CHATTANOOGA ENGINEERS CLUB

http://www.chattanooga.net/engineer/CEC

 

NEXT MEETING ___________________________________________________

Monday, August 13 , noon.

Topic: The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Storage Project

Mildred McGuire will provide us with the status of this important and politically sensitive facility for storing the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. She will review its history and describe its present focus. She says that site characterization activities to date have been not only unique but also a major and very expensive effort. Assessments also continue as to if and how the site is to be used as a permanent storage facility.

Mildred has been a consultant to the Yucca Mountain Project contractor, SAIC, for several years. Her responsibilities include interpreting QA, NRC and DOE requirements for Yucca Mountain, writing implementing procedures and policies for preparing defensible documents and enhancing the document control and records management program.

 

OUR PREVIOUS MEETING ________________________________________

Prior to our regularly scheduled presentation, Frank Anthony, Operations Manager of the Chattanooga News Free Press described his idea of a project that would make Chattanooga become more nationally recognized for and associated with technology. It would also enhance local interest and awareness of technology. (Frank, as you recall, provided us with a grand tour of a modern newspaper and its associated printing presses). Frank’s idea is for local colleges and businesses to sponsor an annual technically oriented contest that would spark the ingenuity and resourcefulness of students and adults from all over the country. A national contest such as the solar-power car race comes to mind, but the possibilities are endless. Frank wants to call on colleges and business to take up the challenge. He would also like the Chattanooga Engineers Club take a role in helping to make this project a reality.

During our speaker program, David Bible, Project Manager, ARCADIS Geraghty & Miller, described a fully automated storm water screening facility that uses an innovative gripper-type traveling rake on an overhead monorail. The $1.5 million design and construction project in Nashville, Tennessee, removes trash and debris from a large storm drainage ditch that drains over 1,200 acres. The site was subject to chronic plugging by debris and caused flooding of nearby residences and industries. The facility has been successfully operating since the summer of 2000 and has eliminated localized flooding and greatly reduced maintenance requirements for Nashville Department of Water & Sewage. The Consulting Engineers of Tennessee selected the project as the top engineering project in the state of Tennessee for 2001.

FUTURE MONDAY MEETINGS ______________________________________

 

August 20: Water for the People. A global view of a vital but increasingly scarce resource

August 27: Recent Developments in Medical Imaging Technology

September 3: No meeting, in observance of Labor Day

September 10: Genetic Engineering. Advances and Prospects

September 17: Efforts to meet the water requirements of the Sequatchie Valley

September 24: Sewage and Wastewater Treatment. New Requirements, New Technology

On the burner for October/November:

NASA Technology Transfers: important technology spin-offs from NASA’s research and development efforts that significantly effect our lives. Marshall Space Flight Center

Chandra X-ray Telescope. This orbiting telescope is changing our perception of the universe. Marshall Space Flight Center

November meetings hosted by ASME to be announced

 

WHERE WE MEET ___________________________________________

All of our presentation meetings are held at the Cellar Restaurant at Union Square Downtown, Chattanooga from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. Free parking is available for these occasions at the Days Inn Motel (on Carter St. and MLK Blvd), courtesy of the Days Inn management.