Spallation Neutron Source (SNS)

Some 2,000 scientists from around the world are expected to visit the Oak Ridge National Laboratory each year to conduct research on the world's most advanced pulsed neutron source. As the Spallation Neutron Source reaches full operational level and more neutron are produced, scientist will continue researching using state of the art instruments.

Since the beginning of the project, Congressman Wamp has helped secure funding for this cutting-edge world-renowned project which was completed on time and within the approved budget. The completion of this project solidifies Oak Ridge as the world's premier neutron science lab and will help us explore and better understand the structure of materials. As the needs of our high-technology society have advanced, so have our demands for new materials that are stronger, lighter, and cheaper, yet perform well under severe conditions.

Neutron scattering allows scientists to better understand the nature of materials ranging from liquid crystals and proteins to plastics and metals. Neutron science has led to advances like the magnetic strips on your credit cards and can help lead to breakthroughs that will improve our medicine, food, electronics, and cars and airplanes. The operating facility will have an annual budget of $160 million and employ about 450 people.

Chickamauga Lock Repairs and Replacement

Pre-construction work is now underway on the new Chickamauga Lock involving the formation of a coffer dam. Used to divert river water, the coffer dam will create a dry riverbed upon which the new lock will be built and will remain in place as the outer portion of the lock wall. The coffer dam is scheduled to be completed in 2009, allowing construction to begin on the expanded lock.

Keeping the Chickamauga Lock open and operational has been a top priority for Congressman Wamp since he took office. As a major thoroughfare for commerce in the South, Chickamauga Lock was completed in 1940 and remains one of the oldest locks on the Tennessee River, and is vital to the economy of the region and national security interests. A process known as "concrete growth" has caused extensive deterioration and threatens the life of the lock.

Annual maintenance and repair work is critical to keeping the lock functioning until it can ultimately be replaced, which is expected in 2013. Congressman Wamp has fought to include necessary funding for repairs on the current lock while also providing funding for planning and construction of the replacement lock. In the expanded 110-foot by 600-foot lock, up to nine barges will be processed in a single lockage compared to only one barge in the current lock.

Moccasin Bend

With evidence of human occupation dating back to the earliest human cultures in North America, Moccasin Bend has a rich and varied cultural history. The National Park Service is developing plans for a Visitors Center where guests can interpret the Tennessee River Valley’s best preserved artifacts. This educational facility will allow visitors to interactively learn the way earlier civilizations live d and how artifacts are preserved through history. Zach has secured funding for interpretive center planning and continues to work to acquire additional funding for design of the facility.

Congressman Wamp's interest in history, preservation and his own Cherokee heritage led him to work with the Friends of Moccasin Bend and the National Park Service to include Moccasin Bend in the National Park System. This designation will protect Moccasin Bend for the future generations and will become a living monument to the area’s rich heritage. As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Zach has worked to provide significant funding for bank stabilization protecting the area’s valuable artifacts and sacred burial sites from eroding into the Tennessee River.

Y-12 National Security Complex

To reduce costs, Y-12 constructed two new unclassified buildings outside the security fence allowing maximum protection of classified material within the fence. The New Hope and Jack Case Centers are state-of-the art facilities that provide 500,000 square feet of functional office space, research labs and conference rooms for 1,400 local employees. Congressman Wamp was the keynote speaker at the grand-opening ceremony of these modern structures that have changed the face of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Construction is about 70 percent complete on a new repository for highly enriched uranium to consolidate the special nuclear material at the BWXT Y-12 Security Complex. This multi-million dollar complex, the Oak Ridge Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, will be one of the most secure compounds in the nation.

Y-12 is part of the National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear weapons complex which falls under the U.S. Department of Energy’s umbrella. This original Manhattan Project site continues to perform work on research, design, development and testing of nuclear weapons and is critical to our country’s security. Our nation's nuclear weapons stockpile has been in place for many years and Y-12 is responsible for checking the safety and reliability of weapon components.

Y-12 is known as the “ Fort Knox” of highly-enriched uranium and is the leader in uranium and lithium materials research, development and processing for nuclear weapon secondary components. Since the end of the Cold War, this site has been instrumental in helping other countries safely dismantle and dispose of nuclear material through non-proliferation work.

Methamphetamine Task Force

A massive methamphetamine ring was busted following a two-year investigation involving federal, state and local law enforcement officers arrested 45 individuals. Stretching across Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, this is one of the largest busts in a nationwide attempt to stop the proliferation of methamphetamine and clean up this scourge on our communities.

What began as the East Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force has become a statewide effort, thanks in large part to Congressman Wamp and more than $10 million dollars of federal funding. Now the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force is working across the state to coordinate agencies on all levels of government to cooperatively curb this growing problem.

Use of methamphetamine, one of the most dangerous and easily produced drugs, has proliferated across the southeast United States. Over the past several years, East Tennessee has led the way in combating the use, production and distribution of this highly addictive drug.

The main ingredient in methamphetamine is pseudo ephedrine which is commonly found in many over the counter medicinal drugs. In recent years, laws have been passed to regulate and track the sell of all medications that contain pseudo ephedrine. Thanks to these new laws and the dedicated effort of the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, the number of methamphetamine labs in our area has been steadily declining.

Tennessee Valley Corridor Summits

Over the past several years, the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Technology Summits have focused on many of the problems facing our nation and our region – and the 17 th National Technology Summit once again focused on solving some of the nation’s most immediate and pressing challenges. More than 500 regional and national leaders in the fields of science, technology, education, healthcare, homeland security, energy and several other subject areas recently gathered to the Summit in Kingsport, Tenn.

Building on the regional assets in the Tennessee Valley Corridor, the TVC organization has helped showcase the region’s superior quality of life and the people, business, natural and scientific resources needed for high-tech research, development, business and investment in the 21 st Century. TVC leaders partnered with key South Carolina institutions and members of the congressional delegation to host an event in Greenville, S.C., focused on how the South can take leadership of the nation’s push for innovative automotive and alternative fuel technologies.

Five months after taking office in 1995, Congressman Wamp hosted the first economic summit in Oak Ridge to bring the region together around the shared objective of capitalizing on our assets such as Oak Ridge, TVA, the University of Tennessee and our growing private sector. The success of the first meeting and a Memorandum of Understanding to promote those partnerships led to subsequent annual Summits in the Tennessee Valley Corridor and Washington, D.C. Ultimately, these meetings led to the development and designation of the of the East Tennessee Technology Corridor in an effort to build cooperation and bring high tech investment to the East Tennessee Valley.

The Summits would not have succeeded without the vision of Congressman Wamp and his ability to work with other Members of Congress, and state and local leaders to promote these ideas. As our great nation continues to face challenges such as energy independence and remaining competitive in science, technology and math – it is now, more than ever, absolutely vital that we continue to work smarter at working together – and to show national leadership through the regional cooperation we have developed in our Tennessee Valley Corridor.

Clean Drinking Water

In a passionate plea, Congressman Zach Wamp asked the House Appropriations Committee to approve Environmental Protection Agency grants providing funding to further extend access to safe, clean drinking water in rural areas of east Tennessee. Even with the modern household amenities there are more than 6,500 residents in the Third District without public water service.

Since being assigned to the Appropriations Committee in 1996, Congressman Wamp has made it a priority to help bring clean drinking water to all citizens of east Tennessee. He secured $250,000 to extend water lines into outlying areas of Meigs County. This money was used to clean up residential wells with various levels of bacteria and provide a year-round supply to residents where wells dry up during the summer. The town of Decatur received $500,000 in federal funding to update and extend their water system, allowing them to serve approximately 100 additional homes. In addition, Congressman Wamp has secured a significant amount of funding for the northern part of the Third District to help provide clean drinking water to its residents and strengthen infrastructure and economic growth.

Environmental Management

Remarkable progress has been made to cap tainted land, tear down outdated buildings and revitalize the Oak Ridge Reservation. For more than 50 years the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) led the world in advanced research in Oak Ridge. Like most industrial and manufacturing operations, nuclear research generated waste and pollution. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Congressional Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, Congressman Wamp has worked with the DOE Environmental Management (EM) program to expedite the clean up of the environmental legacy of the Cold War. Most recently, DOE has taken another step in the cleanup process by capturing additional work that remains to be done at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 and projecting the cost to complete that work. In early 2002, DOE proposed an accelerate cleanup reform initiative and Oak Ridge submitted a cleanup proposal to hasten the closure of its EM program by six years (2021 to 2015) and reduce the cost by more than $2 billion.

The Environmental Management program operated through the U.S. Department of Energy has recently completed the following projects:

• Completed cleanup of the Melton Valley area of the Oak Ridge Reservation, which capped over 145 acres burial grounds containing waste from more than 50 years of research and production activities.
• Nearly 6,800 Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride cylinders were removed from the East Tennessee Technology Park three years ahead of schedule, and transported to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio.
• In a major change to the landscape at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-29 gaseous diffusion building, the size of six and a half football fields, was torn down as part of efforts to convert the former K-25 site for use by private industry.
• In June of 2007, DOE approved plans to complete cleanup of some 210 structures and associated soils at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex. The next step of the “Critical Decision-Zero” (CD-0) plan includes the development of a project planning, risk analysis and management and an acquisition strategy.