ORNL in the News

(Knoxville News Sentinel) Until recently, however, no one had compiled the history of ORNL's reactors - 13 all told - into a single document. Murray Rosenthal, retired deputy director of the laboratory, accomplished that with a new report that describes the reactors individually and collectively, beginning, of course, with the Graphite Reactor in World War II... 11/1

Going green: UT directing energy into courses on sustainability

(Knoxville News Sentinel) Across America's campuses, green is growing. And the University of Tennessee is no exception. The state institution has ramped up recycling efforts, rolled out an extensive energy savings and carbon reduction program and encouraged staff and students alike to participate by riding the bus or bikes and turning off lights and computers after hours... 11/1

SRNL joins SUNRISE consortium to provide nuclear education, training

(Aiken Standard) The U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River National Laboratory and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC signed a Memorandum of Agreement to become active partners in joint activities with the Southeastern Universities Nuclear Reactors Institute for Science and Education Inc. (SUNRISE)... 10/31

Argonne Scientists Awarded Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics

(HPC Wire) Steven Pieper and Robert Wiringa, senior scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, have won the 2010 Tom W. Bonner Prize in nuclear physics. The award will be presented by the American Physical Society in Washington, D.C., in February 2010... 10/29

Brain scientists try to manage dopamine’s effects

(Richmond Times-Dispatch) The good, the bad and the ugly: That's a quick summary of the effects of dopamine, a natural brain chemical that is linked to pleasure, addiction and disease. This little molecule -- it consists of only 22 atoms -- is essential to life but can be a curse sometimes. Too much or too little of it can lead to drug abuse, reckless thrill-seeking, obesity, the tremors of Parkinson's disease, even restless-leg syndrome... 10/31

Simek: UT needs to focus on outcomes

(Knoxvile News Sentinel) The ongoing discussion about the reorganization of higher education in Tennessee has focused on structure, but University of Tennessee Interim President Jan Simek said he is “very encouraged” that the conversation has begun to shift toward productivity out of universities... 11/2

Grant to help clean, revamp memorial to Union soldiers

(Knoxville News Sentinel) The 60-foot-tall monument, also known as the Tennessee or Wilder monument, is getting a makeover thanks to $144,444 that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gave the to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The entire amount will go to clean and refurbish the monument... 11/2

energy & science policy

North Korea Presses U.S. to Agree to Bilateral Talks

(NY Times) North Korea has again pressed the United States for a decision about starting bilateral talks, with a diplomat warning Monday that the North was “ready to go our own way” with its nuclear weapons program... 11/1

Independent experts to study safety data on H1N1 vaccine

(Washington Post) An independent panel of experts will meet Monday to review the safety of the swine flu vaccine as part of the government's efforts to monitor the unprecedented immunization campaign... 11/2

A Bid to Cut Emissions Looks Away From Coal

(NY Times) As Congress debates legislation to slow global warming by limiting emissions, engineers are tinkering with ways to capture and store carbon dioxide, the leading heat-trapping gas... 10/31

Climate bill faces hurdles in Senate

(Washington Post) The climate-change bill that has been moving slowly through the Senate will face a stark political reality when it emerges for committee debate on Tuesday: With Democrats deeply divided on the issue, unless some Republican lawmakers risk the backlash for signing on to the legislation, there is almost no hope for passage... 11/2

Toxic waste trickles toward New Mexico's water sources

(Chicago Tribune) Reporting from Los Alamos, N.M. - More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to 250,000 residents of northern New Mexico... 10/31

Inside Energy Extra

10/30 A daily report on U.S. energy policy
[ORNL users only]

science & technology

Ship built with WTC steel comes to namesake city

(AP) The USS New York was scheduled to sail up the Hudson River Monday. The $1 billion ship was built in Louisiana with about 7.5 tons of World Trade Center steel melted down and used in the bow.

When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison

(NY Times) The crash might once have been written off as a tragic accident. Ms. Curtis’s alcohol level was zero. But her phone, which had flown onto the road and was handed to the police by a witness, told a story that — under new British sentencing guidelines — would send its owner to jail... 11/1

Returning to Science

(Science Magazine) The challenge of juggling a science career and personal and family obligations is not a new issue, particularly for women. In a career where productivity and publications define your value, can you take a couple of years off and then make a successful return?.. 10/30

13 ORNL reactors reveal history

SNS reaches megawatt power