Frank Munger

• Frank Munger: Signs that Y-12 dispute nearing a resolution? Published 02/08/2012 at 4 a.m.

  Construction of Y-12's new high-security storage facility was completed in 2009, and it is now loaded with the nation's primary stockpile of bomb-grade uranium.

• Frank Munger: Ted the fed tries life as a contractor Published 02/01/2012 at 4 a.m.

  Ted Sherry said he didn't want to leave Oak Ridge, and he didn't. He just swapped valleys, jumping from Bear Creek to Bethel.

• Frank Munger: Pay freeze doesn't halt raises at Y-12 Published 01/18/2012 at 4 a.m.

  Based on comments I've received, some employees at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant clearly felt like they'd been victimized by the pay freeze at U.S. Department of Energy plants. Those feelings seemed to grow and amplify after it was reported ...

• Frank Munger: Sherry leaving government, not Oak Ridge Published 12/21/2011 at 4 a.m.

  Ted Sherry is leaving federal service, but he's not leaving Oak Ridge.

• Frank Munger: Haul road not hot despite rad traffic Published 12/14/2011 at 4 a.m.

  Thousands of truckloads of low-level radioactive waste have been shipped from the former K-25 uranium-enrichment site to the U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear landfill in Oak Ridge over the past few years. And, because of the availability of a six-mile ...

• Frank Munger: Ruling helps ex-Y-12 workers on claims Published 12/07/2011 at 4 a.m.

  The Department of Labor is notifying former workers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant that the plant's "Special Exposure Cohort" has been expanded. This will make it easier for sick workers or their survivors to collect on claims under the ...

• Frank Munger: Preservation on the cheap Published 11/23/2011 at 4 a.m.

  K-25 is coming down, quite rapidly in fact, but there are still unresolved issues regarding the Manhattan Project building and historic preservation agreements.

• Frank Munger: In rough fiscal times, is UPF still essential? Published 11/09/2011 at 4 a.m.

  Site preparation for the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 is tentatively scheduled to begin about a year from now. But a lot could happen between now and then to alter the course of the multi-billion-dollar project, which has been described ...

• Frank Munger: ORNL deals with budget uncertainties Published 10/26/2011 at 4 a.m.

  Last month, Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced plans to eliminate up to 350 jobs, initially through a voluntary departures program and then — as necessary — involuntary layoffs. Applications for the Voluntary Separation Program will be accepted until Nov. 16.

• Frank Munger: Delay nuke cleanup for 50 years? Published 10/19/2011 at 4 a.m.

  So many needs and not so many dollars.

• Bomb plant demolition continues in Oak Ridge Updated 02/06/2012 at 1:36 p.m.

  OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) — K-25, the world's largest building at the time of its construction in World War II, is getting smaller by the day as workers — using...

• K-25 demolition continues, but history agreement holds key to finishing project Published 02/06/2012 at 4 a.m.

  OAK RIDGE — K-25, the world's largest building at the time of its construction in World War II, is getting smaller by the day as workers — using an armada of bulldozers, cranes and other tools of demolition — take ...

• Frank Munger: Outsourcing raises eyebrows; overnight guests few Published 02/06/2012 at midnight

  By Department of Energy standards, it was a relatively small contract, valued at about $15.8 million over five years, but the recently awarded contract was of interest because it involved the outsourcing of uranium work from the Y-12 nuclear weapons ...

• Ed Westcott, famed Oak Ridge photographer, turns 90 Published 01/31/2012 at 4 a.m.

  OAK RIDGE — In 1942, Ed Westcott was among the first few dozen employees to arrive at the East Tennessee site for ultrasecret work on the first atomic bombs, and he was the only one authorized to use a camera.

• Success or failure? Postscript on mercury cleanup not clear Published 01/27/2012 at 4 a.m.

  OAK RIDGE — A mercury cleanup project is nearing completion at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, but officials said it may be a year before they know if the Recovery Act-funded project was a success.

• 'Dozing' security guard resigns Published 01/27/2012 at 4 a.m.

  OAK RIDGE — The government's Oak Ridge security contractor confirmed that a security supervisor resigned Thursday after confessing to violations of company rules — including "dozing off" on the job and using a personal cellphone while on duty.

• More layoffs at USEC project in Oak Ridge Updated 01/26/2012 at 7:04 p.m.

  OAK RIDGE — USEC announced Thursday that more than 20 Oak Ridge employees will be laid off, effective today, as a result of changing priorities in the American Centrifuge Project.

• Guard allegedly found asleep at Oak Ridge nuke facility Published 01/24/2012 at 4 a.m.

  OAK RIDGE — The government's security contractor confirmed Monday it is investigating allegations that a security officer slept on the job and also used an unauthorized cellphone inside a high-security facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

• Weirdly wonderful: Artifacts from atomic age Published 01/21/2012 at 4 a.m.

  OAK RIDGE — Radium-powered golf balls. Fishing lures that glow in the dark. Atomic potions that add pep to your step and cure all that ails you.

• ORNL squeezes benefits to cut costs Published 01/18/2012 at 7 p.m.

  OAK RIDGE — As part of ongoing, multiple efforts to reduce costs and prepare for a "sustained period of budget pressure," Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason announced on Wednesday additional restructuring of the employee benefits program.

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