News from Lockheed Martin Energy Systems and Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation
Number 18 December 18, 1997

Beaming
Y-12 workers think safety, chill accidents
Recovering
Lab Lines
     "Giving a hoot" can open new horizons
     Cooper again off for the bounding main
     Available: Room with a view
     Good things happen when word gets out
Overloaded? You can manage stress, holiday or otherwise
DOE boosts Portsmouth industrial park plans
U.S. Savings Bonds
     National poster contest deadline soon
Fishing lousy? Blame El Niño
In the System
Noteworthy
Readers . . .
Retirees Roundup
Retirements
Deaths

Season for giving Lockheed Martin is helping spread holiday cheer to the area's needy. On December 9, officials from Energy Systems and ORNL presented checks totaling $45,000 to several local agencies and charities. They were      The Holiday Bureau of Oak Ridge, $10,000;      The Empty Stocking Fund (managed by the Knoxville News-Sentinel), $10,000;      Knox Area Rescue Ministries, $5,000;      The Empty Pantry Fund (managed by the Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times), $5,000;      REACH (Roane Enriches Another Child's Holiday), $5,000;      Toys for Tots (managed by the Loudon County sheriff's office), $5,000; and      Holiday Hope for Morgan Countians (managed by Morgan County executive's office), $5,000.      Lockheed Martin annually reinvests approximately 10 percent of its fee from DOE in the East Tennessee community.

Beaming

RNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor is poised for a thorough makeover that should make it one of the world's best scientific facilities. In late 1999, the research reactor will enter a lengthy shutdown for the scheduled replacement of its permanent beryllium reflector.

It is a major job. When completed, the HFIR will boast not only a new reflector, but also better beam lines for the neutrons it produces.

With funding in hand for major upgrades, ORNL is taking advantage of the outage to complete a number of tasks to increase the scientific performance of HFIR, particularly for neutron scattering.

This massive undertaking involves the cooperation of DOE-ORO and many ORNL divisions, including Research Reactors, Solid State, Plant and Equipment, ORNL and Central Engineering, Engineering Technology, Metals and Ceramics, Chemical and Analytical Sciences, Chemical Technology, Instrumentation and Controls, Life Sciences, Computational Physics and Engineering, Purchasing and others.

To Solid State Division Director Jim Roberto, timing is everything. The reflector replacement provides the perfect window for making the improvements in the HFIR's beam lines.

"We have to replace the beam lines anyway," Roberto says. "Instead of just replacing them as is, we've got an opportunity to install new, better ones."

The permanent reflector prevents neutrons from escaping the reactor, providing more neutrons for the beam lines and for other HFIR missions, including isotope production, materials irradiation and neutron activation analysis. A number of improvements to those beam lines and other facilities will greatly enhance the reactor's neutron-scattering capabilities, providing the scientific community with one of the world's best analytical research tools.

HFIR's four beam tubes are essentially pipes that channel neutrons from the reactor to scientific instruments in the HFIR beam room. All four upgraded tubes will be larger in diameter. One of the beam tubes will be specially designed to accommodate a cold neutron source, a major enhancement of the HFIR research facility.

"Cold neutrons are slower and have longer wavelengths than the thermal neutrons normally produced at HFIR, properties which are very useful for looking at the structure of materials—biological membranes or polymers—on these length scales," Roberto said.

A set of three cold neutron guides will allow the scattering instruments to be located where lower radiation backgrounds provide better signal-to-noise ratios.

"The HFIR cold source will be comparable to the world's best at the Institute Laue-Langevin in France," Roberto said. "Its beams will be 10 times brighter than other U.S. cold sources, putting ORNL on the world stage in cold neutron research."

Beryllium inserts in another higher energy, or thermal, neutron beam tube will enhance the neutron current feeding five new "super-mirror" neutron guides. These special guides will allow more instruments to be installed on that beam's facilities.

After the upgrade, HFIR's cold and thermal neutron beams will be among the world's brightest.

"After the upgrades, HFIR's thermal neutron beams, already among the world's brightest, will be two to three times brighter than any place in the world," Roberto said.

In addition to the new beam lines, new and upgraded neutron scattering instrumentation is being designed to further enhance HFIR's capabilities.

Many of the technologies being used in the upgrades were developed at ORNL. John Hayter and Herb Mook of the Solid State Division received an R&D 100 Award in 1989 for the development of supermirror technology used for neutron guides. Lee Robertson, also of Solid State, developed the beryllium insert concept being used to enhance the neutron flux into the thermal guide system. The cold-source team, under the leadership of Doug Selby of the Neutron Sciences Program Office, is pioneering the development of constant-pressure hydrogen cold sources.

The beam-tube modifications also include a number of complementary modifications of the permanent and semipermanent reflectors; the reflector container and pedestal assembly; and all beam-tube ancillary components such as the vessel flanges, surveillance specimen racks, annular shields, bellows collimators and coolant piping.

The beams are controlled by shutters, and all four beam-line shutters will be modified to accept the larger neutron-beam cross sections. Special shutters are being designed for both the supermirror guides and the cold source beam to meet experimenters' requirements. Engineers also must develop new methods for aligning the new horizontal beam flanges, which determine the alignment of the beam tubes. The alignments originally were done by workers, but radiation levels in the vessel now necessitate remote operation.

The permanent reflector has been replaced twice: in 1975 and 1983. Procedures and notes taken during the previous outages are being reviewed for lessons learned and historical radiation readings.

Researchers, engineers and craft workers have their work cut out for them. Still, for ORNL and the scientific community at large, the planning and effort will be well worth the investment on the world's highest flux research reactor with an expected useful life of another 30 years.

The HFIR Upgrades project is coordinated by a steering committee chaired by Roberto and including Mike Farrar of the Research Reactors Division, who is responsible for reactor modifications; Colin West of the Neutron Sciences Program Office, who is responsible for the scientific facility upgrades; and neutron-scattering program leader Herb Mook of Solid State.—B.C.

Y-12 workers think safety, chill accidents

Safe guys, back row, left to right: O.R. Spisak, Nolan McAffee, Bob Van Hook, Y.A. Lively; middle row, Charlie Goins, Harold Treadway, Gary Gee and Harold Wilson; front row, Randy Ruth and Bill Alexander. Photo by Bill Wilburn

-12 refrigeration and air conditioning maintenance personnel in the Facilities Maintenance Organization have their safety procedures down cold and continue to set records.

As of December 15, the 13-person group has worked 1,625 days—nearly four and one-half years—without an injury. That is, they have worked not just without a lost-time accident but without any kind of injury.

"You could say we go out each day with safety in mind," supervisor Harold Treadway said.

Senior management would like to see all organizations accomplish that kind of a safety record. Energy Systems President Bob Van Hook met informally with the group to discuss safety and learn how they have accumulated a four-and-one-half year record of safety excellence.

Describing their accomplishment as a "high-quality attitude toward workplace safety," Van Hook said he would like to spread both their safety record and their attitude to the rest of the plant.

The consensus among the group is that safety begins with teamwork and awareness. "We always look out for each other. We work in two-person teams and will both check out a job for potential dangers before beginning work," A. Y. Lively said.

According to Harold Wilson, the team members talk safety on the job. "We are working around high-voltage equipment and steam lines and moving machinery. You have to be thinking safety," he said.

Treadway said that each day begins with a discussion of the job list for that day, including any potential safety concerns or potential problems involved in a specific job.

In Charlie Goins' opinion, each man is a "safety advocate"—such thinking "comes with the territory," he said. "We have to be thinking safety. You find out quickly in this group, as it should be with other groups, that if you are not working safely, somebody will call it on you."

Van Hook posed the question of whether the group accepts the idea that if people work around electricity they will—sooner or later—be shocked or burned.

Randy Ruth said that such a philosophy is very risky. "When you work with high voltages, there are not a lot of chances to make mistakes. Sometimes you only get one mistake and it can be your last. You have to think about your own safety and the safety of the person working with you."

The group is responsible for more than 3,000 air conditioners, water coolers, refrigerators, large chillers and other such equipment at Y-12 and Charlotte and Cheyenne halls.

Members of the group are G. H. Scarbrough, Bill Alexander, J. G. Goddard, Harold Wilson, Gary Gee, A. Y. Lively, John Whalen, Nolan McAffee, Randy Ruth, T. P. Milligan, D. R. Spisak, Harold Treadway and Charlie Goins.—Bill Wiburn

Recovering

mployees at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, along with the rest of that Kentucky community, will spend a holiday season marred by the unfathomable. Three students at nearby Heath High School were shot to death by another student on the morning of December 1.

Several of the victims had close ties to Lockheed Martin Utility Services, the U.S. Enrichment Corporation contractor that operates the plant. One of the dead is the child of an LMUS employee, another is the child of a former LMUS employee, two of the wounded are children of LMUS employees and one of the wounded is the sister of an LMUS employee.

Both LMUS and Energy Systems are part of Lockheed Martin's Energy and Environment Sector.

Three of the 140 Energy Systems employees who work in DOE's EMEF program at the Paducah facility have children who attend Heath High School. None of those students were involved in the shooting. Nevertheless, the incident has rattled the entire community.

"We are shocked, angry and sorry all at the same time. Our hearts go out to our friends and neighbors who lost three children and to the youth charged with the crime and to his family," said Jimmy Massey, Energy Systems Paducah site manager, who has a child at Heath High.

"We pray for the two girls who survived but who may live with paralyzed limbs. We pray for the strength to help our children and spouses cope as we grieve our losses and get on with our lives."

The Paducah facility's close ties to the community and the school were underscored by the fact that PGDP medical staff were among the first on the scene. According to Susan Zimmerman of the LMUS public affairs office, a plant doctor, a nurse and two emergency medical technicians arrived moments after the shooting.

In the hours that followed, the McCracken County community found itself thrust into the national limelight under the worst imaginable circumstances.

"This is a small, closely knit community where the unthinkable did happen," Massey said. "We lost our innocence. Although the shootings were the act of an obviously disturbed youth, natural fears have raised concerns for the safety of all the students to a high level."

In the wake of the tragedy, Lockheed Martin Corporation has contributed $10,000 to establish scholarships and to support other activities at the school.—B.C.

Lab Lines

"Giving a hoot"

"Like most review panels, a lot of it was on my own time," she said. "None of us were paid, except for travel. And you still have to keep up with work at home."

It turned out to be a little more. The panel reviewed a draft environmental impact statement on the U.S. Forest Service's plans to protect the Sierra Nevada habitat of the California spotted owl. Officials hope to help the owl avoid the fate and controversy of its cousin, the northern spotted owl. The committee did find holes in the Forest Service's draft EIS, including a lack of plans for managing the Sierra Nevada's old-growth forest. "The owls need big pines, three to four feet in diameter," Graham said. Unlike the Pacific Northwest, Sierra Nevada forests have generally been selectively logged rather than clearcut. So even in areas that have been logged there are often still big trees.

The group also made recommendations on how to better consider information from timber industry, wildlife, state and other interests and to acknowledge the role of the ecosystem as a whole.

Graham, a forest ecologist who has worked for a timber company in the past, believes that wildlife and logging can coexist if one takes a landscape rather than a stand approach to management. "Given the current USFS guidelines for timber harvest in the Sierra Nevada National Forests which are highly restrictive, a good landscape-level plan could perhaps increase timber harvests while maintaining ecosystem values."

Although the focus of the report initially was for owl habitat, the group pointed out that direction for the entire forest was needed. For instance, fire prevention has led to a buildup of small flammable understory trees, dead branches and deadwood on the forest floor. These "fuels" could lead to a disastrous conflagration which would kill the large old overstory trees which are so important for spotted owl nesting. Such intense fires also affect the water supplies from the Sierra Nevada changing both flow and quality. And water is the most economically valuable product of the Sierra Nevada ecosystems.

One possible remedy for these fuels is being considered: Remove the excess understory trees and dead wood and use it as a biofeedstock fuel, possibly or ethanol production. The Lab has a rich history in this type of research. "To my delight, this fall DOE asked ORNL to assist in addressing the environmental aspects of removing this component of the forest. We want to make sure the proposed actions not only produce a renewable fuel and new jobs in the region but also are helping, not harming the National Forests," Graham said.

Cooper again off for the bounding main

They never seem to go anywhere that's warm, however. Cooper is accompanying Grebmeier on a three-week scientific cruise in the Ross Sea off Antarctica's McMurdo Station. University of Tennessee researcher Grebmeier has a climate-change grant to study winds blowing off Antarctica that are believed to move shelf ice away from shore, influencing biological productivity.

Cooper is taking the opportunity for some ORNL-related research of his own—doing seawater-sediment incubations to study a process called denitrification. This work examines how greenhouse-gas-related climate changes could be affecting the conversion of nitrates in seawater to nitrogen gas. The rate of denitrification, Cooper explained, is thought to be linked to the ocean's important ability to take up excess carbon dioxide that arises from greenhouse-gas emissions.

"If you have more nitrates, you have more phytoplankton production, which takes up the carbon dioxide," Cooper said.

For what it's worth, it will be summer in that part of the world.

Available: Room with a view

ORNL's Visitor Overlook is closed for good. The facility, which is across the road from ORNL's main entrance, was erected and furnished in 1982 to accommodate visitors during that world's-fair summer. In recent years it has pretty much fallen into disuse. At any rate, few funds have been available for keeping exhibits up to date or to maintain it sufficiently.

The building, which is mainly an open structure, in particular needs a new roof.

Sitting high on the hill as it does, it offers a majestic view of our federal research facility. Although somewhat out of the way, it's accessible by the road to the overflow parking lot or via a pastoral foot trail.

No firm plans have been put forth for the facility. If anyone has any ideas for the facility, Lab security chief Don Stallions says he'd like to hear them. "It's a great location," he said.

Good things happen when word gets out

Many publications and other media picked up on the news release, including Business Week. A West Coast company read that article, and now a license agreement is in the works.

Developer Mike Simpson said the company probably would have never heard about his technology if the article hadn't appeared. He added that National Geographic magazine will have a brief article on Critter early next year.

If you have a project or technology worth telling about (see the side column), it might be worth giving Public Affairs, or Ridgelines, a call.

Overloaded? You can manage stress, holiday or otherwise

If we feel that we have to be Martha Stewart, we could very likely find ourselves lacking.

ost of us look forward to the joy and bustle of the Christmas holiday season. Parties, shopping, lots of things happening, a break from the routine.

The holidays also can wind you up tighter than a fiddle string with stress from family situations, panic shopping, harried travel or light-speed deadlines. It's also often a time when losses of family members or friends during the year are most deeply felt. We try to do too much, eat a lot and sometimes drink too much.

Mental health clinician Phyllis du Mont was invited to ORNL on December 4 by the Lab's Committee for Women to discuss ways that women can cope with stress during the holidays. Times being what they are, her observations and advice were not at all gender-specific or constrained to the holidays.

Much holiday stress is brought on by unrealistic ideals. Christmas, after all, has to be perfect. "This can dull us to our true and authentic experiences and not match up well to the realities," du Mont said.

For instance, she said, Christmas is supposed to be a happy time. But if a close family member has passed away, that grief may be more intense then.

"If we have set ideas on how we should feel, it can magnify our stress," du Mont said. One of the keys to dealing with and avoiding stress, she said, is to reappraise what we expect of ourselves during the holidays. Holiday expectations are learned behaviors, and they can be changed by generating alternative solutions to problems, weighing cost and benefits, shifting the level of aspirations for the holidays and reducing your own ego's involvement in it all.

"If we feel that we have to be Martha Stewart, we could very likely find ourselves lacking," du Mont said. "Stress is a matter of perceptions."

Perceptions loom large in major life changes, such as a job change or just watching your kids grow up. Du Mont gave the example of the mom who was crushed that her daughter chose to have Thanksgiving dinner with her boyfriend's family. It was true that she had "lost" her "baby," but it was also a milestone and an opportunity for a fresh approach to the holiday.

Du Mont acknowledged that stress does things to us. When the pressure builds, the head starts hurting, the stomach starts burning and the neck muscles lock up.

"Stress and tension create energy, and if it isn't controlled or channeled, it will turn inward," she said. "You get a headache, your back hurts or you get indigestion. You become more sensitive—you wear your heart on your sleeve. They don't call it a gut feeling for nothing.

"Worrying about things going wrong is just as bad as if what you're worrying about actually happened, as far as your body is concerned. Worry inhibits pleasure."

If situations get beyond control, accept it, she said. It's hard for people to accept that they aren't in control; however, one should ask if what is happening is really important, will it matter in five years, can the problem be delegated and, more expansively, what is the purpose of your own life?

Stressed out? Have a substance abuse problem? Need someone to talk to? Your EAP Employee Assistance Program Can Help You Cope Call Today Knoxville and Oak Ridge 690-0068 Paducah and Portsmouth Employees Toll-Free 1-800-222-3778

Du Mont observed that, with this type of reflection, "A lot of unnecessary stuff drops away."

She also gave a short list for avoiding aggravations that bring on stress:

• Throw away clutter.
• Fix things.
• Make lists.
• Find ways to eliminate things that cause stress, like losing your keys.

Probably most importantly, Du Mont offered this key for the holidays or any other time:

DOE boosts Portsmouth industrial park plans

The community transition grant will be administered through DOE's Oak Ridge Operations Office. DOE's Office of Worker and Community Transition awarded the funding to the local organization for use in easing impacts of downsizing at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Some 125 employees have been laid off at the plant in recent reductions in force.

"This is an important investment that builds on the strengths of Pike County to secure high-skill, high-paying jobs in southern Ohio," said Energy Secretary Federico Peña.

According to Michael Dabbert, financial and administrative officer for the Portsmouth Site Office, the grant will go toward completing engineering design work for water and sewer line extensions to a nearly 1,000-acre site identified as the Zahn's Corner Industrial Park. "A driving component to promoting an industrial site for potential businesses is the ability to provide the infrastructure—particularly water, sewer and transportation links," Dabbert said. "This grant is the first step in developing the site as a viable economic resource for the region."

The Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative estimates the industrial park could attract up to 300 jobs over the next five years. Additional funds for the development are being requested by the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative from the state of Ohio and other federal agencies.

The Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, or SODI, was recognized by DOE as the Community Reuse Organization for the Portsmouth facility in 1995. It represents a broad coalition of local leaders, citizens and economic development officials from the surrounding counties of Jackson, Pike, Ross and Scioto. In July 1997, SODI was incorporated as a non-profit community improvement corporation.

DOE provided an initial 18-month $325,000 planning grant to the SODI in February 1996. An additional 12-month $175,000 planning grant was extended to the organization in August to conduct further studies through August 1998 for the region.

U.S. Savings Bonds

National poster contest deadline soon

The U.S. Treasury is sponsoring a poster contest for the 1998 savings bonds campaign. A $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond will be awarded to the first-place winning poster in each state and the District of Columbia. Second- and third-place winners will receive $500 and $200 bonds respectively. The 51 first-place state posters will be automatically entered into the national competition.

The poster contest theme is "Take Stock in America with U.S. Savings Bonds." The contest is open to fourth, fifth and sixth graders for whom a savings bond will be purchased in the upcoming Lockheed Martin Savings Bonds campaign. Only one entry per student is allowed.

Entries are due to site representatives no later than Friday, January 23, so they may be postmarked for entry by February 6.

Posters must be at least 16 by 20 inches and no larger than 22 by 28 inches in size and must be two-dimensional in form (no pasting.) Entries may be in color or black and white, and contestants may use acrylic paint, crayon, pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, ink or any combination of these media. Entries not meeting these criteria will be disqualified. Artwork must be original in intent and design and should not be copied from other artwork or published material. Photographs will not be accepted.

Each poster should include an entry form or a separate sheet of paper listing the child's name, address, phone number, age and grade, school name, address, phone number and principal's and teacher's names. Each entry must include a short description (no more than 10 sentences) of what the poster represents. The entry form and description should be attached to the back of the poster. Posters should not be folded. (Posters rolled in tubes are acceptable.)

For more information about the contest, see the savings bonds Web page (www.ornl.gov/savebonds/bond.html) or contact Lou Finley, Lockheed Martin Savings Bonds campaign coordinator, at 576-SAVE (7283) or 574-9626. For information about site drop points, contact your site poster contest representative: Townsite—Gwen Childress, 701 Scarboro, Rm. 350, 574-5372; ORNL—Danny Cantrell, Bldg. 2013, Rm. 4, 574-4280; ETTP—Lou Finley, Bldg. 1550-A, Rm. 1, 574-9626; Y-12—Tom Ford, Bldg. 9106, Rm. 5, 576-7182; Paducah—Dick Veazey, Kevil Bldg., 502-441-5783; and Portsmouth—Jerry Moore, Bldg. X7725, 614897-3789.

Fishing lousy? Blane El Niño

The El Niño is a periodic Pacific weather trend that strikes every seven or eight years. Like anything weather related, it is fairly complex, but is best simply explained as a cessation of eastern trade winds in the Pacific Ocean. These winds blow from the tropical coasts of the Americas, literally pushing warm ocean waters as they go. Because of these trades, sea level in Indonesia is actually higher than sea level off the South American coast.

When the winds die, however, the sea level equalizes. More importantly, deep, cold currents that well up and chill the waters off the North American coast also abate because there are no winds to drive the warmer waters west.

This has all kinds of effects on weather, as we've heard repeatedly. That's not all it affects. Chuck Coutant, an Environmental Sciences Division researcher who is also wrapping up a five-year term as president of the American Fisheries Society, says El Niño also is having a decidedly unwelcome effect on the already strained Northwest salmon stocks.

"The reason is that the cold currents also contain nutrients that have settled into the deeper waters," Coutant says. "When these currents die, the plankton and other food sources are affected. There is less food at the bottom of the food chain.

"It really kicks the salmon in the tail."

Not that they needed it. Ridgelines readers may recall a previous interview with Coutant (No. 12, Aug. 14) in which he described the tremendous depletion of Columbia River salmon stocks brought on by dam construction and other human activities—from 10 million down to maybe a half million. And now this.

"Historical data show that when water temperature off the western U.S. coast is cold, salmon catches are higher," Coutant says. "When the cycle warms, catches are down.

"Salmon follow the cold water, which has shifted north. Alaska has so many salmon that they don't know what to do with them."

Surfers off the California coast have remarked in the media that the ocean, usually frigid because of the cold Pacific currents, is so unusually warm that they can ride the waves without wetsuits. Coutant added that surfers and salmon aren't the only swimming creatures affected by the change in water temperatures caused by El Niño.

"Mackerel have been caught off the coasts of Washington and Oregon, and they are usually found off Baja California. So, in addition to the lack of nutrients for the salmon, other species may be moving in and competing with them. Herring and anchovy also are affected by El Niño.

"I saw seals at Monterey that were swimming with one flipper up in the air," Coutant remarked. "The aquarium staff said that the water was too warm for them, and they were doing that to dissipate body heat."

The main concern for the fisheries groups remains the Columbia salmon because the up and down trends related to El Niño combined with the impact of the Columbia River dams could create a situation where the salmon enter a down cycle that they can't recover from.

Coutant pointed out that not all effects of El Niño are bad. The western United States is expecting a wet winter, which means good snowpack and ample water supplies. It should be a good year for hydropower generation.

He expects, however, that institutions like the American Fisheries Society will be studying data from this El Niño very closely to gain a better knowledge of how it affects important fish species like the salmon and possibly learn more about how to protect these stocks from the combined vagaries of humans and nature.— B.C.

In the System

CCE Team Receives National Recognition
Four employees in the Center for Continuing Education have been chosen as "Outstanding Performers in Training" by Lakewood Publications, the publishers of Training Magazine, a leading trade publication in the training industry. (Seated from left to right) Melissa Portwood, senior instructional designer; Donna Stokes, Web master; Steve Giles (standing), institute leader; and CCE Division Director Susan Alexander received the national recognition in the category of "Using Technology to Improve Learning" from Lakewood Publications in October. The award recognizes outstanding team achievement in training. The CCE team has designed and developed numerous computer-based and Web-based courses for Energy Systems and ORNL during the last few years.

The awards were presented by Joe Fitzgerald, DOE deputy assistant secretary for worker health and safety in a ceremony held recently at the Y-12 Plant.

The project, referred to as the Oak Ridge Enhanced Work Planning (EWP) program, involved employees from both the Y-12 Plant and the East Tennessee Technology Park.

Using strategies that have already proven effective throughout the DOE complex, the Oak Ridge EWP team examined how work is identified, planned, approved and carried out by a number of organizations. The EWP process has been particularly involved in the resumption of Enriched Uranium Operations at the Y-12 Plant, a critical mission for the plant.

The EWP team's efforts are making their workplace safer through improved job hazard analysis and planning techniques and cutting costs by reducing the amount of paperwork associated with maintenance work and consolidating maintenance jobs under a standing work order.

Receiving awards were Charles R. Boruff, Jack L. Campbell, Bruce R. Fortune, Mary A. Groh, B. Eugene Lawson, David Neubauer, Fran Roach, D. Ray Smith, Roy Stalliongs, Bruce Walton, Thomas W. Akers, Bonnie Benjamin, Mark A. Collins, David J. Giles, Wesley S. Howard, J. A. Mullins, Charles Oglesby, John L. Rast, Bill K. Riddle, Perry V. Shaffer, James W. Simpson, Ron L. Slinger, Matthew Smith, Doyle E. Stephens, Louis C. Tanner, James A. Thompson, James N. Underwood, Frank G. Fitzpatrick, David Milan and Joyce Sylvester.

Presented annually, the award recognizes exemplary efforts of organizations and individuals to preserve the natural environment, enhance the cityscape and contribute to the quality of life in Oak Ridge. This year's award recognizes the collaboration between the Y-12 Plant and Dunn Diversified Industries (a not-for-profit organization that hires adults with disabilities) for a campaign to recycle 27,000 pounds of old books and journals and 19,500 pounds of surplus anti-contamination clothing that was repackaged and donated to the Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union, for use in that nation's environmental cleanup efforts.

Success of this partnership led to further work by the two organizations to process several thousand pounds of old hand tools and gauges (by removing all identifying markings) for surplus and to remove carbon paper from several thousand pounds of obsolete forms so that the paper can be recycled.

The main objective of the project was to save Y-12 landfill space and solid waste disposal costs while at the same time allowing the plant to participate in a community outreach program. The projects generated more than $150,000 in cost savings for the plant.

Plant manager Todd Butz said that the collaboration had a number of benefits. "It enables the plant to help preserve the natural environment by keeping waste out of the landfill, supports Y-12's Pollution Prevention Program through its effort to recycle useable materials and contributes to the quality of life by providing jobs for the adults at DDI."

Team members on the project were Melanie Harmon, general manager of Dunn Diversified Industries; Stan Fain, Y-12 Waste Management; Eva Irwin, Y-12 Pollution Prevention Program; Lynn Veach, Y-12 Biology Library; and, Ron Walton, Y-12 Recycling Program.

The new Oak Ridge Reservation Polychlorinated Biphenyl Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement (ORR-PCB-FFCA) releases the ORR facilities from other, less-favorable PCB compliance agreements, and EPA agrees not to pursue enforcement action against DOE as long as the requirements of the new agreement are met. The agreement is a potential money-saver because it applies a common-sense, risk-based approach to the reservation's unique PCB compliance concerns rather than a rigid "forced fit" regulatory approach.

The new agreement specifically addresses the unauthorized use of PCBs in ventilation ducts and gaskets, lubricants, hydraulic systems and heat transfer systems. The storage, disposal, cleanup and decontamination of PCBs and items containing PCBs—including radioactive materials mixed with PCBs—also are included in the agreement.

Under the new arrangement, record keeping and documentation of compliance will be simpler and more efficient. Documents already required by regulation will now track compliance, thereby eliminating redundant reporting requirements and foreshadowing significant savings in cost and time.

The new agreement also lays a foundation for addressing any future PCB issues that may arise as remediation and reindustrialization activities progress. The agreement is designed to be flexible enough to account for contract and management changes, anticipated regulatory revisions, and the use of innovative technologies to address old problems in new ways and to tackle new issues when they surface.

Noteworthy

He currently serves as senior staff engineer and manager of the Nuclear Calculations and Packaging section.

Lewis was cited for his nuclear engineering work by the Black Engineer of the Year Conference, a partnership of corporations and historically black colleges and universities. The conference specifically noted his work in Project Sapphire, the celebrated once-secret mission to remove 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from formerly Soviet Kazakhstan.

Lewis successfully argued that existing nuclear materials shipping regulations could not be assumed to cover Kazakhstan's exotic form of uranium and beryllium materials—the beryllium increases the uranium's ability to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.

Lewis also developed an in situ method for quantifying the recovered uranium and suggested methods to reduce the dose rate of personnel involved in the Project Sapphire mission after observing that the uranium and beryllium material emitted neutrons spontaneously. On the basis of Lewis' unprecedented work, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has revised its shipping regulations for nuclear materials.

Hunsaker, of the Environmental Sciences Division, was recognized for her leadership skills ranging from project management and marketing new sponsors to her ability for organizing multidisciplinary research teams. She was also cited for being the principal investigator on five proposals during 1996 while contributing to four others. Her active participation in professional societies was also recognized.

Readers . . .

Charlene Ratcliffe of Y-12's Development Division says she doesn't know what to do with her spare time, but she plays golf, is active in her church and spends as much time with her family, especially her two nieces.