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Frank Munger: Migrating rad waste a continuing concern
Published 4/24/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 0 comments
The concern has been around for several years now, but it’s still not clear whether radioactive wastes seeping from Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s old burial grounds are polluting groundwater on the other side of the Clinch River.
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Frank Munger: GAO ruling on Y-12 contract due by April 29
Published 4/10/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 0 comments
The combined contract to manage the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons facilities is a big deal to a bunch of people, and a ruling on the contract protests is expected before the end of the month, which should make a ...
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Frank Munger: Expand the SNS? That's a billion-dollar question
Published 4/3/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 2 comments
The government’s science budget is tight, and the future outlook is for more of the same. It might even get worse.
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Frank Munger: When Y-12 breach was over, finger-pointing began
Published 3/20/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 6 comments
There were various, unofficial reports of testy relations between B&W Y-12, the managing contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, and WSI-Oak Ridge, Y-12’s protective force contractor, long before the July 28, 2012, security breach. But it would seem the ...
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Frank Munger: Would copycat protests result in bloodshed?
Published 3/13/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 5 comments
The penetration of Y-12’s vaunted security last year by three protesters, one of whom was 82 at the time and all of them eligible for AARP, made it look all too easy, and that has some folks worried about copycats.
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Frank Munger: Y-12 contract delay is like putting chaos on hold
Published 3/6/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 0 comments
The transition of contractors at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant is on hold because of protests lodged against the government’s award of a new combined contract, which includes the management of the Pantex Plant in Texas as well as Y-12.
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Frank Munger: ORNL knows the drill for fateful Friday
Published 2/27/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 0 comments
There’s a lot of uncertainty about sequestration and the potential impacts, but Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason indicated one thing was for sure: Lab employees will report to work on March 1.
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Frank Munger: Shipping nastiest waste to resume in 2014
Published 2/20/2013 at 6:28 p.m. 1 comment
It’s been called the nastiest waste in Oak Ridge, and that’s saying something. The stockpile of transuranic waste contains long-lived, hotly radioactive materials, most of which were generated by nuclear reactor operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Some of the ...
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Frank Munger: With contract on hold, Y-12 employees have extra time to worry
Published 2/6/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 8 comments
Strange times indeed.
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Frank Munger: Turned upside down: Tough times for Y-12 workers
Published 1/30/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 5 comments
I'm not sure the general public realizes what a strange time this has been for workers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge.
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Frank Munger: What do Oak Ridge contractors do best?
Published 1/9/2013 at 3:00 a.m. 0 comments
Bob Hart, former manager of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge operations (1971-83), once told me that the best thing DOE contractor Martin Marietta did was lay people off.
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Frank Munger: The unpredictable nature of DOE contracting
Published 12/19/2012 at 3:00 a.m. 1 comment
On Dec. 13, 1983, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of Martin Marietta to manage the government's three big Oak Ridge plants. At the time, the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (known as K-25, its original building) was ...
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Frank Munger: How many DOE workers cheat on their expenses?
Published 12/12/2012 at 3:00 a.m. 15 comments
There was some pretty interesting news last week out of South Carolina, where the government cracked down on a former Savannah River Site scientist who allegedly filed fraudulent expense reports. Those included reimbursement for his lodging while working at the ...
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Frank Munger: DOE's return to Fed Building now planned for May
Published 12/5/2012 at 3:00 a.m. 0 comments
It took a lot longer than anybody expected, but the General Services Administration finally awarded a contract for asbestos cleanup at the Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge.
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Frank Munger: Agencies sharing resources helped boost Titan to No. 1
Published 11/28/2012 at 3:00 a.m. 0 comments
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration paid dividends in helping ORNL's Titan debut as the world's fastest supercomputer, and ORNL Director Thom Mason cited the relationship between federal entities as a way to make ...
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