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Federal Tipoffs Involving Tennessee Newsletter for Sunday December 17, 2023 ( 25 items )  

Alex May, OLCF's first data curator, sets path forward to ensure dataset integrity
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: This summer, Alex May faced a task daunting enough for any human: sift through a dataset of 10 million organic molecules, make sure everything was correct and get it done within two weeks. That task was not the first time May has had to assess voluminous amounts of data within a tight time frame at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Although   more

Arnold AFB: Ejection Seat Testing Returns to Arnold AFB for First Time Since Late-1990s
ARNOLD AFB, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Air Force Arnold Air Force Base issued the following news: By Bradley Hicks, AEDC Public Affairs The year was 1997. Bill Clinton was sworn in for his second term as U.S. president. The NASA space probe Pathfinder landed on the Martian surface. The motion picture "Titanic" was released in theaters and began its voyage to becoming the highest grossing movie of all-time, a designation it would hold for more than a decade. The first Harry Potter novel  more

Computational scientists generate molecular datasets at extreme scale
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: The AI agent, incorporating a language model-based molecular generator and a graph neural network-based molecular property predictor, processes a set of user-provided molecules (green) and produces/suggests new molecules (red) with desired chemical/physical properties (i.e. excitation energy). Image credit: Pilsun Yoo, Jason Smith/ORNL, U.S. DOE A team of computatio  more

Custom software speeds up, stabilizes high-profile ocean model
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: On the beach, ocean waves provide soothing white noise. But in scientific laboratories, they play a key role in weather forecasting and climate research. Along with the atmosphere, the ocean is typically one of the largest and most computationally demanding components of Earth system models like the Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM.   more

Debjani Pal: An eye-catching image, a cancer cure goal
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Debjani Pal's photo "Three-Dimensional Breast Cancer Spheroids" won the Director's Choice Award in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Art of Science photo competition. It will be displayed at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Credit: Debjani Pal/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Pal poses with ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer after receiving the awa  more

DOE Office of Environmental Management: Expanding University, College Partnerships Pays Dividends for Oak Ridge
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 15 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management issued the following news release: Developing and maintaining a trained workforce is essential to continue advancing cleanup progress happening across DOE's Oak Ridge Reservation. With a significant percentage of the workforce eligible to retire in the next decade, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) contractor UCOR is exploring new opportunities to build a pipeline of   more

Duane Starr caps 46-year career with gift to the lab
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 15 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Retired ORNL Distinguished Staff Member Duane Starr stands with the critical frequencies demo unit he designed, built and donated to the la to visually demonstrate the critical inflection points of a gas centrifuge. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Duane Starr first came to Oak Ridge in 1977 to work on the Molecular Laser Isotope Separation Process at  more

Duane Starr caps 46-year career with gift to the lab
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Retired ORNL Distinguished Staff Member Duane Starr stands with the critical frequencies demo unit he designed, built and donated to the la to visually demonstrate the critical inflection points of a gas centrifuge. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Duane Starr first came to Oak Ridge in 1977 to work on the Molecular Laser Isotope Separation Process at  more

FEMA: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Major Disaster Declaration for Tennessee
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release on Dec. 13, 2023: FEMA announced today that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the state of Tennessee to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms and tornadoes on Dec. 9, 2023. The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Davidson, Dickson, Montgomery and Sumner counties. Assist  more

Finding simple solutions for complex national security challenges
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Domenick Leto poses near assessment equipment for nuclear materials. Credit: Lena Shoemaker/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy One of the most effective strategies to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 is also one of the simplest: KN-95 face masks. Domenick Leto, a nonproliferation chemist and engineer at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, applies the  more

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Issues Order on Bank of America Fraudulent Account Litigation
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 -- The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued the following order (MDL No. 3088): * * * In Re: Bank of America Fraudulent Account Litigation ORDER DENYING TRANSFER Before the Panel: On September 13, 2023, plaintiff in the Middle District of Tennessee Barrett action filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1407 to centralize this litigation in the Middle District of Tennessee. The litigation at that time consisted of seven actions, four pending in the Western District  more

Justice Department Secures Agreement With Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Resolve Disability-Based Discrimination Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release on Dec. 11, 2023: The Justice Department announced today that the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has agreed to pay $32,600 to resolve allegations that it violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by refusing to allow four people with mental health disabilities to reside together in a single-family home in the city under the same terms and conditions as residents witho  more

Justice Dept.: Former IRS Employee Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering in Connection With COVID-19 Fraud
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release: A Tennessee man pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with a scheme to defraud the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, a federal stimulus program authorized to provide loans to small businesses experiencing substantial financial disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. According to court documents, Brian Saulsberry, 47, of  more

Justice Dept.: Man Charged for Torturing Prisoners
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- The U.S. Department of Justice issued the following news release on Dec. 14, 2023: A Tennessee man was arraigned today on charges that he tortured prisoners during the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s. According to a superseding indictment returned on Dec. 6, Sead Miljkovic, aka Sead Dukic, 51, of Chattanooga, was allegedly a member of the Obezbjedenje objekata i lica (OBL), a police force of the so-called Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (APZB)  more

Metal steam turbine blade shows cutting-edge potential for critical, large 3D-printed parts
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Wire arc additive manufacturing allowed this robot arm at ORNL to transform metal wire into a complete steam turbine blade like those used in power plants. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Chris Masuo, left, and Luke Meyer monitor the heat signatures of a steam turbine blade that was additively manufactured in a wire arc 3D printer at DOE's Manufactur  more

National Park Service: 2023 Wreaths Across America at Stones River National Cemetery
MURFREESBORO, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service issued the following news release on Dec. 11, 2023: On Saturday, December 16, 2023, members of the Rutherford County community, as well as attendees from well outside of the local area, will gather at Stones River National Cemetery to pay honor as part of Wreaths Across America Day - the purpose of the national program being to "Remember the Fallen; Honor those who Serve; and to Teach our children of  more

New report outlines opportunities to remove CO2 at the gigaton scale
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 11 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: ORNL researchers contributed biomass resources analysis to a new report that says carbon dioxide removal targets can be reached by 2050 using existing technology. Source: Jason Richards/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Scientists from more than a dozen institutions have completed a first-of-its-kind high-resolution assessment of carbon dioxide removal potential in the Uni  more

NRC Issues Event Notification for Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the following event notification (No. 56888) involving Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee: * * * Rep Org: Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Licensee: Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Region: 2 City: Soddy-Daisy State: TN County: Hamilton Agreement: Y NRC Notified By: Jeff Sowa HQ OPS Officer: Ernest West Notification Date: 12/13/2023 Notification Time: 09:45 [ET] Event Date: 12/11/2023 Event Time: 13:32 [EST] Last Update Date:  more

NRC Issues Event Notification for Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the following event notification (No. 56888) involving Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee: * * * Rep Org: Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Licensee: Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Region: 2 City: Soddy-Daisy State: TN County: Hamilton Agreement: Y NRC Notified By: Jeff Sowa HQ OPS Officer: Ernest West Notification Date: 12/13/2023 Notification Time: 09:45 [ET] Event Date: 12/11/2023 Event Time: 13:32 [EST] Last Update Date:  more

NRC Names New Resident Inspector at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the following news release on Dec. 13, 2023: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has selected Shamica Billups as the new resident inspector at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant. The plant, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, is located Athens, Alabama. Billups joined the NRC in May 2023 as a project engineer through the Resident Inspector Development Program in the Region II office in Atlanta. Before joining the NRC, she   more

Oak Ridge Institute for Science & Education: Emily Hanson Sees the Importance of Connections and the Impact of Mentorship
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education issued the following news release: As an associate manager with ORISE STEM Workforce Development, Emily Hanson, Ph.D., sees the potential in making connections -- both for a participant's career and for the future of the STEM workforce. "It is rewarding to contribute to STEM workforce development in such a meaningful way by connecting students and recent graduates to the unique opport  more

President Biden Approves Tennessee Disaster Declaration
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 -- The White House issued the following news release on Dec. 13, 2023: Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Tennessee and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms and tornadoes on December 9, 2023. The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Davidson, Dickson, Montgomery, and Sumner. Assistance can inc  more

Quantum on the Quad facilitates lab-wide strategy sessions
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: On Nov. 1, about 250 employees of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory gathered in person and online for Quantum on the Quad, an event designed to discuss the lab's quantum roadmap, which is currently in development. This roadmap will guide ORNL's efforts in quantum science and technology, including strategies for advancing and integrating quantum  more

Tenn. U.S. Attorney: 21 People Indicted for Trafficking Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, and Other Drugs in Western Tennessee
JACKSON, Tennessee, Dec. 13 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, Kevin G. Ritz, issued the following news release on Dec. 12, 2023: Twenty-one people in western Tennessee are facing federal charges for their involvement in an organized drug trafficking scheme, according to recently unsealed indictments. U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee announced the unsealing of the indictments today. The charges are the culmination of a yearlong investig  more

Two fusion energy sector leaders join ORNL
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, Dec. 15 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory issued the following news release: Two fusion energy leaders have joined the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate, or FFESD. Howard Wilson and Gary Staebler moved into new roles with ORNL's Fusion Energy Division. They bring unique and thorough scientific expertise as well as extensive understanding of and familiarity with the f  more