The Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Oak Ridge in May will feature presentations on advanced manufacturing, clean energy and a nuclear renaissance, and national security and cyber security.
The 2018 TVC National Summit is scheduled from May 29-31 at the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. It will be hosted by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in cooperation with U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann.
Agenda topics include: [Read more…]
Women enriching uranium in calutrons at Y-12 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. This famous “Calutron Girls†photograph by Manhattan Project photographer Ed Westcott prompted author Denise Kiernan to write the best-seller “The Girls of Atomic City.†(Photo by Ed Westcott)
What was life like for women during the Manhattan Project? Join National Park Service staff as they discuss the social changes that occurred during World War II and how that affected women in the Manhattan Project. The free interpretive program will take place at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 29. The program will outline the life for women before, during, and after World War II.
After the program, you may see the new photography display commemorating the life of women from all walks of life in Oak Ridge during World War II.
The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal project to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. Besides Oak Ridge, other sites that were involved in the Manhattan Project and included in the park are Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. [Read more…]
Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space. On Friday, March 9, 2018, the $70,000 science project got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Celebrating above by saying “NASA, we are a go!” are RMS students, teacher Todd Livesay, ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, and other Oak Ridge Schools staff and project volunteers. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m. March 11.
Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is the first middle school to ever be selected for a NASA program that launches small cube-shaped satellites into space.
On Friday, the $70,000 science project, which started about three years ago, got a $15,000 boost from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The Robertsville satellite, which will orbit a few hundred miles above Earth, will use a small camera to try to take pictures of forest regrowth in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg. That area burned in forest fires fed by high winds after Thanksgiving 2016, killing 14 people and damaging or destroying more than 2,500 homes and businesses.
The RMS satellite, named RamSat, will use a radio to relay its images and other data back to Earth.
A project proposal was submitted to NASA in November, and Oak Ridge Schools learned this month that the RMS proposal had been accepted.
“This is such an exciting opportunity for the students!” said Peter Thornton, one of the RamSat team leaders from ORNL. “They will now have the chance to design, build, carry out, and own a satellite mission.” [Read more…]
The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
United Way contributions at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge totaled about $1.1 million.
The contributions were announced last week by Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, the contractor that manages and operates the two sites. Contributions from employees, retirees, and the corporation were gathered during the sites’ recent campaigns, CNS said in a press release.
Corporate gifts of $150,000 also added to the total, CNS said. Funds also were raised through special events, such as silent auctions, and the sales of jewelry, books, and food items. This year, both sites’ employees added to their United Way activities by raising funds and supplies for local veteran resource centers, the press release said. [Read more…]
Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty is sworn in by Energy Secretary Rick Perry as the U.S. Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2018. (Photo by NNSA)
Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty was sworn in Thursday by Energy Secretary Rick Perry as the U.S. Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Gordon-Hagerty is responsible for managing and operating the NNSA in support of the nuclear security agenda of Perry and President Donald Trump, a press release said. The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site.
“Lisa Gordon-Hagerty exemplifies the leadership and institutional knowledge required to oversee the National Nuclear Security Administration,†Perry said in the press release. “I am especially proud of the fact that she is the first woman in history to lead the NNSA and look forward to working together to address the administration’s goal of modernizing our nuclear security enterprise.â€
Gordon-Hagerty has more than 30 years of national security experience, the press release said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council has a special meeting at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, to consider two contracts, one for water line repair and the other for pool repair. The water line repair is an emergency repair to a 24-inch feed that is considered critical for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and passes through the Y-12 National Security Complex.
The Oak Ridge City Council has a special meeting at 4 p.m. today (Friday, February 16) to consider two contracts, one for water line repair and the other for pool repair. The water line repair is an emergency repair to a 24-inch feed that is considered critical for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and passes through the Y-12 National Security Complex.
If approved, the water line repair contract would be valued at roughly $100,000, and it would be awarded to Hurst Excavating LLC of Knoxville. The project would replace about 400 feet of the 24-inch water line, which is along Bear Creek Road inside the Y-12 National Security Complex.
The project is a joint effort between the City of Oak Ridge and the U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira A. McWaters said in a February 15 memo to City Manager Mark Watson. The city-DOE water contract specifies that repairs are to be shared 50/50, McWaters said.
The cast iron water line runs from east to west from the city’s water treatment plant, which is on Pine Ridge at Y-12, to Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The line failed January 29. It is part of the infrastructure that was transferred to the city in May 2000, when the city assumed ownership and began operating the water treatment plant, which had previously been owned by DOE. [Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 9:15 a.m.
Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday as the U.S. Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security and administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Once she is sworn in to the position, Gordon-Hagerty will be responsible for the management and operation of NNSA, supporting the nuclear security agenda of Energy Secretary Rick Perry and President Donald Trump, a press release said.
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site.
The NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within DOE, and it is responsible for nuclear nonproliferation, the nation’s naval reactor programs, and managing and securing the nation’s nuclear weapons. It also responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad; provides safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons, components, and special nuclear materials; and has other national security missions. [Read more…]
NASA fission power system concept (Image credit: NASA Glenn Research Center)
A reactor core that includes highly enriched uranium alloy components produced at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge could power future space exploration, including on the Moon and Mars, federal officials said.
The reactor core fabricated at Y-12 has been delivered to the Nevada National Security Site, where it is being used in a experiment called Kilopower. That’s a new power source that could provide safe, efficient energy for future robotic and human space exploration missions, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. The power source could help provide lighting, water, and oxygen on those missions.
NASA said the pioneering space power system, which would use nuclear fission, could provide up to 10 kilowatts of continuous electrical power for at least 10 years. That’s enough power to run two average households.
Four Kilopower units would provide enough power to establish an outpost, NASA said. The system could enable long-term stays on planetary surfaces.
Testing, which started in November, is being performed through this spring at the National Critical Experiments Research Center in the Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada National Security Site. [Read more…]
The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 2:50 p.m.
The Trump administration has requested more money for the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration than it did last year, but the impact could vary at Oak Ridge’s major federal sites.
The NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency within DOE, would get a big increase of $2.2 billion, compared to spending levels enacted in fiscal year 2017. The boost would raise NNSAÂ funding to $15.1 billion. The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site.
The NNSA proposal is more than $1 billion higher than the $13.9 billion requested by the Trump administration in fiscal year 2018, which was up $1.4 billion over the fiscal year 2016 spending level ($12.5 billion).
Oak Ridge Today reported last year that Y-12’s funding would have been up 25 percent under President Donald Trump’s budget request for the current fiscal year, if Congress had approved the proposed spending levels. [Read more…]
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has awarded Strata-G LLC a contract to perform environmental sampling as part of an effort to build a new disposal facility on the DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation. (Photo courtesy DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has awarded Strata-G LLC a contract to perform environmental sampling as part of its effort to build a new waste disposal facility on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
Under the contract, valued at about $1 million, the veteran-owned small business is responsible for drilling 16 wells to access groundwater, characterize surface water, and gather soil samples for geotechnical investigations at the Bear Creek Valley site, located on federal land west of the Y-12 National Security Complex, a press release said. That site is known as the Central Bear Creek Valley site.
Information gathered from the environmental sampling activities will be used to determine if the site is suited for future waste disposal operations and to support detailed design for the new disposal facility, known as the Environmental Management Disposal Facility. Fieldwork is scheduled for completion in April, and a final report on the effort will be released later this year, the press release said. [Read more…]
During the federal government shutdown, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park location at the American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue will remain open to the public and continue to provide visitor services, but there will be no visitor services provided by the National Park Service. (Submitted photo)
The federal government shut down this weekend after federal funding expired Friday, and an official outlined the impacts to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, on Sunday.
During the shutdown, there will be no visitor services provided by the National Park Service at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, including public information, said Kris Kirby, superintendent of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Denver. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Because of the federal government shutdown, National Park Service social media and websites are not being monitored or updated and may not reflect current conditions, Kirby said. All park programs have been canceled.
Kirby said national parks will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures.
“During this time, the following locations will remain open to the public and continue to provide visitor services,” Kirby said: [Read more…]
The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
With some apparent exceptions, employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge will continue working even after the federal government shut down after federal funding expired Friday.
Y-12 posted an announcement after the federal government shut down early Saturday. The announcement said workers at Y-12 and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, are expected to report to work on their next scheduled work day unless they have previously approved leave or have been given formal notice by their management to not report to work.
A few other federal organizations and federal contractors didn’t immediately appear to have posted notices as of early Saturday afternoon, about 12 hours after the shutdown began. Those include Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]
