Number 25 April 2001

In April 2000 UT-Battelle LLC assumed management of ORNL with all the usual

enthusiasm that goes with a new job and afresh set of challenges. The University ofTennessee–Battelle partnership spoke of newand upgraded facilities, a strategic Lab scienceand technology agenda and a stronger role inthe community. ORNL Reporter asked LabDirector Bill Madia where things stand now,one year later.

It’s been a year.What has UT-Battelleaccomplished? Arewe on track?

I’ve been over-whelmingly pleasedwith the first year’sstart. We came inwith a well-defined,12-point agenda forthe Lab: six itemsdealing with scienceand technology, threein operations andthree in the community. In the first six monthswe launched all twelve. Now, by the end ofthe first year, we’ve accomplished substantialmilestones with each one.

What’s your favorite example?Funding for the Spallation Neutron Source,

which included some pretransition activity onthe sales-tax issue (the state legislatureunanimously passed a $28 million sales taxrelief measure for the SNS). That—plus agood partnership with our five partner labsand university colleagues—got us to thisyear’s $278 million funding level. That wasby far the biggest test of UT-Battelle and ourmost important accomplishment. I think theprevious appropriation was $117 million.That was a gigantic step.

The second test is coming up:Getting from $278 million to$291 million for FY 2002. That’s abig step as well—criticallyimportant to the UT-Battelle image.If we get $291 million for SNS inFY02, we’ve hit peak funding.From there, our funding requestsdecline and the degree of fundingdifficulty generally gets to be less.

One of the achievements I’m proudest of isthe Mouse House funding. I’ve heard storiesgoing back 15 or more years about trying toget a new Mouse House built. We’ve gotfunding; we’re starting construction nextyear. Getting the biology agenda up andrunning is a top priority.

Operationally, getting the modernizationplan launched, and having the Energysecretary and governor down along with

congressmen Wamp and Clement to kick it offwas a major accomplishment. The landtransfers and the state involvement are verycomplicated elements of the strategy. DOE-ORO has been a solid partner in making thishappen.

The work we did in terms of science andmath education—getting five science laborato-ries upgraded in local high schools—I believewill result in a material increase in scienceeducation. The rowing tower begins our series

of legacy investments. In economic develop-ment, we’ve spun off 11 companies so far in12 months.

We’ve got very good traction across theboard with our agenda. Of course some thingshave fallen short. But the fact is that all those12 things we committed to do got launched,including tangible progress and majormilestones—including the SNS, Mouse Houseand our teraflop computer facility—and we’ve

What was once weapons-grade plutoniumstocked by former Cold War antago-

nists is being experimentally consumed innuclear reactors—and thus rendered uselessfor weapons of mass destruction. ORNL hashad a leading role in making this complex butenormously beneficial undertaking come tofruition.

Called the Parallex project, one of theoptions being considered is to take surplusplutonium from the nuclear weapons pro-grams of the United States and Russia andturn it into mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel togenerate electricity in Canada’s nuclear powerplants. Once the fuel is used in the reactor, itbecomes unsuitable for weapons. Canada’sChalk River nuclear facility is where theMOX fuel is being tested.

DOE called on ORNL to lead this part ofthe complex project. The EngineeringTechnology Division’s Tammra Horning had

the lead role in getting thingsarranged, technically andlogistically, to make the jointventure happen. She says thatby burning the plutonium in thereactors, the fission processremoves the proliferationthreat and at the same timeprovides a nuclear energysource for other uses.“Blessed” with moreplutonium than they’llever need, the nationswish to dispose of it ina way that reduces the

proliferation threat.“That’s the main goal, to turn it into

something that is not attractive forweapons,” Tammra says.

As could be expected, bringing off suchan ambitious project—an arrangement

between two countries to divestthemselves of such a specialized and

sensitive material and ship it to athird country—takes much

careful planning.“It involves a large range ofactivities from the technical

aspects of making nuclearreactor fuel withweapons plutonium, toexport controls, transpor-tation, political issuesand public education,”says Tammra. “The U.S.

Tammra Horning displaysfuel test assembliescontaining plutonium fromthe United States andRussia.

On trackOne year along at ORNL, Bill Madia finds lots to cheer about—and a few frustrations

Parallex takes surplus plutonium out of the weapons world

Bill Madia

(See TRACK, page 4)

(See PARALLEX page 2)

We’ve got very good traction across theboard with our agenda. All 12 thingswe committed to do got launched.

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2 April 2001

is published for the employees andretirees of Oak Ridge National Laboratory,which is managed and operated for theU.S. Department of Energy byUT-Battelle.

Bill Cabage, editorPhone 574-4399E-mail cabagewh@ornl.gov

Deborah Barnes, associate editorPhone 576-0470E-mail barnesds@ornl.gov

fax: 574-1001

On the Web: www.ornl.gov/reporter

Ombudsman: 576-7802DOE Inspector General Hotline: 1-800-541-1625

Tina Curry, of ORNLGraphics, was just one ofmany employees whoexhibited crafts and causes onValues Day, March 22. Tina’swork included this sculptureof her grandfather, AllenWiggins, who lived in Florida.

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MOX test fuel was shipped by truck to theCanadian border, then flown by helicopter tothe test reactor. The Russians sent theirs byplane. Although the shipping containers wereequivalent in size to three 55-gallon drums, ahuge Antonov-100 cargo plane—big enoughto carry train engines—was used so enough jetfuel could be carried to fly from Canada toRussia without stopping to refuel. They alsotook the last leg of the journey by helicopter.”

Not surprisingly, the Parallex project is verysignificant to the participating nations, andeven the European community.

“The Russians pointed out to me that it wasthe first time that weapons plutonium hadbeen shipped outside of Russia. It was veryimportant to them,” Tammra says. “Theproject also receives attention high in theCanadian government, including briefingswith the prime minister and senior cabinetmembers.”

She credits her Canadian counterpart, DaveCox of Atomic Energy Canada Ltd., a semi-government entity, with bringing togethermany of the logistical aspects of Parallex.

“He had to orchestrate the shipments withdozens of participants, which meant he had aphone glued to his ear much of the time.”

Cox also ran a very important facet of theproject—a series of public meetings forcitizens along the proposed transportationroutes. Mentioning the word “plutonium” isusually a sure way to trigger negative reac-tions. Horning says she learned thatcommunication goes a long way towardbuilding public trust.

“The hazards of plutonium are commonlyexaggerated. I have a book of press accountsseveral inches thick on this project, and mostof them are not factually accurate. But we asscientists also have an obligation to provide

the public with factual informa-tion. In the public meetings, whenwe provided the public withaccurate information about theproject and shipments and hazardsinvolved, they were very support-ive of the effort.”

Tammra says she also learnedthat foreign, supposedly exoticcultures really aren’t so different.People on once-opposite sideshave common values andconcerns.

“In Russia, working throughtranslators, things appeared to bedone very differently at firstglance, but when you steppedback you saw that they had manyof the same constraints as we do,such as bureaucracy, security, andfunding. There are more parallelsthan it seems on the surface. It’sbeen very interesting to work with colleaguesfrom other countries who have cultural andlanguage differences, but then find that wehave a lot of things in common.”

She credits the translators with spottingnuances in conversations and helping the twosides recognize common ground through thelanguage barrier. These professionals oftenattain a role as facilitators between two sides.

Tammra has had some “pinch-me-I’m-dreaming” moments during the Parallaxproject.

“In the last three years I’ve been to Russia adozen times. Every time I stood in Red Squareit amazed me. I never expected to be there;early in my career it would have been difficultto even go to Russia, much less work there,”she says.

She describes meeting with a very senior,highly positioned Russian scientist. She laterdiscovered that he was the first Russian toseparate plutonium. “It was like meeting with

Fermi or one of the other pioneers of the U.S.nuclear program!” she says.

ORNL’s involvement with the Parallexproject is another feather in its projectmanagement cap. Why ORNL? “Early on,Sherrell Greene was very instrumental indeveloping the fissile material dispositionprogram,” Tammra says. “We’ve performed aproject management role on many programs,and ORNL is the lead lab on reactor technolo-gies-fast, light-water and gas-cooled reactorprograms. Scott Ludwig in the ChemicalTechnology Division was also very activelyinvolved with the transportation arrangementsfor the U.S. shipments of the plutonium.”

What’s next for the project? “The currenttest fuel assembly and two more will be in theCanadian reactor for two to three years. Whenthey are taken out of the reactor, we’ll take aclose look at the fuel,” she says. “We’llcompare how MOX made with weaponsplutonium compares with MOX made withcivilian plutonium. The Canadians have over20 years of experience with civilian MOXfuel. In the meantime, the overall program islooking at how the disposition rate can beexpanded. Both countries are initially target-ing disposing of about two metric tonnes ayear; G-8 countries (the United States, France,Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and theEuropean Community) and Russia areexamining expanding beyond that target. Theresults will influence what DOE does next.”

The nuclear engineer says it’s been toughsledding, but it’s been worth it.

“It takes a lot of coordination to do this inone country, much less three; it’s more thanthree times the complexity. Other people, notconnected with the project, have noted theamount of team cooperation that’s beendeveloped among the three countries onParallex. It always makes for a much betterproject if you can achieve that,” she says.

“And it’s a good idea to take weaponsmaterial and make electricity out of it insteadof it being a potential hazard.”—B.C.

Tammra Horning credits Dave Cox of Atomic EnergyCanada Ltd., with bringing together many of thelogistical aspects of Parallex, including its communica-tion to the public. Here he conducts a TV interview.

ParallexContinued from page 1

Oak Ridge National Laboratory 3

Olesen: ‘Solving significant problems’Battelle Memorial Institute President and

CEO Doug Olesen made his first official visitto ORNL on March 19 to give the keynote talkfor Leadership Week, the ORNL LeadershipAction Consortium’s showcase. His audiencegot an up-close orientation on how Battelleconducts itsbusiness.

Battelle’smission, values andbusiness philosophyare closely alignedwith the market andthe customers itserves, Olesen said.“Solving significantnational problems”through “economi-cally and sociallyvaluable scienceand technology” arekey Battelle tenets.

“Runningnational labs puts usright in the middleof that,” he said.

Turning a profitis very important toBattelle, and the money is typically pouredback into the company’s S&T programs. “Wetry to leverage our assets horizontally; makeall pieces of the pie bigger,” he said, alludingto a strategic decision about a decade ago tointegrate the different, and admittedlystovepiped, sections of the company. Thecompany also stresses a marketing approach,as evidenced by its widely and highlyregarded technology forecasts. “Knowingwhere the market is going and where scienceis going” puts the company on the path tocreating economically and socially valuableS&T, he said.

Even though the company emphasizescommercializing technology, Olesen acknowl-edged that most technologies aren’t suitablefor the shelves. But the ones that are can payoff big. The company recently sold a fiber-optic technology it developed for a sum thatfar exceeded a net-operating-margin goal forthe year 2003.

Going for rowingIt’s currently rising

along the shoreline ofMelton Hill Lake, andcould foretell a risingsport in the region. Arearowing enthusiastsjoined Lab Director Bill

Madia and city officials onMarch 1 to break ground

for the rowing facility nowunder construction on Melton Hill

Lake. UT-Battelle contributed $30,000 asa legacy community investment for the finish-line tower, located on Lakeshore Drive. Thetotal cost of the tower is about $130,000.

“UT-Battelle is putting an emphasis onlegacy investments that have lasting impactfor the community,” Bill told the gathering bythe placid waters. “By helping bring morerowing events to Oak Ridge, the tower willpay dividends for years to come.”

Oak Ridge Rowing AssociationPresident Tom Ham agreed,saying one national rowing eventis leaning toward coming to OakRidge next year —bringing 3,000people with it who usually spendabout $1 million.

“We want to build rowing’smomentum in this area, expandthe sport in this area and in thewhole Southeast,” Tom said. Thesport is strongest regionally in theNortheast. Oak Ridge could helpshift it southward.

“The smooth waters on ourrowing course, the region’s mildclimate and the enthusiasm ofvolunteers running the regattas areamong reasons we hear thatrowers like to come to OakRidge,” he says.

A boon for classroom scientistsWhen Mike Smith reported to Coalfield

High School to teach science, he realized he’dhave to scrape and scrounge what he could toequip a laboratory. The storeroom for labequipment was full of athletic gear. Hemanaged to uncover a few beakers and somechemicals.

Then principal Ramona Bentz told him thatthe school had received a $10,000 grant fromUT-Battelle.

Now CHS has a full-fledged chemistry lab.More importantly, CHS students have a muchbetter opportunity to explore science.

Coalfield is one of five area schools—theothers are Vine Middle Magnet School in EastKnoxville, Oak Ridge High School, ClintonMiddle School and Roane County’s MidwayHigh—that received the laboratory grants.UT-Battelle will hand out five $10,000 grantsduring each of the five years of its contract.

The latest artist’s concept of the finish-linetower for Melton Hill Lake’s rowingenthusiasts.

Bill Madia (left) welcomed BattellePresident and CEO Doug Olesen forhis first official talk to an ORNLaudience on March 19

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“There’s a need generally in many Tennes-see schools for upgraded science equipment,”Communications and Community OutreachDirector Billy Stair told the Knoxville News-Sentinel, which ran a front-page story onCoalfield’s educational windfall. “It was clearif we were going to invest in science and matheducation, this was a place our resources couldmake immediate benefit.”

QWL: Progress where we canORNL staff members gave the Leadership

Team a pretty clear idea of what they thinkwould improve the quality of work life at theLab, and those views are being seriouslytaken. Bill Madia outlined QWL progress in arecent ORNL Today, the Lab’s Web news.

The number one desire in the survey earlierthis year, an enhanced pension multiplier, isgetting an active look by both ORNL andY-12 management, he said. Announcementsmay be soon in coming. Progress on numbertwo—more communication from the direc-tor—is pretty well evidenced in this issue ofReporter.

Also progressing are a temporary on-sitefitness center and better physical facilities,both in the survey’s top 10. “We’re makingprogress in many other initiatives, includingbuilding a near-site child-care facility;establishing jogging, walking and biking trails,which are closely tied to the New CampusInitiative; planning a cafeteria benefitsprogram; updating our Values statement;establishing a scientific lecture series possiblythis spring; and establishing an ORNL staffassociation that will address many quality ofwork life issues,” Bill said.

Financial constraints and other complexitiesmay rule out some initiatives, and some mayjust take time to work through. In the mean-time, Ombudsman Steve Stow will begin abroader Quality of Work Life survey later thismonth.

Reported by Bill Cabage

4 April 2001

made major milestones in each one.You set some pretty ambitious goals, with

some very tough issues. Have some provedharder to achieve than you thought theywould be?

Not really. Having been a lab director for15 years, you develop a good sense of howhard things will be. We knew the SNSfunding was a heavy, heavy lift. We knew itwould take a huge amount of collaborationwith other labs. We knew the complexity ofthe modernization plan—the land transfers,for instance. We had done all those piecesbefore, and we knew we had some verycomplicated issues.

The condition of the facilities was the bigsurprise I’ve talked about before. I just didn’trealize we had a million square feet over

50 years old. Space costs continue to eat ourlunch. Too much, too-old space costing usliterally tens of millions of dollars becausewe’re stuck with old space we don’t want orneed.

I have been disappointed in our ability todrive costs down. Getting costs controlledbetter and reduced has been our biggestweakness in the first year. In addition to thespace cost issues I mentioned earlies, we werefaced with our other big surprise—that wewere 20 percent below market in our salaries.The fact is that our salaries are below marketin both the research and support organiza-tions; not just nationally, but even in EastTennessee. So we have to drive down indirectcosts and raise salaries, and those two actionshave neutralized each other, thus we haven’tmade nearly the progress I’d like on the costof doing business here.

You’ve laid a pretty good groundwork,though.

Yeah, but I wish we had more traction.These are areas where we had a good plan,but the complexities and legacies were justdeeper and more complicated. No excusesthough, we should have made more progress.

Have you had good cooperation fromDOE?

The support we’ve gotten on the staffreductions and modernization from ORO andHeadquarters has been very positive. The Laband ORO have worked together to accomplishour respective roles in the modernization.While we garnered state support, ORO hashelped with the land transfers. It’s been areally good partnership.

There is a complexity to the relationshiphere between the Lab and DOE that is higherthan I expected. This is a far more compli-cated site managerially. Lots of differentpeople intervene. I’m more used to a cleanersite-office-to-lab relationship. The site officehere has only partial authority over theLaboratory; many others have direct impacton us. You find similar complexity at Head-quarters—the roles of NE and EH and theOffice of Science are somewhat ambiguous.

The history of Oak Ridge has a lot to dowith that. We still see the vestiges of whenthis was a more fully integrated site. Thatshadow has not gone away yet. There’s muchmore base-touching that needs to be done.That was a bit of a surprise.

Regarding culture change, can you namesome areas where you would encourageemployees to think differently than they did ayear ago?

I like this question. The culture of thisLaboratory is very compliance oriented. Thereare rules for making up rules! I’m not used tothat in a lab environment. Labs are verycreative. You can see here the history of aproduction mentality, where everything’sproceduralized. The culture change I’d like tosee is questioning the value of procedures andrequirements. We don’t do nearly enough ofthat.

I like to see a little anarchy in my Labora-tory—question authority. Let me be clear,I’m not saying don’t follow the rules orprocedures. But if something does not makesense to you, ask: Why is that a rule? What’sthe basis of that requirement? And if thereisn’t a good basis for it, change it. Run it up

the management chain and get the requirementremoved. We don’t do that; we salute smartlyand move forward. We should question thevalue of requirements more.

What are the avenues if people do want toquestion something?

Go to the responsible level-one manager. Ifyou think there’s a dumb requirement in thecommunications shop, go knock on BillyStair’s door and ask why.

One of two good things happens when youdo. First, if there is a value in that requirement,you find out what it is. There’s educationalvalue in learning the basis for a requirement.

On the other hand, if it’s some dumbrequirement caused because of something thathappened 15 years ago, and it has no valuetoday, let’s get it removed. Historic momen-tum carries a lot of our requirements. “Fifteenyears ago somebody did so-and-so and nowwe have to make everyone take some form oftraining.” That’s not a smart thing to do; let’sfix those kinds of problems. Staff should raiseissues and concerns, especially if they don’tmake common sense.

I know I’m asking for a lot of trouble, butthat, in fact, is what I want. It’s the old“question authority” bumper sticker. Ourculture is “accept it.” The culture change Iwant to see is “don’t accept it.” Everyone canhelp make this a better and lower-cost place towork if we just ask the question “why?”

Next year we hope to start a pretty aggres-sive new hiring program. If we bring in ahundred new staff, some fresh graduates, theywill always push the envelope. They are farless reticent to question. You’d better have agood reason for doing something or they’ll bein your face. That was our experience atPacific Northwest.

I think it was (ATLC President) CarlScarbrough who showed me a 24-pageprocedure on calibrating a manometer. Only acompliance-oriented lab could do that. If wetry to proceduralize everything we do, all wewill do is recreate the Library of Congress.Managers get paid to exercise their judgment.Policies should establish the framework ofthose judgments, but people make judgments.That’s the idea behind the Standards BasedManagement System.

With Pacific Northwest located at Hanford,why didn’t’ they have a similar culture?

Because Battelle ran the laboratory since1965 and other contractors did the cleanup andproduction. When science, weapons andcleanup are all done in one organization, theculture gravitates toward compliance. AtNorthwest it was more of an entrepreneurialculture. Compare our situation with Berke-ley—those guys question everything.

Some others have cited a growinglyautonomous National Nuclear SecurityAdministration and other trends in pointing toa need to pull the science mission out, orreemphasize it, versus the waste and weaponsmissions. Do you see DOE going throughsome changes in the near future?

I like to see alittle anarchy inmy Laboratory.

TrackContinued from page 1

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory 5

I believe there’ll be some restructuring ofDOE in this administration. DOE is aconglomerate in the traditional industrialsense. It’s got a national security business, ascience business, an energy business and acleanup business. Overlap between those isminimal. It runs like a typical conglomerate.The NNSA structure is one that makesenormous sense for the rest of the Depart-ment. The NNSA picked up all the resourcesit needs to do its mission in this restructuring.I believe that science and environmentalquality and energy could do a similar thing,and clarify who does what to whom in DOE.Right now, it’s a very complicated manage-ment structure with intertwined bureaucracies.The NNSA “semiautonomous” legislationhelped clarify their situation.

I have no worries whatsoever about usbeing programmatically separated fromNNSA. They need the capabilities of thescience laboratories to do their mission, andscience labs need the ability to help NNSAsolve its problems. There are mutual benefitsto the partnership. I don’t think its semi-autonomous nature is an impediment. Theweapons lab directors are as concerned abouttheir inability to work outside the NNSA asmuch as other directors are concerned aboutbeing able to work for it. I’ve talked to(NNSA Director) John Gordon many timeson this issue and he supports the need for thispartnership.

What will life be like under the BushAdministration?

It’s too early to tell. It’s been a very slowstart. Our folks in Washington are encouragedabout Secretary Abraham’s support forscience. Now the administration’s energyrhetoric, which focused earlier on supply-sideissues like nuclear power and drilling in theArctic National Wildlife Refuge, are nowbeing balanced with statements on efficiency,renewables and conservation. That was aconcern early on—that it would be only asupply-side energy strategy—but now we’rehearing more about a balanced portfolio.

We’re DOE’s largest performing energylaboratory. The fact that energy is now amajor national issue can only bode well for usin the long term. Five years ago we had a hardtime getting any awareness about energy—the“phantom energy crisis.” ORNL is wellpositioned to solve the problems across thespectrum.

What about nuclear?Nuclear is in a resurgent mode. With the

growing concern on carbon management andclimate change, nuclear offers a wonderfulalternative to fossil-based strategies. It’s not

the only solution, but it is clearly an importantelement of the national energy strategy.

Will technology solutions lead to betterpublic acceptance of nuclear?

The public acceptance question is fascinat-ing. By all accounts, nuclear energy did a badjob of portraying its strengths and weak-nesses. There was almost an arrogance: “Thisis complicated stuff; trust us and we’ll dogood.” Everyone recognizes that failed publicoutreach strategy today. Ironically, if you goto a high school or college today and bring upenergy concerns, you hear “climate change,ozone layers and global warming.” Twentyyears ago you would have heard “nuclear,radiation.” The public perception today ofyoung people is far more driven by fossilconcerns than nuclear. Three Mile Island andChernobyl were nearly a generation ago.

What are your big issues for next year?The SNS leads the list of issues. We need

full funding to sustain the momentum up onChestnut Ridge.

Making progress on Lab modernization—as someone said earlier this year, “It’s onlyrhetoric until we see the results.” I want to seea muddy parking lot with big holes in theground. Seeing the start of construction forthe state and private sector buildings, seeingthe Mouse House come out of the ground,will give the staff the realization that modern-ization is a reality.

The mud, the trucks and the noise— I’lllove every minute of it.—B.C.

We’re DOE’s largest performing energy laboratory. The fact thatenergy is now a major national issue can only bode well for us inthe long term. ORNL is well positioned to solve the problems. ORNL is hosting a “Take Your Child to

Work Day” on Thursday, April 26. Theday is designed to give middle- and high-school-age children—5th through 12thgrade—the opportunity to explore futurecareers by observing the scientific,technical,and support activities that exist at anational laboratory, say event co-chairs JoyCastleberry and Debra Dickerson.

Lab Director Bill Madia will welcome thevisitors, and a variety of realistic workdemonstrations will be available between10 and 11:30 a.m and 1 and 2:30 p.m. Aspecial lunch will be available at the cafeteria.

Parents are encouraged to “design” the dayso that it best suits the student’s individualinterests, including observing the parent’swork sites and activities or the work sites andactivities of others across the Laboratory.Parents will be expected to be responsible forthe child at all times.

A soon-to-be-established Web site willprovide the day’s agenda, contact persons,permission-slip requirements and otherinformation.

In the interim, send an e-mail to JoyCastleberry (castleberrpn) or Sonya Sharpe(sharpsa) if you and your child or children areinterested in participating, with the followinginformation: parent’s name and ORNLorganization; student’s name, grade andgender; and any special access needs thestudent may have. Note again that the event islimited to children in grades 5–12.

A work group chartered by the ORNLCommittee for Women is organizing theprogram. Watch ORNL Today for additionalinformation as it becomes available.

‘Child To Work’Day April 26

BriefsReport all illnesses, injuries

ORNL policy states that all occupationalinjuries and illnesses must be promptlyinvestigated to determine the cause andprevent reoccurrence. To make this processwork effectively, employees should report allwork-related injuries and illnesses to theirsupervisor as soon as they occur. Theemployee should then report to ORNL’sHealth Division for evaluation.

If a work-related condition becomes worseduring off shift, the Laboratory ShiftSuperintendent should be contacted to giveguidance on the proper procedure to follow.Also, if an employee telephones the supervisorafter the injury or illness has occurred to reportan absence, he or she should notify thesupervisor if it is work related.

RIF’d staff receive increasesUT-Battelle sent word recently to some

former staff members who left the payroll inlast fall’s staff reduction that they wouldreceive the merit pay increases they wouldhave received under the salary plan. Workerswho left under both the voluntary andinvoluntary programs who were scheduled forraises received the letter explaining that themove will make a difference in theirseverance packages.

The merit increases were determinedthrough the normal salary planning process upto the time of the staff reductions, the letterfrom Human Resources and DiversityPrograms Director Darryl Boykins said. Adelay in the implementation of the merit payincrease plan meant that DOE approved theraises after these employees left the payroll.The approved salary plan, however, was maderetroactive to October 1.

Recipients received a check stub detailingthe adjustments.

6 April 2001

As ORNL’s landmark tower, the Holifield Facility does not seem to have changed

much in the 20 years it has hosted world-classnuclear physics research. But, in fact, therehas been a significant shift in the type ofresearch conducted there, and even thefacility itself has been renamed twice.

Partly in celebration of 20 years of nuclearphysics research at the Holifield Facility, theinternational conference ISOL ’01 was heldlast month in Oak Ridge. This ISOL (isotopeseparator online) conference was organizedby a committee chaired by WitoldNazarewicz, deputy director for science atORNL’s Holifield Radioactive Ion BeamFacility. HRIBF is the first U.S. ISOLfacility specializing in low-energy nuclearphysics and nuclear astrophysics research.Like other ISOL facilities, it can accelerateradioactive ions made “online” to energiessufficiently high to produce nuclear reactions.

At the conference, scientists from all overthe world reported on results of physicsexperiments using exotic nuclei from HRIBFand ISOL facilities in Canada, France,Germany, Japan, and Switzerland.

According to a letter of invitation from theorganizing committee, “One of the mainfrontiers of today’s nuclear science is thephysics with radioactive ion beams. Bystudying the properties of short-lived nuclei,we hope to get a better understanding of theproperties of nucleonic matter, the origin ofthe elements, the mechanism of energygeneration in stars, and to provide stringenttests of the Standard Model.”

The first day of the conference focused onthe Holifield Facility’s past. Former ORNLAssociate Director Jim Ball, who led thefacility’s construction and was its firstdirector, reviewed its origins and history.Researchers Dan Shapira and Cyrus Baktash,both of ORNL’s Physics Division, remi-nisced about past research projects.

In 1972, a National Academy of Sciencespanel consisting of physicists such as AllenBromley of YaleUniversity (whobecame a Presiden-tial science advisor)and ORNL’s AlexZucker (who helpedrecruit the panelists)recommendedimproved facilitiesfor nuclear physicsresearch. ORNL’sPhysics Divisionproposed that theAtomic EnergyCommission build aNational Heavy IonLaboratory, whichwould be a user

facility for visiting as well as resident scien-tists. Other national labs submitted similarproposals. AEC liked ORNL’s proposal ofconverting the Oak Ridge IsochronousCyclotron, which began operating in 1958,into a “booster” that would increase the energyof heavy-ion beams produced by the proposedtandem electrostatic accelerator. ORNLreceived funding for the Heavy Ion Facility in1974.

In 1974, a rider introduced by zealouscongressional staffers, renamed ORNL theHolifield National Laboratory in honor ofretiring California Rep. Chet Holifield, who

had been chair of the Joint AtomicEnergy Committee. The name changeupset ORNL employees. To appeaseboth Oak Ridgers and Tennesseepoliticians, a subsequent bill restoredORNL’s name and named theHolifield Heavy Ion Research Facilityafter the congressman.

On May 10, 1979, NationalElectrostatics Corporation tested thecolumn without acceleration tubes atfull tank pressure. The column wasoperated at voltages up to 32 millionvolts, thus qualifying the HolifieldFacility for the Guinness Book ofWorld Records as having producedthe highest man-made direct-currentvoltage in the world. In September

1988, an ORNL group operated the machinewith acceleration tubes and an acceleratedbeam at a world record voltage of 25.5million volts.

In 1979, HHIRF opened up as ORNL’sfirst scientific user facility. To house thevisiting scientists, the Joint Institute for HeavyIon Research was built at ORNL using acombination of federal, state, and privatefunding.

Research at HHIRF focused on whathappens when a beam of heavy ions—theprojectile—collides with a stationary target atvarious energies. Do the collisions cause theemission of particles; exchanges of particlesbetween the projectile and target nuclei; orchanges in motion, spin, energy levels or evenshape of the nuclei? Will projectile nucleiapproaching target nuclei be repelled, or willfusion result? Some answers to these ques-tions were found using sophisticatedgamma-ray detectors, such as the spinspectrometer developed at WashingtonUniversity.

In the early 1990s, the Holifield Facility faced the possibility of closing. Interest

was moving from low-energy heavy-ioncollisions to higher-energy collisions thatwere being produced elsewhere. At the sametime, interest was rising in the study ofnuclear astrophysics—what happens whenstars explode—and of nuclear structure usingradioactive ion beams. In 1992, as a result ofa successful ORNL proposal in which ORICand the tandem accelerator were to reverseroles (ORIC would produce the initialradioactive ions and the tandem wouldaccelerate them), DOE provided funds toconvert HHIRF into the Holifield RadioactiveIon Beam Facility.

Professor Joe Hamilton of VanderbiltUniversity and the late Russell Robinson ledthe effort to obtain the Recoil Mass Separatorfor nuclear structure studies at HRIBF, andMichael Smith obtained the Daresbury RecoilSeparator from the United Kingdom fornuclear astrophysics studies at the convertedmachine. In 1995 HRIBF was dedicated asthe first facility in the United States devotedto studies of nuclear structure and nuclearastrophysics with radioactive beams.

This development spawned another namechange. The University Isotope Separator atOak Ridge (UNISOR), which used aHolifield beam to produce excited states ofnuclei far from stability, was renamedUNIRIB.

The Holifield Facility may resemble anivory tower, but the physicists working therehave not tried to separate themselves from theaccelerated changes of recent years.—CarolynKrause

Holifield Facility’s 20thLast month’s ISOL ’01 conference reflects on two decades of nuclear physics research

Jim

Ric

hmon

dThe “Holifield Tower,” housing the hugetandem electrostatic accelerator, serves asORNL’s most prominent landmark.

Tower construction, 1977

Oak Ridge National Laboratory 7

ServiceAnniversaries

Marking its first anniversary at ORNL, UT-Battelle is establishing a scholar-

ship program for the children of UT-Battelleemployees that encourages careers in science.A renewable scholarship to the University ofTennessee–Knoxville will be granted annuallyon a competitive basis, beginning in the fall of2001.

The scholarship is worth $4,000 peracademic year and is renewable for four yearsif the student maintains full-time enrollment, astrong grade-point average and steadyprogress toward a baccalaureate degree.

Students may select a major course of studyleading to a baccalaureate degree offeredthrough UT in science, engineering ormathematics. In addition, UT-Battellescholars will spend at least one practicumterm at ORNL.

“The aim of this program, which is closelyaligned with the thrust of our overall commu-nity outreach program, is to promote andfurther science and math education in theregion,” says Communications and Commu-nity Outreach Director Billy Stair.

“We also hope the program will become apipeline for outstanding students to choose a

UT-Battelle beginsUT scholarship program

career at ORNL,” he said.For consideration, students must meet the

following eligibility criteria, which parallelUT’s Bicentennial Scholarship Program:

• Son or daughter of a current UT-Battelleemployee

• High school diploma held by the end of thecurrent school year

• Resident of Tennessee• Acceptance to the University of Tennessee,

Knoxville, for the following fall term• Minimum high school grade point average

of 3.75 in a 4.0 system• ACT test score of 31

A committee established and coordinated bythe Office of Communications and Commu-nity Outreach will consider the applicantsbased on academic performance in highschool; ACT scores; academic references andawards; and activities, community service andleadership.

For more information on the program fornext year’s class, contact Brenda Hackworth,574-4160, or Gail Beyersdorf, 241-9515, inthe Communications and CommunityOutreach office by April 15.

April

42 years: Ray L. Johnson, Jr., SNS ProjectDirector’s Office

41 years: J. P. Moore, Metals & Ceramics

35 years: K. T Cain, Life Sciences; Garvin J.Morris, Computational Physics and Engi-neering

30 years: Hank D. Cochran, ChemicalTechnology; Brenda B. Hickey, Metals &Ceramics

25 years: W. C. Clowers, Jr., Jack M.Crawford Jr., Sarah E. Evans, D. A. Irby,Kenneth D. Lawson and Gary Shepherd,Plant and Equipment; Charles R. Foust,Fusion Energy; Tina J. Graves, David R.James and Nancy S. Wright, Life Sciences;Beverly D. Johnson and Deborah A. Peters,Business & Information Services Dir.;Stanley G. Kimmett and Douglas D. Lee,Chemical Technology; Gary B. Mays,Computing, Information, and Networking;Robert M. Tate, Instrumentation & Controls;Karen K. Thacker, Robotics and ProcessSystems

20 years: Richard W. Counts, ComputerScience & Mathematics; Linda T. Malone,Energy & Engineering Sciences Dir.;Paulette D. McGill and Randal Roberts,Laboratory Protection; Margaret D. Parker,Logistical Services; Terry L. Payne andJeffrey A. Zollar, Tech Transfer & EconomicDevelopment; Bradley S. Richardson,Robotics and Process Systems; Donald E.Welch, Engineering Technology

Benefits Delivery, which serves approximately 28,000 employees and

retirees from ORNL, Y-12 and the U.S.Enrichment Corporation, wants youropinion on how they are doing the benefitsdelivery job. All you have to do is place acall to 574-2150 any time by April 15.

“We want to listen to your needs andfeedback so we serve our various custom-ers as effectively as our resources willallow us to,” says Benefits Delivery(formerly Benefit Plans) Manager JillFreeman.“To do so, the OneCall BenefitsService Center wants to hear from you.”

If you have had contact with the OneCallcenter since mid-January, Benefits

Benefits Delivery seeks customer feedbackDelivery wants your assessment of service.Call (865) 574-2150 any time from April1–15. They have prepared a seven questionsurvey that takes approximately twominutes or so to complete. We will alsogive you an opportunity to leave us yourcomments after the survey.

We need your feedback regarding thequality of our services during a normaloperation period,” says Jill. “We apologizefor difficulties you may have had gettingthrough to us last fall during an unusallybusy period of contractor transition, andbenefit changes.”

Benefits Delivery will share the feed-back in future newsletters.

The Friends of ORNL have launched thisyear’s series of community lectures. Hank

Cole, a native Oak Ridger and president ofThe Futures, a company that providesworldwide research and technical assistancefor developing countries, gave the first talk onMarch 23.

Cole described population and reproductivehealth international development efforts, andhis company’s role in providing analysis andassistance to strengthen policy and planningfor population programs at global, nationaland local levels.

Three more talks are scheduled in thecoming months at the American Museum ofScience and Energy auditorium. The next isRichard Weinberg, son of ORNL DirectorEmeritus Alvin Weinberg, who will introducehim at 7:30 p.m. on April 26. His talk is titled“Glutamate: The Brain’s Favorite Seasoning.”

On May 3, Susan Marie Frontezak willpresent “Manya: A Living History of MarieCurie” at 7:30 p.m. It’s a one-woman livinghistory presentation about the life of MarieCurie, set in 1915, in commemoration of the100th anniversary of the discovery of radium.

Arizona State University’s JaneMaienschein, whose parents had careers atOak Ridge, will present a talk on sciencepolicy on May 23. Maienschein, a formercongressional science advisor, shares someintriguing insights on how the competing

values of science and Congress play out, andhow advocates of science can make theiropinions count in Washington, in her talk titled“How Should We Tell the Stories of Science?Who Knows, Who Says, and Who Cares?”

Ram Uppuluri rounds out the CommunityLecture series on June 19 with a talk onscience policy. All talks are at the AMSEauditorium; check listings and announcementsfor times. It’s a great slate of speakers.

Friends set Community Lecture series

PRSRT STDU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #37Powell, TN

P.O. Box 2008Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6146

Inside

Number 25, April 2001

Bill Madia interview, page 1

Parallex partnership, page 1

Lab Notes: Battelle’s Olesen,rowing, labs for schools, QWL, page 3

Take your child to work, page 5

Holifield’s 20th, page 6

Scholarship program, page 7

UT-Battelle employees have a new mechanism to help them lend their time

and talents to creating a better community.The Team UT-Battelle concept has beenestablished to facilitate the application ofORNL’s bounty of volunteer spirit to causesin the surrounding area.

Volunteerism has long been a trait ofORNL employees. Strong numbers from theLab have supported causes ranging fromfundraisers for disease research to improvingfacilities in the cash-strapped Great SmokyMountain National Park. With qualitycommunity and stakeholder relations as amajor facet of the Lab Agenda, UT-Battelle iscommitted to helping focus the Lab’sconsiderable talent and skill resources—not tomention elbow grease—toward civic goals.

“ORNL staff give generously of their timeto many worthwhile community activities,Team UT-Battelle’s goal is to assist them andhelp recognize their efforts,” says LabDirector Bill Madia.

Team UT-Battelle is there to help you help.The Team UT-Battelle Advisory Commit-

tee is being established to identify andapprove projects. The committee in turn willassist volunteer project directors. Word onprojects and solicitations for volunteers willgo out on employee media including a TeamUT-Battelle Web site and ORNL Today.

The Team UT-Battelle concept willfacilitate activities by offering advice,consultation, organizational support and alittle bit of funding, such as T-shirt money,toward getting the projects and initiatives offthe ground. Bill Pardue, an Oak Ridgeresident who works with the Office ofCommunications and Community Outreach,

Team UT-BattelleLab employees can lend their time, talent to the community

is heading up the organizational thrust ofTeam UT-Battelle.

“Team UT-Battelle will be run by thevolunteers,” says Bill. “This will be anemployee-driven, coordinated, volunteercommunity service organization that com-prises Lab staff, family members and retireesworking to assist the communities where welive and work.”

The ORNL Values Committee, which hasinitiated a number of successful internal Labprojects, will continue to do so with projectsand initiatives internal to the Lab, and willhave a member on the Team UT-BattelleAdvisory Committee. Team UT-Battelle willtake the ORNL volunteer efforts into thecommunity. New projects can be identified ina number of ways, including causes that havebeen supported in the past, by bringing themto the attention of an advisory committeemember, a request from a local charity orcause or activities supported by UT-Battellecharitable contributions.

“This is going to be a way for Lab employ-ees who serve worthy causes to attractattention to them, get support and earnrecognition both for the projects and thevolunteers who do them,” says Bill Pardue.“Many times it takes an organizational boost,which this Team UT-Battelle ‘umbrella’ canprovide, to get a project off the ground.”

If you have a project or cause that youthink your fellow staff members may beinterested in helping, Team UT-Battelle canhelp you get the word out and get it on track.Send your candidate project ideas to BillPardue, 576-0235 or 220-5101; fax 574-0595,Building 4500-N, MS 6266; e-mailpardueb@ornl.gov.—B.C.

ORNLpeopleThe Physics Division’s David R. Schultz

has been named a 2000 Fellow of the Ameri-can Physical Society for development of novellattice methods for solving the time-dependentSchrodinger equation, providing fundamentalnew insights in atomic collisions and dissemi-nating data to other research communities.

The Instrumentation and ControlsDivision’s Ken Tobin has been elected afellow of SPIE, the International Society forOptical Engineering. Only five percent ofSPIE members can be fellows. Ken was alsothe Tennessee Academy of Science’s engineerof the year for 2000 for his work in semicon-ductor metrology.

Jizhong Zhou, a research staff scientist inthe Environmental Sciences Division, hasbeen appointed to the editorial board of theAmerican Society for Microbiology journalApplied and Environmental Microbiology, theleading scientific journal in the field ofenvironmental microbiology. Zhou joinedORNL in 1996 as an Alexander HollaenderDistinguished Fellow.

Cheryl Bast, Tim Borges, KowethaDavidson, Carol Forsyth, Glenda Johnson,Po-Yung Lu, Sylvia Milanez, DennisOpresko, Bob Ross, Sylvia Talmage, LoisThurston, Annetta Watson and Lee AnnWilson, all members of the Toxicology andRisk Analysis section of the Life SciencesDivision, recently received plaques ofcommendation from the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency for their work for theagency’s Acute Exposure Guideline Levelsprogram, which is used in emergency evacua-tion planning.