* The Y-12 plant at Oak Ridge has manufactured parts for every nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal. The plant specializes in so-called secondaries, the second stage of nuclear warheads. After nuclear weapons are retired, the various components manufactured at Y-12 are returned to Oak Ridge for storage or dismantlement.
* The Manhattan Project was the federal government's top-secret crash program to produce an atomic bomb. The first production complex, in Tennessee, housed a plutonium pile and separation facility, an electromagnetic plant, and a thermal diffusion plant. It was called Clinton Engineer Works during 1943-45. The work force peaked at 47,000. After WWII it was renamed the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which now specializes in uranium and national security research. [Source: Engineering News-Record, December 2004]
* Frank Munger is a regular columnist for Knoxville paper covering Oak Ridge. An archive of his recent columns is available here.
* "Y-12 National Security Complex 1943-2003; A proud history - A promising future"is a special publication of the Knoxville News Sentinel.
- - - - - - - - - -
February 24, 2008
This is from the front page of today's Chattanooga Times Free Press, of Tennessee.
October 25, 2006
*
ORNL gets $4.5M for hydrogen work
Knoxville News Sentinel
*
OR guards union OKs labor agreement extension
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
*
Y-12 challenges report on unsafe uranium storage
Oak Ridger
*
Munger: Weinberg was Baker's 'guiding light' on science
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* [2006-03-31] OR selected for nuke review work
Richard Powelson, Knoxville News Sentinel
* [2006-03-29] Work Resumes at Tenn. Uranium Storehouse
Duncan Mansfield, Guardian
* [2006-03-03] Nuke chief: Y-12 integral to future plans
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
old Oak Ridge postcard
-auctioned on eBay in 2005
* 2005-03-29: ORNL's Jaguar will rip into record speeds
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* 2005-03-25: DOE picks CH2M-WG for $2.9B cleanup
Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-24: Groundwater and TSCA Incinerator PHAs presented
Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-23: DOE satisfied with budget proposal
Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-23: NOTICES Meetings: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory BoardÑ Oak Ridge Reservation, TN, 14661Ð14662 [05Ð5727]
Energy Department
* 2005-03-22: International inspections may end at the Y-12 plant
Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-16: Retired K-25 technical director advocates saving historical site
Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-15: Wackenhut services in Oak Ridge extended
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* 2005-03-14: Founding editor Dick Smyser dies at 81
Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-14: Managers: Sick workers bill could lead to layoffs
Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-10: Oak Ridge oxide conversion facility, shut down since '92, to be restarted
Knoxville News Sentinel
* 2005-03-10: NNSA authorizes restart of key Y-12 facility
Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-09: Data Report: Radiological Contamination Around the Oak Ridge Reservation, Tennessee
The RadioActivist Campaign
* 2005-03-08: DOE celebrates Women's History Month
Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-08: ORNL clean up polluted ponds
WBIR-TV
* 2005-03-07: DOE plans to extend incinerator operations
Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-07: In-home nursing available to those exposed to uranium
Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-04: Portions of ORNL building reopen
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* 2005-03-03: ORNL facility reopened after Wednesday incident
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* 2005-03-03: Oak Ridge whistleblower loses latest legal battle with DOE
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* 2005-03-03: Wackenhut focus of IG investigation
Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-03: Radiation release reported at ORNL
Ellen Rogers, Oak Ridger
* 2005-03-02: Nuke facility evacuated at ORNL
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
December 14, 2004
* ORNL's course moves forward; UT-Battelle will continue steering lab's future for another 5 years
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel (registration required)
* Tax breaks, grant keep firm in OR
Bob Fowler, Knoxville News Sentinel
FBF Nuclear Containers LLC employs 45 people, making a variety of carbon-steel boxes for hauling both high- and low-level radioactive waste and hazardous wastes. The company's request for a four-year property tax break, and a $50,000 grant won recommendation from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board. The recommendation goes to City Council, which next meets January 10. Employment could possibly quadruple soon if the company, as expected, lands other DOE contract. The company looked at other sites to relocate, but chose to stay in Oak Ridge because of the City Council incentives program. The grant amount is slightly higher than the total of the property taxes that the company would pay during the next four years.
* Y-12 loans equipment to SCSU engineering program
Oak Ridger (registration required)
In September, Y-12 signed a Mentor-Protege Agreement with South Carolina State University, which is the only historically black college and university with a nuclear engineering program. As part of the program, Y-12 is loaning the school some radiation detection equipment to be used for training and research projects. The equipment includes a portable alpha-beta sample counter and associated electronics; two portable radiation survey "pancake" detectors; an ionization chamber dose rate instrument; and one of the large stand-in types of personnel contamination monitors.
* 'Significant achievement': BWXT Y-12 marks safety milestone
Oak Ridger
The Y-12 National Security Complex recently achieved safety milestone - 6-million work-hours without a lost workday injury. There are 4,700 employees at Y-12. "Y-12's recordable injury rate is the lowest it has been in 14 years and continues to improve," a company press release stated. "The plant's safety index - a measure of all injuries and their significance - is 50 percent of what it was in 2003."
December 13, 2004
* ORNL orders reactor changes
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* UT-Battelle to get 5-year lab pact
Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel
* ORNL hopes makeover keeps isotope reactor running for 30 years
Oak Ridger
* DOE authorizes exercise of UT-Battelle contract option
Oak Ridger
* Our View: Oak Ridge, TVA to make history (again) with Jan. 18 meeting
Oak Ridger
November 8, 2004
"extensive seismic deficiencies" at Y-12
A new analysis of earthquake safety at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant at Oak Ridge has found "extensive seismic deficiencies", according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board staff memo dated October 15. The memo notes that there are problems with the building structure as well as systems and components. The federal government hopes to replace the old shops over the next decade. The estimate to bring the facilities into compliance with current standards is up to 72 million dollars.
[Source: Associated Press, "Updated analysis finds quake deficiencies", November 8, 2004]
March 19, 2004
* MOX - Oak Ridge's expected role in post-irradiation exams of lead assemblies
December 1, 2003