Oct. 7

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The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Clinch Valley will hold its annual Reverse Raffle on Saturday, October 7, at 6:30 p.m. This year’s event will again be hosted and catered by the Oak Ridge Country Club, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Country Club’s renovations to their pool and outdoor bar have created a great space for entertainment, the press release said.

“By having the event a little later this year, we hope to take advantage of the outdoor spaces, cooler weather, and phenomenal fall views,” said Boys & Girls Club Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Pettyjohn.

This year’s jackpot is again $10,000, the press release said. [Read more…]

UCOR presents 2017 small business awards

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UCOR presented its 2017 Small Business Awards in a breakfast ceremony in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Christy Jackiewicz, acting director, DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization in Washington, D.C., left, was the guest speaker. Also participating were Jay Mullis, acting manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, center, and Freda Hopper, UCOR small business program manager. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

UCOR presented its 2017 Small Business Awards in a breakfast ceremony in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Christy Jackiewicz, acting director, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization in Washington, D.C., left, was the guest speaker. Also participating were Jay Mullis, acting manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, center, and Freda Hopper, UCOR small business program manager. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

 

UCOR on Wednesday presented awards to five small businesses to recognize their “exceptional efforts” in supporting UCOR’s cleanup contract on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation, a press release said.

UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, is a partnership of AECOM and CH2M. The company is responsible for cleaning up East Tennessee Technology Park, a former gaseous diffusion plant that DOE is converting into a private sector industrial park. It also performs cleanup work at other locations on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

“As always, our small business subcontracting work force constantly exceeds expectations, so it is difficult to select just a few to recognize,” said Freda Hopper, UCOR small business program manager. “This year’s winners have shown consistently exceptional performance and reinforce all the reasons we rely so heavily on small businesses for so many functions in our project.”

The subcontractors were honored at an awards breakfast held in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, August 16, a press release said. Christy Jackiewicz, acting director, DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, was the guest speaker. The ceremony also included comments from Ron Slottke, UCOR project services and support director, and Jay Mullis, acting manager of the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

Here are the businesses that were recognized: [Read more…]

City wants to renovate fire station as DOE, contractors work on K-25 History Center

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K-25 History Center and Equipment Building

An image showing the K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station, right, at East Tennessee Technology Park, with the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at left. (Graphic by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m.

Oak Ridge wants to renovate the fire station where the federal government and its contractors are building the K-25 History Center, a project that is expected to help preserve the history of the World War II-era Manhattan Project.

The K-25 History Center will be built on the second floor of Oak Ridge’s Fire Station Number 4. The fire station is at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

K-25 was one of three major federal sites built in Oak Ridge during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That was a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could.

K-25’s signature facility, the K-25 Building, has been demolished. But a 2012 agreement that allowed the complete demolition of that building, once the world’s largest building under one roof, called for the history center at the fire station, among other projects.

Work is proceeding on the K-25 History Center, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said in a July 21 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. The K-25 History Center is a project of the U.S. Department of Energy and UCOR, DOE’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

As that project proceeds, several upgrades will be needed to the first floor of the city-owned fire station in order to create the required living space for fire department personnel, Kerley said. [Read more…]

CH2M, part of UCOR, being acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

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CH2M, which is based in Colorado, is a partner in UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy's cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, and it is primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site), which is pictured above. (Photo by UCOR)

CH2M, which is based in Colorado, is a partner in UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, and it is primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site), which is pictured above. (Photo by UCOR)

 

CH2M, which is part of UCOR, the federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is being acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

The acquisition was announced Wednesday. It’s a a cash-and-stock transaction of about $3.27 billion, including a $2.85 billion purchase and roughly $416 million of CH2M net debt. It’s expected to close in the first quarter of Jacobs’ fiscal year 2018, which ends at the end of 2017.

The two companies are separate until then.

It’s too early to say whether the acquisition would have any effect on the federal contract with UCOR, but the companies said the transaction is about growth, acquiring the expertise of CH2M, and expanding the presence of the combined company.

CH2M, which is based in Colorado, is a partner in UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC. UCOR is the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor for the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation, and it is primarily focused on cleanup of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former Oak Ridge K-25 Site). But UCOR also works on cleanup and waste management activities at other Oak Ridge Reservation sites. [Read more…]

UCOR wins international innovation award

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URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC’s Gary Kephart and Bill Evans, far left, accept the Innovation Award from the event hosts. (Photo courtesy DOE Office of Environmental Management)

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC’s Gary Kephart and Bill Evans, far left, accept the Innovation Award from the event hosts. (Photo courtesy DOE Office of Environmental Management)

 

The federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge was among 11 international winners of the Environmental Health and Safety Innovation Awards.

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, is the cleanup contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

UCOR was the public sector category winner, DOE said in a story published by the Office of Environmental Management on June 28. The award highlights the company’s use of sensors, drones, information technology, wearables, and occupational health and safety software in cleanup projects at the East Tennessee Technology Park, Y-12 National Security Complex, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“They’ve done a tremendous job fostering a culture where employees are encouraged to approach and perform sensitive and complex projects in new and creative ways,” said Jay Mullis, OREM acting manager. “Our mission is reaping the benefits as we continue making progress while helping keep the workforce safe.” [Read more…]

Y-12‘s Biology Complex would be top priority if excess cleanup funding available

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Y-12 Biology Complex aerial

An aerial view of the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Plans call for eventually demolishing the complex. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

If excess funding is available, the federal cleanup program in Oak Ridge has a top priority: the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The budget request submitted to Congress by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, May 23, included $225 million for high-risk excess contaminated facilities at Y-12 and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

It’s not clear how much of that money might be used in Oak Ridge, if the president’s budget request were approved. Officials said the allocations would be determined by U.S. Department of Energy headquarters.

But the Oak Ridge cleanup program, known as environmental management, has taken steps to ensure that some projects here, such as the planned demolition of Y-12’s Biology Complex, are “in a good position” if money becomes available.

On Friday, Jay Mullis, acting manager for the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said the Biology Complex would be a primary priority if Y-12 gets some portion of the $225 million proposed by the Trump administration.

“Provided there is excess funding, that would be the building we would go after,” the Oak Ridge EM program said. [Read more…]

Business leaders support new life for Friendship Bell

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Pictured above are Alan Tatum, left, and Ken Rueter. (Photo by UCOR)

Pictured above are Alan Tatum, left, and Ken Rueter. (Photo by UCOR)

 

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When Ken Rueter and Alan Tatum met beside the iconic Friendship Bell in Bissell Park recently, they took a moment to reflect on the importance of preserving what the Bell symbolizes to the Oak Ridge community.

Tatum, an accelerator systems and stable isotopes group leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is co-chair of the International Friendship Bell Advisory Committee along with Pat Postma. Rueter is President and Project Manager of URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, cleanup contractor for the East Tennessee Technology Park and other sites on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation. Both men serve on the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.

The occasion of their May meeting was UCOR’s donation of $15,000 toward an effort to construct a new peace pavilion for the 8,300-pound bronze bell. Cast in Japan in 1993, the bell was dedicated at its current location in 1996 as a 50th anniversary landmark for the creation of the City of Oak Ridge, home to nuclear production facilities that helped end World War II. The bell symbolizes the bonds of peace and friendship that have been forged by Oak Ridge and Japan in the decades since the war ended. [Read more…]

UCOR awards 25 mini-grants for local school projects

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URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) on Monday, May 15, 2017, announced 20 winners from five East Tennessee counties in the 2017 UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program, which recognizes and supports excellence in teaching. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) on Monday, May 15, 2017, announced 20 winners from five East Tennessee counties in the 2017 UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program, which recognizes and supports excellence in teaching. (Photo courtesy UCOR)

 

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) on Monday announced 20 winners from five East Tennessee counties in the 2017 UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program, which recognizes and supports excellence in teaching.

Awarded annually since 2012, grant funds assist classroom teachers in developing specific projects or curricula, focusing primarily on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), a press release said.

“One of UCOR’s primary objectives is to support and encourage education initiatives,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project manager. “The UCOR Mini-Grant Program enables teachers to enhance their students’ educational experiences. Selected projects funded by our program give students a greater insight into the essential STEM subjects in fun and exciting ways.”

Applications were screened and awardees selected using a blind process that prevented members of the selection panel from knowing the names of the teachers or the schools. Schools in Roane, Anderson, Loudon, Knox, and Morgan counties were eligible to submit proposals. [Read more…]

Preparing for demolition, DOE identifies contaminants at Y-12’s Biology Complex

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Y-12 Biology Complex aerial

An aerial view of the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Plans call for eventually demolishing the complex. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Biology Complex at Y-12 once housed more individuals with doctorates than anywhere else in the world

The U.S. Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor finished characterizing the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex this month, identifying contaminants before demolishing and disposing of the buildings.

The characterization work was done by DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor, URS | CH2M, or UCOR.

DOE said it was crucial to get crews into the complex before the working environment became too hazardous.

“Already, team members could not enter a building due to a failed roof,” the Department of Energy said in a story published online on Thursday. “Elsewhere, exterior tiles have fallen from the façade, and asbestos and other material present risks to workers due to roof leaks.”

Jay Mullis, acting manager for the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, said the completion of the characterization work sets up the cleanup program to demolish Y-12’s Biology Complex when funds become available. [Read more…]

USW, UCOR offer hazardous waste response training to local high school students

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Students from three Morgan County high schools receive certificates after completing 40-hour HAZWOPER training. Also pictured are Joseph Miller, Director of the Morgan County Career and Technical Center, and Sarah Seavers, counselor. (Photo by UCOR)

Students from three Morgan County high schools receive certificates after completing 40-hour HAZWOPER training. Also pictured are Joseph Miller, Director of the Morgan County Career and Technical Center, and Sarah Seavers, counselor. (Photo by UCOR)

 

Students from three Morgan County high schools are now trained in hazardous waste emergency response thanks to a 40-hour class offered by the United Steel Workers in partnership with URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, a press release said.

Participants in the class, commonly called HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response), were from Coalfield High School, Sunbright School, and Wartburg Central High School. Twenty students attended the training, which was held at the Morgan County Career and Technical Center in Wartburg from March 27 to April 3.

“We were very excited to participate with USW and UCOR to offer this hazardous waste training class,” said  Joseph Miller, director of the center. “As a result of this training, our students have earned a credential that will allow them to more easily transition from school to the work force.” [Read more…]