UT-Battelle Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Smith, ORNL deputy director, sworn in as TVA board member

Posted at 3:22 pm January 11, 2018
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Jeff Smith of Knoxville, deputy director of operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, takes the oath and is sworn in by U.S. District Judge Reeves as the newest member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Smith was nominated by President Donald Trump on Sept. 21, 2017, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21. (Photo courtesy TVA)

Jeff Smith of Knoxville, deputy director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, takes the oath and is sworn in by U.S. District Judge Pamela Reeves as the newest member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Smith was nominated by President Donald Trump on Sept. 21, 2017, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 21. (Photo courtesy TVA)

Jeff W. Smith of Knoxville, deputy director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, assumed his role as a member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors after taking the oath of office in a ceremony in Knoxville on Thursday. His term will expire on May 18, 2022.

Smith was nominated by President Donald Trump on September 21, 2017, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 21. He was sworn in by U.S. District Judge Pamela L. Reeves of the Eastern District of Tennessee.

“During my time at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I’ve seen first-hand the increasing pace of change in energy technology, and how it directly affects people’s lives,” Smith said in a TVA press release. “As a board member, I look forward to helping TVA adapt to these changes and continue its mission of service to the people of the Tennessee Valley.” [Read more…]

Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France winner, to speak at fundraiser Tuesday

Posted at 6:23 pm December 11, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

lemond-composites-greg-lemond-2-oct-12-2016-web

Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France champion, celebrated the announcement of LeMond Composites, a new company he co-founded, during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 12, 2016, at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. The company is expected to make composite bicycles and carbon fiber, and invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Greg LeMond, the only American to win the Tour de France, will speak about “The Adventure of My Life—from the Tour de France to Carbon Fiber” on Tuesday in a fundraiser for Oak Ridge Playhouse and 1in6.org, a press release said.

The talk is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 12, at Oak Ridge Playhouse in historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. It’s presented by UT-Battelle.

Event tickets (and pre-event reception tickets) are available at www.orplayhouse.com. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be used to support both Oak Ridge Playhouse and 1in6.org, the press release said.

LeMond won the Junior American Road Race in 1977, made the Olympic team in 1980 (but America boycotted), and continued to rise in the ranks of international cyclers, ultimately winning the Tour de France three times, the press release said. His first win in 1986 was followed by a near-fatal hunting accident, requiring months of recuperation. This comeback climaxed when LeMond won his second Tour de France in 1989 by a mere eight seconds, the press release said. After being invited to the White House by Ronald Reagan and named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1989, LeMond won his third Tour de France in 1990. LeMond retired from professional racing in 1994; two years after his retirement, he was inducted into the US Bicycling Hall of Fame. [Read more…]

Public hearing for renewal of hazardous waste permit at ORNL on Nov. 30

Posted at 9:25 pm November 13, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A roadside sign posted near the intersection of Scarboro Road and Bethel Valley Road announces a meeting on Nov. 30, 2017, for the renewal of a hazardous waste permit for the U.S. Department of Energy/UT-Battelle at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

A roadside sign posted near the intersection of Scarboro Road and Bethel Valley Road announces a hearing on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, for the renewal of a hazardous waste permit for the U.S. Department of Energy/UT-Battelle at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

There is a public hearing on Thursday, November 30, for the renewal of a hazardous waste permit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

It’s a routine renewal of a U.S. Department of Energy/UT-Battelle permit, ORNL said Monday. It’s for the renewal of DOE/UT-Battelle’s RCRA Part B Hazardous Waste Permit TNHW-134.

RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste.

The permit was issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in September 2008. [Read more…]

ORNL approves 204 for voluntary separations as lab reduces workforce

Posted at 12:45 pm November 3, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Photo by ORNL

Lab managers have approved 204 of the 302 applications submitted for a voluntary separation program that could reduce the workforce at Oak Ridge National Laboratory by up to 350 positions.

The Self-Select Voluntary Separation Program was announced by ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia in an August 8 email to employees. ORNL employees were able to apply for the program from Monday, August 14, to Wednesday, September 27. Applicants were notified October 25 whether their application was approved, according to information provided on Friday by Morgan McCorkle, ORNL media relations manager.

Accepted applicants will leave the payroll by December 31.

Applications were approved from staff who charge to indirect accounts, along with some research staff affected by fiscal year 2017 funding who could not be placed elsewhere in the lab. [Read more…]

Tourassi named top scientist at ORNL’s annual Awards Night

Posted at 3:47 pm October 29, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Georgia Tourassi, Director’s Award winner for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

Georgia Tourassi of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate has received the ORNL Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

The top scientist award was presented to Tourassi by ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia during Saturday night’s annual Awards Night event hosted by UT-Battelle, the management and operating contractor of ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy, a press release said.

Tourassi was recognized for advancing the research, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence in data-driven biomedical discovery and medical imaging, including applications for cancer diagnosis and management, the press release said. She was also cited for her support of the missions of biomedical scientific societies and federal agencies and for mentoring students in biomedical science and technology.

Tourassi, who works in the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division and directs the laboratory’s Health Data Sciences Institute, also received the Distinguished Researcher award. [Read more…]

ORNL reports strong interest in voluntary separations, but still needs to review applications

Posted at 10:56 am September 27, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

There has been strong interest in a voluntary separation program that could reduce the workforce at Oak Ridge National Laboratory by up to 350 positions, but the lab still has to review applications and finalize who qualifies, a spokesperson said Wednesday, the deadline to apply.

The laboratory is still in the middle of reviewing the applications and determining who qualifies, said Morgan McCorkle, ORNL communications media manager.

The workforce could be reduced by up to 350 positions through both voluntary and involuntary separations.

“We still expect to use both mechanisms,” McCorkle said.

The 350-position reduction would decrease the workforce of 4,800 employees by about 7.3 percent. The workforce reduction, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, was announced by ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia in an August 8 email to employees. [Read more…]

UT-Battelle has to take corrective action, pay $120,000 after unauthorized disclosure of classified information

Posted at 1:26 pm September 11, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

UT-Battelle, which manages and operates Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has to take corrective actions and pay $120,000 for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information and the introduction of classified information into unapproved information systems at the lab, according to a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy that was approved in August.

The settlement agreement was for a security event discovered March 28, 2016. On that date, UT-Battelle discovered that presentations containing classified information had been processed on unapproved information systems during a roughly five-year period. The classified presentations were stored on unapproved servers, information systems, and removable electronic media, and transmitted by unauthorized means, according to the DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments’ Office of Enforcement.

In addition, classified information was visually presented to uncleared students on a specific program, including three foreign nationals from non-sensitive countries, DOE said.

The highest classification level and category of information contained in the presentations is Secret/Restricted Data, including No Foreign, said Steven C. Simonson, director of the Office of Enforcement. [Read more…]

DOE disposing of uranium-233 waste stored at ORNL

Posted at 7:55 pm August 27, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

During training, workers removed a type of shipping cask that was expected to be used to transport 403 canisters of uranium-tainted waste from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Nevada National Security Site northwest of Las Vegas. (File photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Office of Environmental Management)

This story was updated at 5 p.m. Aug. 30.

They haven’t agreed on a final budget number, but the Trump administration and the U.S. House and Senate have proposed spending between about $33 million and $52 million in the next fiscal year to continue disposing of uranium-233 waste materials that are stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a building that is the oldest continuously operating nuclear facility in the U.S. Department of Energy complex.

The uranium-233, or U-233, waste is now stored in secure vaults in Building 3019, which was built in the 1940s at ORNL. Removing the waste could allow ORNL to relax its overall security posture, which will reduce costs, eliminate nuclear safety issues, and make the campus more conducive to collaborative science, according to a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee report published in July.

Some of the waste is from a 1960s research and development test in New York, and it is being shipped to the Nevada National Security Site, a former nuclear weapons proving ground about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. In interviews this summer, DOE officials in Oak Ridge declined to discuss the amount of that waste that has been shipped to Nevada or to say how long the shipments might continue. But they are making progress, said Jay Mullis, acting manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

Once all of those materials are shipped, the remaining U-233 at ORNL will be treated in “hot cell” facilities across the street from Building 3019, at Building 2026. The DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management owns both buildings.

Mullis said there is other U-233 waste stored in Building 3019, including from glovebox research at ORNL, from reactor plates, and from conglomerate materials. [Read more…]

ORNL workforce reduction could save $34 million per year, mostly affect those of retirement age

Posted at 11:31 pm August 9, 2017
By John Huotari 3 Comments

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo by ORNL)

The workforce reduction of up to 350 positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is expected to decrease personnel costs by about $34 million each year, and the lab expects most of those who apply for voluntary separations from the lab to be of retirement age, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

The workforce reduction, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, was announced by new ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia in a Tuesday morning email to employees.

The lab hopes to reduce its workforce of 4,800 employees by about 7.3 percent (350 positions) using voluntary separations. Involuntary separations will be used if necessary.

On Wednesday, ORNL spokesperson Morgan McCorkle said the lab plans to reduce about 250 overhead positions and 100 research and development jobs. Overhead jobs are those not directly related to research. The research and development staff who will be eligible for voluntary separations are those who charge more than half of their time to overhead accounts or whose program budgets were reduced in fiscal year 2017, McCorkle said.

A specific breakdown of the affected jobs is not yet available. [Read more…]

ORNL to reduce workforce by up to 350 by end of year

Posted at 1:13 pm August 8, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Thomas Zacharia

Note: This story was last updated at 10:50 a.m. Aug. 9.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will reduce its workforce by up to 350 positions by the end of the calendar year, ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a Tuesday morning email to employees.

The workforce restructuring plan has been proposed by UT-Battelle and approved by the U.S. Department of Energy, Zacharia said. ORNL is DOE’s largest multiprogram science and energy laboratory.

“From time to time, sustaining our work effectively and efficiently requires the most difficult of decisions, which is to reduce our staff in certain areas of the lab,” Zacharia said. “To allow us to provide for our research missions and to allocate resources most productively, the Department of Energy has approved a Workforce Restructuring Plan proposed by UT-Battelle that will reduce ORNL’s workforce by up to 350 positions by the end of the calendar year.”

Zacharia said the reductions will be made primarily among staff who charge to “indirect accounts,” along with some research staff affected by fiscal year 2017 funding who could not be placed elsewhere in the lab.

“By reducing these positions, ORNL will be able to maintain competitive chargeout rates while freeing resources for discretionary investments that will modernize lab infrastructure and maintain core research capabilities in the mission areas assigned to ORNL,” Zacharia said. [Read more…]

DOE: Pavement collapse at ORNL a significant distance from U-233 storage area

Posted at 12:23 pm August 8, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A pavement collapse at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in early June was a significant distance from an area where uranium-233 is stored at Building 3019, the U.S. Department of Energy said Monday.

The collapse of about 36 square feet of pavement was near Building 3019B, which is an inactive facility, the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management said.

The hot cells in the facility were not affected, and they do not contain radioactive material, DOE said.

“There were no immediate safety hazards to personnel, but as a precaution, the area was barricaded until crews made repairs,” DOE said.

Uranium-233, or U-233, is a fissionable material, and Building 3019 area is a secure and controlled area. The pavement collapse was reported by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on June 19. [Read more…]

Total solar eclipse Aug. 21 in Oak Ridge area path

Posted at 7:01 pm July 29, 2017
By Carolyn Krause Leave a Comment

The path of totality for the solar eclipse in the United States on Aug. 21, 2017. (Submitted photo)

By Carolyn Krause

Note: This story was updated at 12 p.m. July 30.

On Monday, August 21, a total solar eclipse will blot out the sun starting at 2:31 p.m. for viewers in areas within an hour’s drive of Oak Ridge.

The 70-mile-wide path of totality will extend from Oregon to South Carolina, passing through Nashville, Murfreesboro, Sparta, Cookeville, Crossville, Sweetwater, Athens, and Clingman’s Dome. Oak Ridge will not quite be in the path of totality. The sky over our area will gradually darken starting at 1:03 p.m. It will be plunged into total darkness for up to two minutes and 40 seconds, depending on where you are. The sky should brighten at about 4 p.m.

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

See a map by NASA and a link to a Washington Post interactive map in this story.

The last time the moon’s shadows in a total solar eclipse crossed our nation from the Pacific to the Atlantic was almost a century ago. On June 8, 1918, the path of totality ran from Washington State to Florida. The next total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. will occur on April 8, 2024. [Read more…]