Oak Ridge Today

After Senate confirms Perry as energy secretary, Alexander invites him to Oak Ridge

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Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

The United States Senate has confirmed former Texas Governor Rick Perry to serve as U.S. energy secretary, and Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, has invited him to Oak Ridge.

The Thursday afternoon vote to confirm Perry was 62 to 37. Alexander was one of the 62 senators voting to confirm Perry. So was Senator Bob Corker, also a Tennessee Republican.

“I’ve known Rick Perry for a long time and am pleased the Senate has voted to confirm him as energy secretary,” Alexander said in a statement. “He appreciates the role the Department of Energy plays in the management and modernization of our nuclear weapons—an important part of the work done at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. He also understands that national laboratories like the Oak Ridge National Laboratory are essential to maintaining our country’s brainpower advantage. I have invited him to come to Tennessee early this year to see firsthand the important work done in Oak Ridge.” [Read more…]

U.S. Attorney Killian resigning from ET post to join national law firm

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Bill Killian

William C. “Bill” Killian

Note: This story was updated at 10:47 a.m. Nov. 20.

KNOXVILLE—William C. Killian, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, has submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama effective December 5. He is joining a national law firm.

Killian was sworn into office October 4, 2010, after he was nominated by Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. He served on the following subcommittees of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee: Terrorism and National Security, Civil Rights, and Healthcare Fraud Working Group, a press release said.

Federal cases that originate in Oak Ridge are heard in the Eastern District of Tennessee, which has offices in Knoxville and uses courtrooms there. Among the cases heard there in the past few years, for example, are the case of three anti-nuclear weapons activities who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in 2012, the trademark lawsuit against Lake City when it changed its name to Rocky Top, and a methamphetamine manufacturing conspiracy in Anderson County. [Read more…]

Top BP scientist, university professor confirmed as director of DOE research agency

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Ellen Williams

Ellen Williams (Photo courtesy Caltech Alumni Association)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Ellen Williams was confirmed by the United States Senate on Monday, December 8, as the director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E.

As director of ARPA-E, Williams will oversee a novel program that funds high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment, a DOE press release said. She will ensure that the technologies assisted through ARPA-E will help change the energy landscape and better meet the nation’s changing energy needs, the release said.

“ARPA-E is central to the Department’s advancement of energy technology innovation, and Ellen Williams will provide outstanding leadership based upon her combination of world class research in condensed matter physics and insight into how technology impacts the energy marketplace,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. “I’m excited to work with Ellen on expanding the scope and impact of ARPA-E. I also want to thank Cheryl Martin for her leadership in ARPA-E for the past two years.” [Read more…]