Oct. 28--The first National Day of Remembrance honoring workers in the nation's nuclear weapons program, many of whom fell sick and ultimately died as a result of workplace exposures, will be Friday, and Oak Ridge will be among the sites holding ceremonies.

Hundreds of thousands of workers have participated in the U.S. weapons program since its inception in World War II, when work began on the first atomic bombs.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., was among the sponsors of Senate Resolution 151, which designated Oct. 30 as National Day of Remembrance. The Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration are hosting Friday's event, which begins at 4 p.m. at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

In Oak Ridge, especially, the day will be associated with the late Janine Anderson, who organized efforts for the special day and died just a few days after helping launch a petition drive in Oak Ridge to support the designation. Even while battling serious illness, Anderson was a developing force in the Coalition for a Healthy Environment, the Alliance for Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups and the Cold War Patriots.

In a statement, DOE's Oak Ridge manager, Gerald Boyd, said, "The people working in support of nuclear weapons production, research and development over the last 60 years have made vital contributions to our national security. They helped end World War II, win the Cold War and establish the U.S. as a leader in science, technology and engineering. We are proud to honor them during this event."

According to information released by DOE, the event is open to the public, and former and current weapons program workers are encouraged to attend.

n The Department of Energy's Inspector General released a special report this week that had good things to say about the DOE quality-assurance program for Recovery Act work. The program was developed to review money being spent by Recovery Act recipients and to notify folks when there are "anomalies" or problems. As always, of course, there is room for improvement.

The report notes: "While the Department has made a good deal of progress in this area, we did, however, identify several issues which could, if not addressed, impact the effectiveness of the quality assurance process."

n The Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducted an environmental assessment, issued a Finding of No Significant Impact and is seeking public comment through Nov. 6 on a request from EnergySolutions to amend the company's license with an exemption to accept quantities of special nuclear material in large containers at its Utah landfill.

According to the NRC posting in the Oct. 7 Federal Register. "The amendment is required to allow EnergySolutions to receive steel piping waste containing residual special nuclear material. The steel piping will be generated by the Department of Energy as it decommissions the K-25 gaseous diffusion uranium-enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee."

The odd thing about this is that, according to Bechtel Jacobs Co., DOE's cleanup manager in Oak Ridge and chief contractor on the K-25 project, there is no plan to send the stuff to EnergySolutions. "BJC has not shipped any of this material to EnergySolutions and has no agreement or contract in place to do so," company spokesman Dennis Hill said.

Mark Walker of EnergySolutions said the license modification is potentially needed to support multiple cleanup sites, not just K-25.

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. His e-mail address is mungerf@knoxnews.com.

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