Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for the All Hands Meeting. While we didn’t have time to answer all questions during the meeting, we will be featuring them in the next few issues of Newsline. Below are the first set of questions with answers.
Q. How will the merger of the new ATLC contract effect the seniority list for each craft?
A. Seniority will be handled by the ATLC. Each individual should check with ATLC regarding seniority questions.
Q. Will we have an end-of-the-year bonus this year?
A. Yes, we are on track to meet our safety and performance goals in calendar year 2026 for eligible salaried, Building Trades, ATLC, and ROS employees to again receive an end-of-year bonus. UCOR was the first contractor to win DOE approval for our Employee Incentive Program, and it’s a deserved recognition of your fierce commitment to safety, mission delivery, and identifying efficiency opportunities to innovate and accelerate our work – without compromising safety or compliance. Let’s maintain that performance through the end of this year and beyond.
Q. Why do all-hands meetings only cater to and hype up D&D and show videos of them? Why are there never any videos or recognition of UCOR Maintenance? There is more than one side of UCOR.
A. Thanks for the feedback. As Jim Blankenhorn reinforced at the all hands meeting, all 2,200 UCOR employees are essential to our mission and contribute to this company’s success and reputation as an industry leader. As an example: while demolition of a large facility like Alpha-2 is a great video visual and gets a lot of attention, we know there were years of work, across every UCOR team, to get that massive 2.5-acre facility ready for safe demo. And that teamwork will continue to be true of all work at ORNL and Y-12. And our skilled labor teams in Maintenance are essential not just leading up to demolition – you are integral in our Nuclear Operations, the Transuranic Waste Processing Center, landfills, and all our work. And as Jim shared at the meeting, Team UCOR is similar to the US Army’s TV commercials that said “we do more before 9 a.m. than most people do in a day.” Jim asked our UCOR Public Affairs team to continue to tell the story of all our teams – and if you have stories to share, I encourage you to send them to communications@orcc.doe.gov, or ask your supervisor to reach out to the Public Affairs team.
Q. Have we come to a conclusion on how we will demo and what controls will be used for the smoke stack at ORNL building 3002 that is located next to the ORNL museum that has public access?
A. We are currently exploring ways to accelerate characterization within the former filter house, Building 3002, and we are also investigating the safest way to demolish the adjacent 200-foot-tall stack, Building 3018. We have safely conducted isolations to prevent any potential risk to the Oak Ridge Graphite Reactor historic landmark, allowing public access to continue while simultaneously conducting safe decommissioning activities.
