Home Care In Oak Ridge, TN

The Trump administration announced Thursday that hundreds of federal employees in nuclear programs would lose their jobs, before rescinding the announcement.

Lawmakers clash over DOGE oversight as senators warn of security risks. A letter to the White House demands vetting details, fearing misuse of sensitive data.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Trump administration halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that blind cost-cutting by the Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire Elon Musk, will put communities at risk.

Three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration were abruptly laid off late Thursday, with some losing access to email before they’d learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday morning to find they were locked out. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

The NNSA provides federal oversight over the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge. WBIR reached out to Y-12, the NNSA and the Department of Energy multiple times with questions asking if anyone at Y-12 had been affected by the sudden firings. By the time this story was published, no agency had responded.

The hundreds let go at NNSA were part of a DOGE purge across the Department of Energy that targeted about 2,000 employees. By late Friday night, the agency’s acting director, Teresa Robbins, issued a memo rescinding the firings for all but 28 of those hundreds of fired staff members.

“The DOGE people are coming in with absolutely no knowledge of what these departments are responsible for,” Daryl Kimball said to The Associated Press, executive director of the Arms Control Association. “They don’t seem to realize that it’s actually the department of nuclear weapons, more than it is the Department of Energy.”

The NNSA said it was having challenges finding some people who were let go last Thursday, due to a lack of contact information. Some employees were on probationary status.

“This letter serves as formal notification that the termination decision issued to you on Feb. 13, 2025 has been rescinded, effective immediately,” said the memo, which was obtained by the AP.

The accounts from the three officials contradict an official statement from the Department of Energy, which said fewer than 50 National Nuclear Security Administration staffers were let go, calling them “probationary employees” who “held primarily administrative and clerical roles.”

That wasn't the case, and The Associated Press said the firings prompted an NNSA senior staffer to post a warning and a call to action.

“This is a pivotal moment. We must decide whether we are truly committed to leading on the world stage or if we are content with undermining the very systems that secure our nation’s future,” deputy division director Rob Plonski posted to LinkedIn. “Cutting the federal workforce responsible for these functions may be seen as reckless at best and adversarily opportunistic at worst.”

While some of the Energy Department employees who were fired dealt with energy efficiency and the effects of climate change, issues not seen as priorities by the Trump administration, many others dealt with nuclear issues, even if they didn't directly work on weapons programs. This included managing massive radioactive waste sites and ensuring the material there doesn't further contaminate nearby communities.

Progress had been made in East Tennessee during the months leading up to President Donald Trump's administration to clean up potentially radioactive sites in Y-12, such as tearing down an old facility that was once used to enrich uranium and another project to install equipment that cleans mercury out of water. Information about the status of those projects was not available either.

The NNSA staff who had been reinstated could not all be reached after they were fired, and some were reconsidering whether to return to work, given the uncertainty created by DOGE, according to The Associated Press.

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, to The Associated Press that the firings could disrupt the day-to-day workings of the agency and create a sense of instability over the nuclear program both at home and abroad.

“I think the signal to U.S. adversaries is pretty clear: throw a monkey wrench in the whole national security apparatus and cause disarray,” he said. “That can only benefit the adversaries of this country.”

Resolution: City should buy 106 acres from gov't to sell as part of process

The Oak Ridger

If a proposed resolution is adopted by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday night, officials will begin the process of selling property purchased for construction of an airport on the west end of the city and using the money to build the airport at another location to be determined.

The property the city will sell at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, must be used for companies in the nuclear industry, the city staff's resolution states. It cites Gov. Bill Lee's creation of the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Council in May 2023 and the council's recommendations and final report in October 2024 that encourages and supports the growth of Oak Ridge's west end for "new nuclear."

"The city desires to continue to encourage growth of the nuclear industry," the resolution says. It will be up for a vote at 7 p.m. Monday in the Central Services Complex on 100 Woodbury Lane. The monthly meeting has been moved to this site as work is underway to renovate the city courtroom in the Municipal Building.

Also as part of the process, the city council will:

Why will the airport not be built at ETTP?

As reported last September, Orano USA, a Maryland-based subsidiary of a global nuclear fuel company, will invest billions of dollars to build a centrifuge uranium enrichment facility in Oak Ridge. It's called the largest single investment in Tennessee history. The project was announced by city, state and federal officials in an event at the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center, near the 920-acre parcel of land.

Subsequently, city staff met with Orano USA Vice President Lionel Atenognelli shortly after the announcement, according to a memo in January's city council meeting agenda packet. He asked for detailed information on the proposed airport, met with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and then on Nov. 25, 2024, the city manager got a letter from Orano's legal counsel asking the airport be relocated to accomodate its enrichment facility and forego any complications in Orano getting NRC approval for its facility.

City officials put the airport project at East Tennessee Technology Park on hold and city council told Hemann to find another location.

The property at East Tennessee Technology Park

The city bought and now will be selling these properties at East Tennessee Technology Park:

The cost of buying those properties was nearly $9.5 million, according to a Jan. 13 memo to city council from Hemann. As reported in The Oak Ridger last September, $34 million in funding has been secured for the airport project and $11 million had been invested by that time. Grants had been received from the Tennessee Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Economic Development Fund, the Appalachian Regional Commision, and other entities.

City officials have explained in the past that the general aviation airport would not be for large, commercial planes like those that land at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, but instead private jets and places such as those used by officials for companies.

The cost of getting the properties appraised to ensure they are sold for fair market value or more will come from the city manager's budgeted funds for economic development, according to information in Monday night's city council meeting agenda packet.

Knox News' Daniel Dassow contributed to this story.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @ridgernewsed.

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Updated to include the deadline to submit offers being extended.

Variety Wholesalers Inc., a company based in Henderson, North Carolina, could be taking over and keeping 200 Big Lots stores open, including 14 in Tennessee - but not the ones in Oak Ridge and Clinton.

Gordon Brothers, the Boston-based asset liquidation firm assisting Big Lots in the bankruptcy process, provided a list of 200 locations with leases or contracts designated to be taken over by Variety Wholesalers, in a court filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

USA TODAY reported the news Feb. 5 and the list of 200 stores that Variety Wholesalers could take over. The Big Lots stores listed in the court filing are in 14 states with the most stores listed in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, plus additional locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi and West Virginia.

The closest Tennessee store that could be taken over by Variety Wholesalers is one at 4825 N. Broadway St. in Knoxville. Others Variety could take over in Tennessee include Big Lots stores in Tullahoma, Columbia, Clarksville, Cleveland, Dickson, Gallatin, Greeneville, Johnson City, Jefferson City, Morristown, Murfreesboro, Rogersville and Sevierville.

Variety Wholesalers owns more than 400 stores in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast; among the chains it operates are Roses Discount stores, Roses Express, Maxway, Bill's Dollar Stores and Bargain Town.

Variety intends to operate those locations as Big Lots stores, Fast Company magazine reported, citing a confirmation from Gordon Brothers. Additional locations may be added, Fast Company reported.

Leases for sale

As reported in The Oak Ridger earlier, Boston-based Gordon Brothers is selling the leases of many Big Lots stores across the nation ? including the stores in Oak Ridge and Clinton, as well as several others across Tennessee. It's a sign that those stores are among those likely to close, USA TODAY reported.

The deadline to submit offers has been extended from Feb. 10 to Feb. 17, according to informaton posted to the Gordon Brothers website.

The leases for the Oak Ridge and Clinton stores end on Jan. 31, 2030, according to a brochure on the website of Gordon Brothers. There is a five-year option listed for the Clinton store. Other details on the stores from that brochure:

"All offers for individual or multiple location purchases are due no later than Feb. 10, 2025, and are subject to court approval," the Gordon Brothers website states.

Big Lots, based in Columbus, Ohio, anounced Dec. 19 that all Big Lots stores would begin going out of business sales.

As reported earlier in The Oak Ridger, At the time, Big Lots officials stated in a news release that they did not have any plans to close all of its stores yet. The going out of business sales were described as a way for the company to "protect the value of its estate," and allow Big Lots to continue being a company that was financially stable enough to meet obligations and continue business in the near future.

In addition to the stores listed, lease agreements are up for sale for Big Lots stores in the following Tennessee cities: Alcoa, Athens, Bristol, Chattanooga, Cookeville, Crossville, Dyersburg, Elizabethton, Hermitage, Jackson, Kingsport, Lawrenceburg, Lebanon, McMinnville, Memphis, Millington, Smyrna and Springfield. The lease agreement is also up for sale for another Knoxville store, located at Seven Oaks Drive,

No dates have been given for the final store closures. The Big Lots closing discounts now go as high as 40% off at the stores and on their websites.

The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.

The one-of-a-kind relationship between the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory could become even deeper with a project to develop temporary student housing in the Secret City, bringing students closer than ever to the laboratory.

UT System President Randy Boyd announced the project as part of his major goals and objectives for 2025. The temporary housing will be for students to bridge the physical gap between the flagship campus near downtown Knoxville and ORNL.

"We have all of these great students driving from Knoxville to Oak Ridge to do work at the lab. Many of them, that's their only place to work," Boyd said during his presentation to the Board of Trustees on Feb. 28. "Wouldn't it be great if they had a common place to live two miles, five miles from the lab?"

UT has around 130 students working at the lab now, Boyd said, and he hopes that number will increase to around 500 students within the next three to five years. The temporary housing facility would help to ease the travel burden for those students.

UT System's Vice President for National Labs Jeff Smith is working with the city of Oak Ridge on the facility to "help support and pull together our students," Boyd said.

UT is in the "exploratory stages" of the project, according to UT System spokesperson Melissa Tindell, with details including the location and funding sources either not yet finalized or examined. UT will have more to share as the project develops, and with Boyd including the project in his 2025 objectives, that should be soon.

University of Tennessee, city of Oak Ridge develop student housing

The development is primarily a private partnership between the UT System and JMT architect Tim Elliott, who is helping Oak Ridge design a new downtown area off Wilson Street.

The discussions about student housing began when Elliott toured multiple Oak Ridge sites and learned about the city's housing challenges and its close connection to UT, said Oak Ridge City Manager Randy Hemann.

"The development of a mixed-use downtown area with this type of housing will bring vitality to the area and create other opportunities for growth and redevelopment," Hemann told Knox News in an email. "It also will help strengthen the partnership between ORNL and the city as they become a supportive participant in the creation of this downtown area."

Elliott was not immediately available to answer questions related to the development. The Oak Ridge Land Bank, which owns the 6.5-acre lot on Wilson Street targeted for development, selected JMT as the designer and developer last July.

"The Wilson Street project will build on the success of the Main Street shopping center and Lofts projects, which have helped reenergize the central city," Hemann said.

The UT System is one of fewer than 10 U.S. universities with a management role for a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, and it's a big one. ORNL is the largest multiprogram science and technology lab in the nation, and UT is its largest research partner.

UT-Battelle, a partnership between the university and Battelle Memorial Institute, has been the management contractor at ORNL since 2000. The lab has more than 7,000 employees and an annual budget of around $2.6 billion.

More than 200 UT faculty are jointly appointed at the lab, and the two institutions operate multiple joint research facilities.

The pair also created the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute in 2021 to meet a national need for STEM talent. The institute selected two research teams last year to receive $20 million and add 10 new UT faculty, 10 new ORNL scientists and 25 UT doctoral students for each team by 2030.

Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Email: [email protected]. Signal: @danieldassow.24.

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The GSI Opportunity Fund, a $250 million self-storage investment fund managed by Madison Capital Group, has acquired a self-storage facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Current market conditions have created attractive acquisition opportunities and the fund is actively identifying and acquiring well-positioned properties that support its strategic growth objectives.

Comprised of 515 units across a 54,565-square-feet, this storage asset is located at 500 Scarboro Lane, strategically positioned in Oak Ridge’s primary retail corridor along a high-traffic seven-lane thoroughfare seen by 26,857 vehicles daily. This prime location ensures strong visibility and convenient access for customers in the area.

“This well-performing Oak Ridge facility is a prime example of the types of assets we seek for the GSI Opportunity Fund,” said Mike Crimmins, President of Madison Capital Markets. “We remain committed to identifying properties in thriving markets with strong demand drivers and delivering long-term value to our investors.”

Developed in phases since 1983, the facility features eleven single-story buildings with metal interior partitions. Amenities include a sliding gate with keycode access control, on-site resident manager’s quarters, climate-controlled storage units, video surveillance, well-lit aisles with security lighting, professional landscaping and vehicle parking spaces.

The population within a five-mile radius is 40,672, with an average household income of $80,925. Additionally, climate-controlled self-storage saturation is a low 2.0 square feet per capita, signaling continued demand for high-quality storage options.

The facility is located in the fast-growing Knoxville market, which ranks as the 16th fastest-growing city in the nation and boasts a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) population of over 1.6 million. The region is home to 110 manufacturing facilities and was recently ranked the best place to live in Tennessee. It also benefits from a labor force of 560,000 and a growing corporate presence, including an Amazon fulfillment center.

Other key regional employers include Covenant Health, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, which boasts an enrollment of over 54,000 students.

Launched by Madison Capital Group, the $250 million fund seeks to acquire and develop self-storage assets in Sun Belt markets benefiting from population and job growth. Go Store It Self Storage, an affiliate of Madison Capital Group, is responsible for executing the fund’s investment strategy, leveraging its deep industry expertise and operational excellence.

About Madison Capital Group Madison Capital Group, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., specializes in real estate investments with a focus on the self-storage and multifamily sectors. The company is the parent entity of Go Store It Self Storage, a non-traded direct investment sponsor emphasizing self-storage, and Madison Communities, a vertically integrated real estate development and investment firm dedicated to crafting high-quality suburban garden-style apartment communities throughout the Southeast. For more information, visit madisoncapgroup.com.

About Go Store It Self Storage Founded in 2013 in Charlotte, N.C., Go Store It Self Storage is a rapidly growing owner, operator and developer of self-storage properties. Known for its innovative approach and commitment to customer service, Go Store It operates 146 properties in 23 states with additional locations under development. For more information, visit gostoreit.com.