Number 16 June 2000

Methane hydrate isn’t a familiar term to most, but it is gaining popularity in the

energy sector. In the realm of energy R&D,methane hydrates are being evaluated as apotential fuel for the future. Some believethere is enough methane in the form ofhydrates—methane locked in ice—to supplyenergy for hundreds, maybe thousands, ofyears.

Lorie Langley, who is leading ORNL’s GasHydrate program for the Fossil EnergyProgram, believes ORNL can contributesignificantly to DOE’s and Congress’sresearch agenda. Last month President Clintonsigned the Methane Hydrate Research andDevelopment Act, which authorizes approxi-mately $50 million over five years to developan understanding of the nature, behavior andabundance of this clean-burning energyresource.

Explains Langley, “Gas hydrates areclathrate compounds. A clathrate is simply astructure in which water molecules undercertain conditions bond to form an ice-likecage that encapsulates a gas molecule, knownas a guest molecule. When that guest is amethane molecule, you have methanehydrate.”

Methane hydrates, which form at lowtemperature and high pressure, are found insea-floor sediments and the arctic permafrost.They can be scattered through several-

Methane hydratesThe fuel of the future may be ice that burns

hundred-meter depths and at various concentra-tions. The gas hydrates being evaluated byORNL researchers are methane hydrates andcarbon dioxide hydrates.

Although some research has been carried outin the past, little is known about the location,

formation, decomposition, or actual quantitiesof methane hydrates. However, national andinternational research and exploration over thelast 20 years by various governmental andindustrial entities have resulted in general

Closing the gapOverhead shortfall measures offer insight into the new management team’s approach

It wasn’t the kind of first all-staff message Bill Madia envisioned delivering as

ORNL’s new director, but that’s the way thecards fell. The Lab, he said on May 3, wasfacing an overhead budget shortfall of$9 million for the fiscal year.

The leadership team immediately enacted aseries of deliberate moves meant to close thegap without raising the Lab’s overhead rate.Lab managers also wanted to avoid any short-term staff reductions.

Toward that goal, rates for space andmaterials handling were raised, reserve fundsfor Laboratory Directed R&D and programdevelopment were reduced, and overheadcosts reductions for support organizationswere sought, among other measures.

Jeff Smith, the Lab’s deputy director forOperations, explains the Lab’s reluctance toraise the overhead rate.

“A staff concern we hear over and over againis that the overhead rate is too high,” he says.“There are several different rates, but the onemost visible to our science and technology staffis the ‘overhead composite rate.’ It is currentlyat 41.7 percent.”

And that cost of doing business, say Smithand Chief Financial Officer Greg Turner, isconsidered too high. In the long term, fixing the$9 million shortfall by simply raising the ratecould hurt the Lab more than the strongmedicine it’s currently having to swallow.

What caused the shortfall?Several singular events played a role. The

largest was a miscalculation of the loss of laborbase because of workers transferred to themanagement and integration contractor forEnvironmental Management. Those losses tothe recovery base historically have been hard to

estimate. The impact was a $15 to $20 millionloss of recovery base, depending on whichrate is cited.

Second were several unexpected costincreases. Among them were contracttransition costs, higher costs associated withthe protective services contract and a largerthan expected bill for vacating space at theY-12 Plant. UT-Battelle arrived April 1 tofind that, like with many things in life,everything costs more these days.

Third, and compounding the problem, wasa depleted central reserve fund, which istraditionally used to fill in budget gaps. Infact, it was overcommitted by about half amillion dollars. No wiggle room there.

With activities as complex as contracttransitions, the unexpected often looms large.Part of the $2.5 million increase in the

Methane hydrates, a promising natural gas resource, are believed to reside throughout the globe insea-floor sediments and permafrost.

(See HYDRATES, page 2)

(See GAP, page 6)

2 June 2000

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

DOE Inspector General Hotline: 1-800-541-1625

At last month’s Asian Pacific Americancelebration, you could get a bookmark withyour name on it—in Chinese. The Envi-ronmental Sciences Division’s Jie Chen(left) and Connie Wang were among thecalligraphers. There was also music, artand lots of food.

Cur

tis B

oles

ORNL’s U.S. Savings Bonds campaign

started June 5 with aplanned visit by Rep. ZachWamp to kick off the drive.That first day also includeda special All-American lunch at the Cafeteria.

During the campaign, drawings will be heldfor five $100 bonds per week (for a total of 15)and additional prizes. The pool of names forthe weekly drawings will come from current

savings bond participants and new enrollees.U.S. Savings Bonds now offer, in addition

to the Series EE bond, the new Series I bond.Series I bonds are sold at face value and pay afixed rate over and above the inflation rate, for30 years. With Series I bonds, your investmentis guaranteed to stay ahead of inflation.

Series EE bonds are sold a half their facevalue and earn rates based on the marketreturns of five-year U.S. Treasury certificates.

Both Series EE and Series I bonds arebacked by the U. S. government. Special taxbenefits are available for investors who usesavings bonds to save for their children’seducation. If you qualify, you can exclude allor part of the interest earned by your bondsfrom your federal income taxes when youredeem them to pay for college.

This year’s campaign is chaired by JamieCrigger and Danny Cantrell. It runs until June23. Learn more about U.S. Savings Bonds onthe Web at www.savingsbonds.gov.

New for campaign: Series I savings bonds

HydratesContinued from page 1

Hydrates, the small specks,have been formed in ESD’sSea-floor Process Simulator.

agreement that methane hydrates should beevaluated as a potential primary energy sourcefor the future.

The growing demand for natural gas pointsto a need for this resource, Langley says. “TheUnited States consumes about 21 trillion cubicfeet of natural gas per year. We import threepercent of that. Demand is expected to growto 32 trillion cubic feet by 2020.”

The natural gas infrastructure is growingalso. Much of industry has already convertedto natural gas. Public utilities are headed thatway as well.

DOE’s research agenda is structured aroundfour major R&D elements: resource character-

ization, production, global carbon cycle, andsafety and sea-floor stability.

Resource characterization: This is essen-tially the baseline research towardunderstanding how methane hydrates behave,where and how they occur and what energypotential they actually represent. This workwill require extensive data management,computer modeling and laboratory and fieldstudies.

Production: Methods of harvesting methanehydrates will have to be developed. Langleyemphasized that production methods formethane hydrates will be evaluated and willprobably be similar to those of the oil and gasindustry: depressurization, thermal stimulationor possibly solvent injection.

Global carbon cycle: Since methane is agreenhouse gas, understanding methane as aprimary gas or a trace gas will be important intoday’s climate change initiatives. Hydratesare being evaluated as a potential storagemechanism for CO2 sequestration and forstoring methane for use as atransporation fuel. Langleypoints out that although methanewhen burned is a clean fuel,more information is needed onthe emissions from variousmethane sources to fullyunderstand its atmosphericimplications.

Safety and sea-floor stability:The oil and gas industrycontinues to explore deeperbeneath the ocean floor.Industry has concerns aboutdrilling through hydrate zones,which can destabilize supporting foundationsfor platforms and production wells. Thedisruption to the ocean floor also could resultin surface slumping or faulting, which couldendanger work crews and the environment.

Langley and ORNL Fossil Energy ProgramManager Rod Judkins recently wrapped up acall for proposals for methane hydrateresearch. Research is already in progress:

ORNL researchers currently are developingand producing hydrates in the Sea-floorProcess Simulator in the EnvironmentalSciences Division and have completedsupport for the installation of a research wellin Canada’s Northwest Territories. Data

fusion and resource assess-ment activities are under wayin the Computer Science andMathematics Division todevelop a model that willbetter estimate the resource.Proposed projects in crystal-lography by the Metals andCeramics Division willprovide hydrate structural datathrough neutron diffraction.

“Estimates on how muchenergy is stored in methanehydrates range from 350years’ supply to 3500 years’

supply based on current energy consumption.That reflects both the potential as a resourceand how little we really know about theresource,” Langley says.

“ORNL is and will continue to contribute toall four of the research areas. Methanehydrates have the potential to offer a cleansource of energy, but we need to know muchmore about this ice.”—B.C.

Estimates on how muchenergy is stored in methanehydrates range from 350years’ supply to 3500 years’.

The next Medic blood drive at ORNL isscheduled for July 6–11. During April’s drive,388 employees successfully donated at thedrive’s new location at Building 1503 and atHFIR, 701 Scarboro and Robotics.

Next blood drive starts July 6

Oak Ridge National Laboratory 3

Lab, TVA unite for “green” powerTwo of the region’s heavy hitters have

pledged to work together to promote sustain-able energy technologies. ORNL and theTennessee Valley Authority signed twomemoranda of understanding on May 17 tocollaborate on “green” power.

In the first agreement, DOE will commit topurchase green power for ORNL, making theLab TVA’s first industrial participant in itsGreen Power Switch program. The programoffers power produced using sunlight, windand landfill gas as renewable energy sources.

The second agreement is between ORNLand TVA’s Public Power Institute to enter intomutually beneficial collaborations in the fieldof energy production and use. The agreementenables ORNL and the Public Power Instituteto develop, demonstrate and deploy technolo-gies for efficient and environmentallybeneficial renewable energy production anduse.

“This is a great example of using leading-edge technologies from ORNL that canimprove our environment for our children’sfuture,” said Bill Madia, ORNL director. Alsoon hand were Dan Reicher, assistant secretaryfor Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energyand Kate Jackson, TVA executive vicepresident of River System Operation andEnvironment.

Threatened swans find a home“Beaky” is a swan, one of the brood from

last year, who somehow got his bill damagedin his early days at the Swan Pond. Missing theupper half meant the hapless bird had to be feda special mush. Adding to his misery, the otherswans tended to pick on him.

Larry Smarsh, who works in the Plant andEquipment Division, agreed to take Beaky tohis place near Lancing. Larry reports thatBeaky, special diet and all, is doing just fine athis new place.

Smarsh also took home two other cygnets,the remains of this year’s brood that wasdecimated by some sort of predator or preda-tors. The Lab’s volunteer swankeepers have agallery of suspects ranging from turtles tomuskrats to the latest—a family of foxes thatwas spotted slinking around the area.

Having an area that’s so rich in wildlife is a

double-edged sword: Thecritters tend to eat eachother. The foxes, orwhatever the predatorsare, are also keeping theduck and goose popula-tion in check.

At the Smarsh’s, thecygnets were reported

doing well. Beaky waseven protective of them.

ORNL’s featheredfriends frequently amaze and

amuse. When it was reported—rumored, really—that steps may be taken to

discourage barn swallows from nesting in the“canyon” between buildings 4500-North andSouth, ORNL Today readers sprang to theirdefense, citing the aerial show they put on andthe bugs they eat. On the other hand, most alsosaid they wouldn’t mind seeing the birds’leavings cleaned up from time to time.

Finally, observers noted that two birds of adifferent feather were following a mama goose

around the grounds. They are ducks whoseeggs were deposited in, then ejected from, theswans’ nests. So the keepers put them in anearby goose’s nest. It worked for the duckies,apparently.

20 years later, stilllearning

It’s been 20 years sinceMount St. Helens blew itsstack, sending ash down uponmuch of the Northwest andproviding scientists with aonce-in-a-lifetime chance atpost-cataclysmic field research.Among those who studied thedevastation was Virginia Dale,then a Seattle resident. TheEnvironmental SciencesDivision researcher has studiedplant regrowth in the debrisavalanche area ever since.

Virginia attended a confer-ence, sponsored byWashington State University,Vancouver, in conjunction withthe Mount St. Helens Monu-ment, marking the anniversary.

Virginia told Newsday that,

of 286 plant species present before theeruption, 156 had re-established themselves onthe debris avalanche by 1994. Areas that werestrewn with huge, dead trees are now greenagain with head-high saplings.

She and other researchers remarked on howrapidly many species reestablished themselvesafter such seemingly utter destruction, and thelessons it offered about other kinds of distur-bances.

“The real value of all these studies is whatwe can learn about management for otherhuman-created systems,” Virginia told TheNew York Times. “We have strip mines androadsides and all kinds of devastation createdby human activities.”

OR contractors set up Los Alamos fundLast month’s catastrophic forest fire in Los

Alamos, N.M., hit the fellow national labora-tory community hard, destroying more than200 homes. The Oak Ridge community hascome together to help out.

UT-Battelle is participating with BechtelJacobs Company and Lockheed Martin EnergySystems in an account to which interestedemployees may contribute funds to help LosAlamos residents who have lost homes orother property in the Cerro Grande fire. UT-Battelle is contributing $5,000 to the fund.

Employees who would like to help victimsof the fire can make their checks payable to“Los Alamos Disaster Relief Fund” (specify“Account #47922” on the memo portion of thecheck) and send them to the Y-12 FederalCredit Union, P.O. Box 2512, Oak Ridge, TN,37831-2512. Checks or cash contributions mayalso be taken to the Y-12 Credit Union officesat 501 Lafayette Drive. Employees who haveY-12 Credit Union accounts may request anelectronic funds transfer.

Reported by Bill Cabage

A goose family, except the black ones areducks.

Three Oak Ridge contractors recently contributed $22,500 eachto the Claxton Optimist Club for a new playground. Posing witha big check before a flock of kids at the Claxton CommunityCenter are, from left, Bechtel Jacobs’ Jim Thiesing, OptimistsClub President Carl Scarbrough, Lockheed Martin EnergySystems President Bob Van Hook and UT-Battelle President andORNL Director Bill Madia.

Jim

Ric

hmon

d

4 June 2000

The southern Appalachian Mountains, asbeautiful as they are, are cloaked in air

quality issues. Directly in the path of prevail-ing winds, the peaks receive airborne pollutionfrom the surrounding region. This degradedair quality directly affects the mountains’ floraand fauna and indirectly affects our quality oflife.

Eight southeastern states joined severalyears ago in an initiative to study the issuesand to provide policy guidance to stategovernments. The Southern AppalachianMountains Initiative, through tools such asemissions and atmospheric modeling andimpetus such as the recently revised Clean AirAct, is developing strategies to “remedyexisting and prevent future adverse effects” ofair pollution on the mountains. These policyrecommendations will be based on a consen-sus built among participating governmentagencies, environmental groups and industry.

Although ORNL is increasingly drawing onthe mountains in its own backyard to symbol-ize the Lab, neither it nor DOE are activeplayers in SAMI. But Energy Division’s JanBerry is “working on that.”

“DOE’s work is important to managementof air quality, particularly in predictingemission changes as new technologies comeinto play,” Berry says. “Understanding thestate of the art of energy technology, forinstance, can help predict what diesel truckemissions will be in the year 2040. ORNL hasa wealth of knowledge that can be applied todeveloping strategies for managing air quality.

“SAMI will identify emission levelsnecessary to protect natural resources in SouthAppalachia. ORNL can help develop,demonstrate and advance a mix of energytechnologies that can achieve emission levelsthat are protec-tive of mountainair and streamquality.”

Berry says theNational ParkService isparticularlyinterested in these kinds of studies and in thedeployment of advanced technologies.They’ve already seen adverse effects of airpollution in the form of acidified and deadmountain streams in the Shenandoahs. In otherareas, including the Smokies, air pollution hasbeen cited as a contributing factor in speciesdie-offs—the Fraser firs as one example.

Socioeconomic impacts result, eitherdirectly or indirectly. For instance, the tourismindustry warns of a dropoff in revenue astourists become increasingly discouraged bymurky vistas.

“SAMI’s stakeholders range from bothsides of the issues, from green activists toindustries,” she says. “During the SecondGovernors’ Summit on Air Quality, governors

Sundquist (Tenn.), Barnes (Ga.), Hunt (N.C.)and Hodges (S.C.) recognized the importanceof this type of consensus process to solvingtough and wide-ranging issues over air andwater quality.”

For instance, several major regionalindustries participating in SAMI contributetheir share to air quality issues in the Appala-chians. ORNL’s capabilities in assessments,computer modeling and technology develop-ment can help ensure that proposals are notonly technically but also economically viable.

These industries, Berry says, know thatsound science andtechnology are critical toremedying existing andpreventing future adverseeffects of air pollution onthe mountains. This effortstarts with meeting therequirements of the Clean

Air Act and culminates in simply being goodneighbors—maintaining and improving ourquality of life.

“Energy Division works at the interfacebetween the environment and the economy,”Berry says.

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency andRenewable Energy (EERE) supports animportant ORNL program that includesprojects that could improve air and waterquality. As an energy lab with decades ofexperience in integrated assessment, technol-ogy development and field experiments,ORNL is well poised to help SAMI predictwhat new technologies will best help reducethe effects of pollution and which newtechnologies might best catch on with the

public. The industrial participants, includingutilities, are interested in analyzing newtechnologies that can reduce emissions throughenergy efficiency, such as microturbine powerplants and fuel cells and alternative fuels suchas ethanol. They are likewise very interested intheir economic viability.

Some states have already taken steps tointroduce technology by using their environ-mental policies. North Carolina, for instance,recently passed a statute requiring all state fleetvehicles to convert to natural-gas–firedengines.

Among Lab resources that SAMI can drawupon is the Energy Division’s BuildingsTechnology Center, which relentlesslypromotes driving new, efficient technologies tothe marketplace. The transportation researchcapabilities of the Center for TransportationAnalysis could contribute, in that auto exhaustis a prominent contributor to mountain air-quality issues, particularly in the well-traveledSmokies. Chemical Technology Divisioncould contribute its technology developmentcapabilities, such as the ORNL BiochemicalResearch and Development Center.

The Environmental Sciences Division has awealth of continuing research, including thatdone by its Atmospheric Chemistry andAerosol group, that could lend volumes of datato help SAMI weigh proposals and optionsrelated to its mission. Other ESD activitiesrepresented—such as the Carbon DioxideInformation and Analysis Center, which is aglobal clearinghouse for atmospheric carbondioxide data—are valuable DOE resources thatcould benefit state and industry initiativesaimed at similar environmental missions.

On a clear day, you can see the top of Mount LeConte in the Smokies. But those good days aregetting fewer and farther between.

Mountain airORNL researchers seek involvement in backyard southern Appalachian initiative

Some states have already takensteps to introduce technology byusing their environmental policies.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory 5

Another ORNL technology has been added to the list of candidates for a

cesium removal project at the Savannah RiverSite. ORNL Reporter described the collabora-tion between ORNL and the South Carolinafacility in last October’s issue. SRS isstudying methods to remove cesium and othercontaminants from high-level salt wastestored in underground tanks there.

Based on results obtained in the comingyear by collaborators at ORNL, ArgonneNational Laboratory and the SRS, a technol-ogy will be selected and ultimately imple-mented in a billion-dollar facility at the SRS.

Two technologies that have been underconsideration are small tank TPB precipita-tion and an ion-exchange process.

Since the October article appeared, a youngtechnology has been rapidly developing and isnow being considered. It’s a solvent extrac-tion process called the CSEX process, forcesium extraction. The Chemical andAnalytical Sciences Division’s Bruce Moyeris the lead researcher.

“Our technology is very new, but it was afront runner early on,” Moyer says. “Back in1998 when the choices were being narroweddown, the other two technologies were muchfurther along. Owing to the aggressiveschedule at the SRS, CSEX was actuallydropped from the list for a while.”

A National Academy of Sciences report onthe project recommended resuming testing onsolvent extraction, which removes cesiumfrom a waste liquid by use of an extractantthat has a strong and selective affinity for theelement.

“It is a very interesting molecule,” Moyer

says of the extractant, called a calixarene.“The molecule forms a cavity that is verycomplementary to cesium but much less sofor other metals.”

By itself, the calixarene is a poor extractant,but Peter Bonnesen in CASD’s ChemicalSeparations group devised an additive, or“modifier,” that boosts the calixarene’sperformance. The solvent, composedprimarily of the calixarene and the modifier ina process-suitable diluent, is mixed with thewaste, resulting in the extraction of cesiuminto the solvent. The mixing is carried out inseconds in elegant centrifugal contactorsbeing demonstrated in ORNL’s ChemicalTechnology Division and at Argonne.

After the cesium is extracted, the loadedsolvent easily releases its cesium upon mixingwith very dilute nitric acid, regenerating theresusable solvent. One of the primaryadvantages of the CSEX process is that it

Much to learn about atmospheric effects

Energy Division’s Moonis Ally is another Lab researcher enthusiastic about building a rapport with SAMI. He’s pursuing proposals on further research into aerosols, or

atmospheric pollutants in chemical form.Ally’s interest in atmospheric aerosols is an outgrowth of earlier work with retired

ORNL chemist Jerry Braunstein to model the behavior of electrolytes—substances thationize in water. He believes the same principles can be used to predict how aerosols canbecome supersaturated in the atmosphere. Ally and the Chemical and Analytical SciencesDivision’s Mike Simonson received a seed money grant to explore the possibility.

“We had no idea that someday we would be able to apply our theories to predicting theproperties of supersaturated aerosols in the atmosphere,” Ally says. “Man-made aerosolsin the troposphere can reach concentrations that are unimaginable in ordinary circum-stances.”

The effects can be hard to predict. Ally says that some of the chemicals found in thetroposphere, both manmade and naturally occurring, have an opposite effect to that ofgreenhouse gases in that they assist radiative cooling of the atmosphere. However, he saysthat should be no reason for complacency based on a belief that global warming could beallieviated by tropospheric aerosols.

“It wouldn’t be judicious to ignore the delicate and dynamic interrelationships that makenatural processes tend toward equilibrium,” he says. “I didn’t know about SAMI when Istarted this work, but I think the Lab’s research in these areas can benefit the surroundingstates by improving technology to reduce environmental impacts and ultimately realizeeconomic benefits. It’s important globally, to be sure, but it’s also important regionally.”

Berry is currently working on a proposalwith SAMI to evaluate the performance ofdistributed power generation: specifically,powering a school with a stand-alone naturalgas-fired microturbine power generator thatuses waste-heat recovery and desiccanttechnology.

Tennessee is a lead participant in SAMI,joined by Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, WestVirginia, North Carolina, South Carolina andAlabama. Gov. Don Sundquist announced at arecent meeting that East Tennessee wouldhost next year’s SAMI meeting. Berry andother ORNL researchers would like to see aprominent ORNL presence at the meeting.

“Researchers who work at ORNL love EastTennessee,” says Berry, who has workedpreviously in environmental managementprograms both in Tennessee and at Hanford,Washington. “ORNL can lend much credibil-ity to SAMI’s process. We should use ourintellectual capital to help this region.”

If you would like to know more aboutSAMI, contact Berry at 241-1939,berryjb@ornl.gov.—B.C.

Lab technology vies for Savannah River project roleproduces a purified stream of concentratedcesium that is highly compatible withvitrification, Moyer says.

Moyer admits that the calixarene isexpensive, but because of its low concentra-tion and the use of high-throughputcontactors, the overall cost of the processremains competitive in cost with the other twotechnologies. One of the pleasant lessons hesays he has learned in developing thistechnology is that elegant molecules have aplace in industrial processes such as nuclear-waste cleanup: High performance offsets thehigh cost of the molecule.

Testing on the solvent-extraction processwill be performed at ORNL, Argonne, and theSRS in the summer and fall of 2000. “Whatmakes the CSEX process exciting for ORNLis that it is an ORNL invention,” Moyersays.—B.C.

Three high school seniors whose parentsare ORNL staff members have received

Lockheed Martin Foundation scholarships.The scholarships, which will be the last fromthe Lockheed Martin program at ORNL, are$3,000 per year for four years of undergradu-ate study. The winners and their ORNLparents are

Sanjana Ahmed, daughter of Abu B.Ahmed of the Operational Safety ServicesDivision. Sanjana, a graduate of Oak Ridge

High School, plans to attend the University ofTennessee.

Graham Beattie, son of Kenneth L. Beattieof the Life Sciences Division. TheCumberland County High School graduate isenrolling in UT’s premed program.

Rachel McCord, daughter of RaymondMcCord of the Environmental SciencesDivision. Rachel is this year’s valedictorianfor Webb School of Knoxville. She plans toattend Davidson College in North Carolina.

Three seniors win LM scholarships

6 June 2000

protective services contract, for instance, is anunanticipated result of the transition. Inaddition to some cost increases driven by thenew security contract, a portion of securitycosts for Lockheed Martin Energy Researchwere previously subsidized by LockheedMartin Energy Systems. “We have to pay thefull burden cost, whereas LMER didn’t,”Smith says.

Likewise, Y-12 deactivation costs werebudgeted at $1.5 million. The actual cost isexpected to be $3.3 million.

“Getting out of Y-12 is the right thing to do,and we were about two-thirds of the waythere. But it’s going to cost us more to finishthe job,” says Smith.

Says CFO Turner, “If we hadn’t missed thebase, or hadn’t had this barrage of singularevents—if we had one or the other, we mighthave been able to recover. But with all thesefactors, along with the lack of reserves, wehad to take these rather drastic actions.”

Prospects of flat or lower budgets alsoexacerbate the overhead situation, says Smith.“When budgets are growing, you can bet ongrowing the Lab as well. Our intent is toeventually do that, but at this point we’resimply not ready to resolve this problem onprojected growth.”

Says Turner, “In the past we could do that,plus use our reserves to keep things in balance.We just didn’t have those options this time.”

The overhead rateSome asked, why not just raise the overhead

rate? As Smith and Turner cited previously,because that’s what the science and technol-ogy staff members decidedly do not want theLab to do.

“Staff are concerned about thelack of stability in overhead rates,”Turner says. “The R&D staffshould be able to depend onoverhead rate stability. No onelikes to come to the end of thefiscal year and get hit with aretroactive rate increase. Thisleadership team takes pride inhaving stable rates that you candepend on. That requires good, high-qualityinput on the front end of the budget process.”

The UT-Battelle team intends to zero in onthe Lab’s cost of doing business, which Turnercharacterized as being on the “wrong end ofthe scale.” As an example, the average hourlyrate for a mid-level researcher at ORNL is$117, whereas at other DOE labs it is less than$100. That approximately amounts to the20 percent overhead reduction over three yearsthat UT-Battelle has pledged for ORNL.

“We need a systematic review of our coststructure and cost drivers, and that’s when weget to the organization burdens and lab-leveloverheads,” Turner says. “That’s still a workin progress on our part, and we will draw upon

staff input. It is critical that tech organizationsbe involved.”

In fact, Smith and Turner cite that whilemany overhead reduction efforts have in thepast fallen on support organizations, overheadin research divisions has risen, not dropped.Division managers counter that’s becausecosts have been shifted rather than reduced,which is true to some degree.

Nevertheless, those organizational burdenfigures will be looked at closely. Smith pointsto a move away from services imbeddedwithin divisions, which he says over time tendto swell the payroll. The preferred model, hesays, is support organizations that fill theneeds of research organizations and have theflexibility to move resources to where they areneeded.

“We’re really going after ‘hard’ costsavings versus ‘soft’ savings,” Smith states,alluding to cost “avoidances” that haven’tmaterialized in the bottom line. “We’ll have tosolve this as a team, and what won’t betolerated is turf protection.”

The frontiers of spaceSmith estimates the net increase on space

and materials rates will amount to about$2 million for space and $900,000 formaterials handling.

“The procurement dollar won’t go as far,and the space issue is tough,” he says. “But intruth, the space charge is artificially low now.We’d like for the space charge rate to reflectwhat it really costs to manage space.”

The reason, Smith says, is that changes inhow we think about space are coming.Whereas divisions now have little incentive tovacate space and tend to hold on to it forfuture needs, the future dictates a morecompact environment.

“ORNL has about 4.7 million square feet ofspace,” Smith says. “For this size ofbusiness, in research volume, wecould probably do our work in amillion less square feet. This extraspace is old and expensive tomaintain.”

That’s where ORNL’s facilitiesupgrade plans can pay off.

“The sooner we can get out ofthese old, expensive facilities, the

sooner we can put those research dollarstoward supporting new facilities and newprograms,” Smith says. “In the meantime,people should re-assess the space they need.”

Turner says another plan for stretchingresearch dollars entails simplifying ORNL’sbusiness rules. Many current rules stem fromthe legacy of the single contractor, which hassaddled the Lab with production-orientedbusiness rules. Lab managers have com-plained about that for years.

“We hope to simplify the rules,” Turnersays, “and that will require feedback fromboth our S&T staff and from DOE. We havean opportunity here to deviate from thatproduction focus to a set of business rules

more attuned to an R&D organization.”Acknowledging that the drastic steps will

immediately result in less research for thedollar, Madia closed a talk to staff memberson May 3 with a warning that the tough stepsonly solved the problem for the rest of theyear. He could not rule out future staffreductions, and said “all options” would haveto be considered.

On the other hand, the shortfall can serve asan opportunity to put new ideas on operatingand growing ORNL on the fast track. Withplans to build new facilities, reduce the cost ofdoing business and rebuild the Lab’s businessstructure to more closely resemble an R&Dorganization, the leadership team’s plans forORNL go way beyond a balanced book onSeptember 30.—B.C.

GapContinued from page 1

ServiceAnniversaries40+ years: Edwin H. Krieg, Jr., Engineering;Leonard E. McNeese and Dwight H.Newman, Chemical Technology; William T.Milner, Physics; Robert T. Santoro, Computa-tional Physics and Engineering; Robert W.Swindeman, Metals & Ceramics40 years: Margaret B. Emmett, Computa-tional Physics and Engineering; Francis R.O’Donnell, Environmental Protection &Waste Systems35 years: Kenneth W. Isham, Life Sciences30 years: Peggy S. Johnson, Chem Tech;Clarence E. Mee, Plant and Equipment25 years: Willie J. Allen, F&O StrategicPlanning; William J. Allington, EngineeringTechnology; William L. Bryan, Instrumenta-tion & Controls; John M. Cole, Chem Tech;Raymond T. Cox, Rickey D. Madison,Thomas C. Wright and James M. Ellis, P & E;Gary A. Hampton, Contracts and Procure-ment; Ralph C. Isler, Fusion Energy; John C.Rowe, Robotics and Process Systems; MartiSalk, Environmental Sciences; David C.Sharp, Logistical Services; Nermin A. Uckan,Fusion Energy; David P. Vogt, Energy20 years: Lloyd F. Arrowood III and TammyS. Darland, Computer Science & Mathemat-ics; Paul F. Becher, Metals & Ceramics;Stephen E. Burnette, Research Reactors;Benjamin A. Carreras, Fusion Energy; LarryR. Conner and Joseph F. Walker Jr., ChemTech; David R. Cunningham, EP&WM;Michael S. Emery and Paul D. Ewing, I&C;Teresa D. Ferguson, Energy; Gail R. Hamiltonand Wilfred M. Post III, EnvironmentalSciences; Nathaniel L. Hardin and John K.Mongar, P&E; Lejean M. Hardin, Computing,Information, and Networking; Tammy K. Hill,Business & Information Services; Betty A.Lawson, Logistical Services; Joel C. Lewis,Robotics and Process Systems; Sydney N.Murray Jr., Physics; Susan D. Patty, Computa-tional Physics and Engineering; Leroy E.Stratton, F&O Strategic Planning; Dorothy J.Tate, Fusion Energy

“We couldprobably doour work in amillion lesssquare feet.”

Oak Ridge National Laboratory 7

Several ORNL employees marked a national “bike-to-work” day on May 19

by doing exactly that: riding their bikes towork.

It wasn’t a Lab-sponsored or recognizedevent. Lab officials had very real safetyconcerns related to traffic, road constructionand the nature of the area’s winding roads.But a few employees ride bikes to work daily,and the roads on the Oak Ridge Reservation

often feature two-wheelers on the

shoulder.Bicycles are also,in fact, a means

preferred bymany forgetting aroundthe Lab

campus. ORNLReporter even pedals around on its own rig.

Motorists and bicyclists share an uneasyexistence. Motorists are often frustrated whenthey approach a bicyclist and are forced toslow down. Cyclists are often tense andnervous when approached by an automobile.A lack of instruction and poor habits oftenculminate in unsafe situations.

“Cyclists share the same roads with

automobiles and are subject to the samerules,” says Ray Brittain of the Instrumenta-tion and Controls Division. “Many motoristsbelieve that bicycles should not be on theroads. In fact, federal law requires states tomake bicycling and walking safer and moreviable ways of travel.”

Ray passes along a few tips toward adétente between motorists and cyclists.

Safety tips for cyclists• Always wear a helmet. This is your most

important piece of safety gear.• Be alert. Always be aware that a motorist

might not see you.• Signal your intentions—use hand signals to

indicate turns and stops.• Use a mirror. This allows you to be aware of

traffic approaching from behind.• Follow traffic rules as if you are driving an

auto. Ride with traffic, not against it.• Ride as near to the right-hand side of the

road as practical, while avoiding roadhazards that could cause you to swerve intotraffic.

• Be predictable. Do not weave in and out oftraffic or parked cars.

• As is the case with all slow movingvehicles, you are required by Tennessee law

to get off the highway when more than fivevehicles are unable to pass.

Safety tips for motorists• Be alert. Like motorcycles, bicycles are

harder to see than autos.• Don’t honk. This can startle a cyclist and

cause him or her to swerve.• When passing, be sure to clear the cyclist

before moving back into your lane.• Cyclists who are not on the extreme right-

hand side of the lane are not being careless,but are in fact attempting to avoid hazardsthat could cause an accident.

• No cyclist’s speed can be taken for granted.With today’s improved equipment, somebicyclists may be traveling 25 or 30 milesper hour, if not faster. Others will betravelling at much slower speeds.

• Drivers turning left in front of oncomingcyclists cause a large percentage of car/cycle accidents.

• Overtaking, then making a right turn infront of the cyclist is also a cause of manyaccidents.—B.C.

Bicycles: Same roads, same destination, same rules

Deaths

UT-Battelle will not continue to match employee contributions to higher

education with corporate funds. Communica-tions and Community Outreach Director BillyStair made the announcement to staff onMay 17.

Officials for the new contractor insteadreferred to an annual $1.25 million commit-ment to education, development and culturalprograms in the region.

“UT-Battelle management has examinedthis issue closely for several weeks, attempt-ing to determine whether we can afford tofund the matching gifts program and alsoundertake our other important initiatives ineducation and economic development for theOak Ridge region,” Stair said. “After carefulconsideration, we have determined that wewill be unable to continue the matching giftsprogram.”

Stair cited several issues in the decision.The matching gifts program existed whenthere was one corporate contractor in OakRidge—Lockheed Martin. Funds for thematching gifts program were supplied by thatcorporation’s headquarters and did not comefrom a fixed management fee, which wouldhave been the case with UT-Battelle. ORNL’sannual matching funding requirements inrecent years ran up to $280,000.

“UT-Battelle was formed as a partnershipfounded solely for the purpose of managingOak Ridge National Laboratory. Any

community-related initiatives we undertakewill be funded from the management feeawarded UT-Battelle from the Department ofEnergy,” Stair said. “UT-Battelle has commit-ted approximately $1.25 million annuallyfrom its management fee for a variety ofinitiatives designed to support the region’seducational, cultural and economic develop-ment programs. Of this total, UT-Battelle hascommitted roughly $600,000 annually toeconomic development initiatives and about$400,000 to efforts we hope will strengthenmath and science programs and education andeconomic initiatives.

“Requests from a multitude of other areacivic and cultural projects leave UT-Battellewithout the resources available from ourmanagement fee to continue the matchinggifts program.

“We regret that we are unable to continuethe matching gifts program. Our hope is thatby committing some $6.3 million in targetedinvestments over the next five years, we canmake a lasting improvement in areas ofcomparable importance to the citizens of theOak Ridge region,” Stair said.

ORNL plans newrecreation program

ORNL’s Human Resources Division is currently putting together a recreation

program for the Lab. HR Director DarrylBoykins says the program should be ready togo in time for most summer activities.

Lockheed Martin ended its local programrecently. UT-Battelle is setting up a programto fill the gap at the Lab.

“UT-Battelle recognizes the value of arecreation program as a contributor to apositive work life,” Darryl says. “We will beunveiling our program very shortly.”

Boykins indicated that the recreationprogram will operate under a participant-managed model. Teams, leagues or clubs willbe eligible for corporate funding and othersupport, but will actually self-manage eventsand participation under general companyguidelines.

“My experience is that employees, ratherthan a company recreation department, arebetter able to design and produce events in asport of choice. Those with the interest andexpertise are best able to manage andcoordinate a particular event or sport,” Darrylsays.

The recreation program will soon beavailable as a Web-based link from theHuman Resources and Diversity ProgramsDirectorate site at www-internal.ornl.gov/HR_ORNL/hr.htm. Watch the site forinformation on the recreation program’sguidelines, contacts, and individual programinformation or contact Ron Honeycutt(honeycuttra@ornl.gov).

Jimmy A. Kilby, 35, who worked in theOperational Safety Services Division, died onMay 16. He was a resident of Ten Mile.

Matching contributions won’t continue

Bulk RateU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #37Powell, TN

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

Inside

Number 16, June 2000

Methane hydrates, page 1

The budget, page 1

Lab Notes: Green power, birds,Mount St. Helens, page 3

Mountain air, page 4

New tech for SRS, page 5

Bike safety, page 7

Many future scientists get their first hands- on experience with scientific method in

the school science fair. Like many othercompetitions, science fairs can be formativeevents that can influence a young student’seventual career path.

For that reason, judging their exhibits canbe a weighty responsibility. A number ofORNL researchers have taken on thatchallenge recently, lending their expertise asscience fair judges for student competitions.

Seventeen ORNL staff members recentlyserved as judges for the Southern AppalachianScience and Engineering Fair. The fairrepresents the best projects by students from26 participating East Tennessee counties.

The more than 50 volunteer SASEF judges,representing the ET science community,review exhibits and interview the students.This year more than 400 students participated,sponsored jointly by the Instrumentation andControls Division and the University ofTennessee. I&C’s Chuck Britton will serve asSASEF’s president for the next two years.

At stake for the students are scholarshipsranging in value from $100 to $1000. Seniordivision grand and reserve champions alsoreceive a trip to the International Science andEngineering Fair in Detroit. More valuablethan the prizes, however, is the experience—both for the students and the judges.

“Many years ago my son’s science fairproject was selected by his school to representit in the Southern Appalachian Science andEngineering Fair,” says I&C Division DirectorDan McDonald. “It was a big deal for both ofus and a very proud moment for me. Theawards ceremony was in the gym at the oldUT basketball building. There were hundredsof students there with their projects. As I

wandered through the exhibits I thought aboutall of the effort that went into these projectsand thought that it was too bad that only a fewwould be recognized as ‘winners.’

“My son won a copy of the Handbook ofPhysics from thelocal chapter of theIEEE ComputerSociety. Hecouldn’t have beenprouder and to thisday has the nick-name ‘Champ’ forhaving won thathonor.”

A new wrinkle inscience fairs is theon-line fair. ThreeORNL researchersrecently volunteeredto judge for theInternet Science andTechnology Fair. In that contest, elementary,middle and high school students from aroundthe nation apply National Critical Technologyapplications to real-world problems. Theirresults are provided to judges in a Web-pageformat.

Engineering Technology Division’s DanO’Connor, Energy’s Steve Fischer and SolidState’s Richard Kerchner volunteered tojudge that one this spring. Writes O’Connor,who put in two hours of judging on each ofthree projects: “I think this kind of a competi-tion is good and benefits the students. I amsure all of them know more about puttingtogether a Web page than I do after this effort.I would recommend this competition to areaschools.”

Another development that pleasantly

surprised Andy Andrews, who judged in theSASEF fair, is more girls participating.

“I’ve been a junior division physics judgesomething like five out of the last seven years,and it has always been dominated by boys—

typically one girl and 15 or so boys.This year we had about 24 competi-tors in the division and only three orfour were boys,” says Andrews.

“I have no idea what caused thischange. Maybe it was just astatistical fluke. I hope it was atrend!”

Besides Andrews, this year’sSASEF judges were Martin Hunt,Jim McEvers, Dick Anderson andMarc Simpson of I&C; T.J. Blasingof the Energy Division; MartinGrossbeck of the Metals andCeramics Division; SigmundMosko of the Physics Division; JimConklin, John Whealton, Uri Gatand Bruce Bevard of the Engineer-

ing Technology Division; C. Wayne Parker ofthe Engineering Division; and Stephen Storchand Hank Cochran of the Chemical Technol-ogy Division. Award presenters were I&C’sMcDonald and Glenn Allgood.

McDonald has seen the science fair pay offfirst-hand.

“I recently had a great thrill when agraduate student employed by our divisiontook me over to our Science Fair Board ofHonor display and pointed out his name as apast division award winner,” he says. “That’swhen you realize that supporting these eventsdoes make a difference in the lives of youngpeople and in the future of science.”—B.C.

Lab volunteers are ‘fair’ judges of future scientists’ projects

I&C’s Dan McDonald congratu-lates a fair winner: WhitneyStich, a seventh grader at St.Mary’s School.