K-25 Building Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Transite panels being removed from last part of K-25 Building

May 23, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

More than 2,800 transite panels will be removed from the remainder of the K-25 Building. (Submitted photo)

A federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge is removing exterior panels known as transite panels from the last part of the K-25 Building that is still standing.

K-25 was built to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II and was once the world’s largest building under one roof. It’s been unused for decades and is being torn down.

Most of the mile-long former gaseous diffusion building, located at East Tennessee Technology Park, has been demolished. About two million square feet of the U-shaped building have been removed, according to a Thursday press release from UCOR, the cleanup contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. [Read more...]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories Tagged With: CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, cleanup contractor, demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, east wing, K-25 Building, K-27, K-31, north end, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Steve Dahlgren, technetium-99, transite panels, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS, west wing, Y-12 National Security Complex

Removal of K-25 north end demolition debris almost complete

April 29, 2013 By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

With the north end demolished, only a small part of the east wing remains at the once-massive K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

Workers are almost done removing demolition debris from the K-25 Building’s north end.

Only a small section of the giant building’s east wing remains. It is contaminated with technetium-99, a slow-decaying radioactive isotope. Further deactivation of that section is needed before demolition can begin, according to a recent article in “Public Involvement News,” published by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office. [Read more...]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories Tagged With: debris, demolition, east wing, K-25 Building, Manhattan Project, north end, Oak Ridge Office, Steve Dahlgren, technetium-99, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC

Manhattan Project national park bill also reintroduced in U.S. House

March 15, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site has previously been identified for possible inclusion in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

A bill to set up a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bipartisan legislation was reintroduced on Friday in the U.S. House by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican; Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican; and Rep. Ben Luján, a New Mexico Democrat.

The legislation—H.R. 1208—would establish a Manhattan Project National Historical Park that would include facilities in Oak Ridge; Hanford, Wash.; and Los Alamos, N.M.

Eight firms show interest in designing ETTP museum

March 5, 2013 By Oak Ridge Today Staff 1 Comment

An artist’s rendering of what the East Tennessee Technology Park could look like after cleanup and historic preservation activities are completed. (Image courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/UCOR)

The pre-qualification window for companies to bid on the professional site design for a museum at the East Tennessee Technology Park closed in February. Eight firms that specialize in museum planning and exhibit design responded to the pre-qualification request.

Planning for the museum is one of several activities under way to commemorate ETTP’s history, including a history center located on the second floor of the Oak Ridge Fire Station and an observation tower overlooking the K-25 Building footprint.

The museum will house artifact and historic materials removed from the K-25 Building, which was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons. The building and ETTP, often referred to as the K-25 site, were also used to enrich uranium after the war.

Senate officials expect Manhattan Project park bill to be reintroduced

January 30, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Building 9204-3 at the Y-12 National Security Complex could be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park under legislation that could be reintroduced in Congress early this year. (Photo courtesy of Y-12 National Security Complex.)

A U.S. Senate committee assistant said officials expect a bill to be reintroduced early this year to create a Manhattan Project national park that could include sites in Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash.

An earlier bill to create the park died in the last session of Congress, and one of its key sponsors, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, has retired.

Bingaman was chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has replaced him as chair.

“As you know, Sen. Bingaman sponsored the bill to create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park with components in New Mexico, Washington, and Tennessee, because one of the areas to be included (Los Alamos, N.M.) was in his home state,” said Sam Offerdahl, press assistant for the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “We expect the bill to be reintroduced early this year, likely with a member from one of the states that is home to the proposed parks as lead sponsor (following Senate custom).”

Dead for now, Manhattan Project national park bill could be reintroduced

January 28, 2013 By John Huotari 2 Comments

Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site could be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

A bill to create a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge died in the last session of Congress, but the legislation could be revived this session.

“It will be reintroduced,” said Cindy Kelly, founder and president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. “We are very optimistic that the bill will move through the process.”

Besides Oak Ridge, the park would also include sites in Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash.

Video: K-25 North End Demolition

January 23, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

It took about 20 minutes to demolish the last section of the North End of the historic K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge on Wednesday morning. Shut down for several decades, K-25 was built to enrich uranium during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

Watch the last section of the North End crash to the ground in this video:

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: demolition, K-25 Building, north end, Oak Ridge

Demolition finished on K-25′s North End

January 23, 2013 By John Huotari 1 Comment

Work crews demolish the last section of the North End of the historic K-25 Building in Oak Ridge on Wednesday. K-25 was built to enrich uranium during World War II and was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

Work crews demolished the last section of the North End of the historic K-25 Building in Oak Ridge on Wednesday morning.

Workers used a giant, orange demolition machine known as a high reach shear to bring down the four-story building, once the world’s largest under one roof. At times, the shear resembled a large dinosaur as its massive black jaws bit into the building’s 67-year-old skeleton.

Reporters, officials, and workers watched on a clear but chilly East Tennessee morning as the high reach shear sliced through vertical steel columns and tugged at horizontal beams. After about 20 minutes, the North End crashed to the ground. So did any dreams of preserving it that might have remained.

UCOR ships 15,000 loads of waste from K-25

December 24, 2012 By UCOR Leave a Comment

Some of the debris from the demolition of K-25’s east wing. (Submitted photo)

UCOR has shipped 15,000 loads of demolition debris from the K-25 Building at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the company announced last week.

The 15,000 loads represent approximately two million square feet of the deteriorated former gaseous diffusion building, built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That square footage is the equivalent of 40 NFL football fields combined.

The material has been sent to the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility in Oak Ridge for permanent disposition.

UCOR removes high-risk parts from K-25′s Tc-99 area

November 6, 2012 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

UCOR uses cranes to remove high-risk sodium fluoride, or NaF, traps from the K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

The federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge announced on Tuesday that it has removed one of the highest-risk parts left in the K-25 Building.

That building was once the world’s largest building under one roof, but it has been shut down for decades and is now being demolished.

In a press release Tuesday, cleanup contractor UCOR said it had used cranes to remove five sodium fluoride, or NaF, traps. The traps contain a material that was used to absorb uranium, and they were in the section of the K-25 Building known as the Tc-99 area, which is being deactivated so it can be demolished.

Demolition starts on K-25’s north end

October 24, 2012 By John Huotari

Demolition started Wednesday on the north end of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Photo submitted by UCOR)

Demolition work started Wednesday on the north end of the K-25 Building at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

The building was constructed to enrich uranium during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

Previous plans had called for the north end of the mile-long, U-shaped building to be preserved for historic purposes. But an agreement signed this summer by federal, state, and local historic preservation groups allowed for the entire building to be demolished, including the north end, while still recognizing the historic significance of the site.

Demolition of the building’s east and west wings is complete, except for a small section of the east wing that has technetium-99, or Tc-99, a slow-decaying radioactive metal, according to a Wednesday press release from UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge. The north end forms the base of the “U” and is the smallest of the three sections.

“This is a tremendous day for employees,” said Leo Sain, UCOR president and project manager. “We have been working toward this since we arrived at ETTP, and it’s a testament to people here, at the Department of Energy, and at all the agencies who worked together to make this happen.”

DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or EM, expects the north end demolition to be complete in January. After that, workers will continue pre-demolition activities in the remaining Tc-99 area of K-25’s east wing, the release said.

“Completing demolition of the K-25 Building is our highest priority, and this is another significant step toward that goal,” said Mark Whitney, Oak Ridge’s EM manager.

The preservation agreement approved this summer calls for a replica equipment building and viewing tower, proposes a history center at a city-owned fire station at ETTP, and provides a $500,000 grant for the run-down Alexander Inn in central Oak Ridge.

During the decade-long discussion over preserving the north end, federal officials had expressed concerns about safety, the deteriorated condition of the building, and the cost of trying to keep that section.

Filed Under: Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: cleanup contractor, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, environmental management, ETTP, K-25, K-25 Building, Leo Sain, Manhattan Project, Mark Whitney, north end, preservation agreement, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR

Forty-one workers laid off at ETTP, the former K-25 site

September 20, 2012 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 8:04 p.m.

Forty-one employees have been laid off at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, a spokesperson said Thursday.

Thirty-five employees worked on the K-25 Building demolition, and six worked on the K-27 project, said Wayne McKinney, spokesperson for UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge.

McKinney said the employees, who worked for subcontractors, were notified of the layoffs Thursday. He said it’s part of the normal ebb and flow of subcontracting.