Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.
A new center to research and produce isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could cost an estimated $250 million.
ORNL isotope center estimated to cost $250 million
ETEC announces Muddy Boot, Young Professional winners
The East Tennessee Economic Council in December announced two winners of its Muddy Boot Award: Chris Whaley, president of Roane State Community College, and Jim Rushton, who is retired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Katherine Roberts, deputy director of Y-12 Production Operations for Consolidated Nuclear Security, was named the 25th recipient of the Postma Young Professional Medal.
The Muddy Boot Award pays tribute to people who make East Tennessee better through their work and community activities.
The Postma Young Professional Medal recognizes a young professional making a difference in their workplace and the community.
[Read more…]Y-12 replacing old, high-risk water lines
Sixty-year-old water lines are being replaced at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and 27 of the old lines are identified as high-risk and a Top 10 threat.
Work to replace the pipes began in July 2022 and will continue in April 2023, according to an emailed response to questions provided by spokesperson Kathryn King. The water line replacements are scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2025 at a projected cost of $38.9 million. The old cast iron pipes will be replaced with new ductile iron pipes.
Safety board wants briefing on Y-12 uranium reactions
A federal safety board has asked for a report and briefing after 15 exothermic (heat-producing) reactions of uranium materials were reported at the Y-12 National Security Complex between 2016 and 2021.
The report and briefing have been requested by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which wants a response from the National Nuclear Safety Administration. The NNSA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy and oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons work, including at Y-12.
CNS awards $120K in grants
Twenty-two East Tennessee nonprofits received a total of $121,600 from the Consolidated Nuclear Security Community Investment Fund at a ceremony October 17.
Since 2015, the fund has awarded 180 grants to more than 120 nonprofit organizations and educational institutions in 20 East Tennessee counties, totaling a combined $1.04 million, a press release said.
The Community Investment Fund is a partnership between CNS, the managing and operating contractor of Y-12 National Security Complex, and the East Tennessee Foundation.
[Read more…]Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Some of the waste came from the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge and is now stored in Ohio, but a portion of the converted depleted uranium could eventually be returned to Oak Ridge for use in nuclear weapons.
DOE’s Office of Environmental Management has had about 67,000 cylinders of the depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) stored at two conversion facilities in Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio. The facilities convert the DUF6 into two primary products, depleted uranium oxide (a more stable chemical form) and hydrofluoric acid, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Y-12 now getting power from Pine Ridge substation
Submitted
The Y-12 National Security Complex flipped the switch on a new era as crews finalized the process of moving the entire site’s electrical supply to the new Pine Ridge substation.
In June, the Building 9204-02 (Beta 2) and Building 9201-01 (Alpha 1) electrical feeds were disconnected from the Elza-1 substation, marking the final load transition to Pine Ridge.
The new substation was built as one of seven Uranium Processing Facility Project subprojects. Designed and built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Pine Ridge substation construction began in 2017 and was completed in 2020 at a cost of $60 million. The project team received the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary’s Project Management Achievement Award for finishing $13 million under budget and six months ahead of schedule. It is a 70-MVA (mega volt amp) facility and includes:
[Read more…]DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge
U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tours began running again on July 11, and they are scheduled to continue through November.
“The program is a longtime staple in the community, helping educate residents and visitors about the site’s rich history and current missions,” DOE said in an EM Update newsletter published Tuesday. (EM stands for environmental management.)
The tour program started in 1996 and has attracted tens of thousands of visitors from all 50 states, DOE said.
The three-and-a-half-hour tours allow visitors to see all three DOE sites on the Oak Ridge Reservation, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Y-12 National Security Complex, and East Tennessee Technology Park.
[Read more…]Y-12, Pantex employees celebrated for inventions, patents
Employees at Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, were recently celebrated for inventions and patents.
Y-12 employees filed eight invention disclosures during fiscal year 2021, a press release said. The inventions ranged from environmental and electrical load controllers to diagnostic tools, sensors, and unique material processes. Among those recognized were Eric Spurgeon, Justin Holland, Rachel Bachorek, Robert Cole, Ed Ripley, and Jacob Miller, the press release said.
At Pantex, Stephen Jones and Brian Harlow filed an invention disclosure for laser pulse shaping for a laser-powered bed fusion printer.
[Read more…]NNSA purchases LeMond building
Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Dec. 30 to correct that the NNSA has purchased the LeMond building.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has purchased a building in west Oak Ridge that has been the site of two major industrial announcements, one by CVMR and the other by LeMond Composites. Both projects had promised at least $125 million in investments and hundreds of jobs, but neither has proceeded as expected.
NNSA awards Y-12, Pantex contract
A contract worth $2.8 billion per year has been awarded to Nuclear Production One LLC to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration announced the contract award on Monday.
NPOne is a limited liability company that consists of Fluor Federal Services Incorporate and AECOM Energy and Construction, an Amentum company, a press release said.
“For over 40 years, the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas has been the nation’s primary nuclear weapon assembly, disassembly, and life-extension center,” NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby said in the press release. “The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has been strengthening our national security and reducing the global threat from weapons of mass destruction since 1943. I look forward to NPOne helping us accomplish our mission.”
[Read more…]Mercury cleanup: COLEX equipment deactivated at Y-12
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.
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