Oak Ridge Today

DOE, UCOR to highlight ETTP transformation, opportunities

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An artist’s rendering of what the redeveloped East Tennessee Technology Park could look like. (Image provided by U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The U.S. Department of Energy and its contractor UCOR will highlight the transformation of the East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) and discuss the economic opportunities there during a virtual event on Thursday.

The hour-long presentation is free and open to the public, and it is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

“Leadership from both organizations will share the final steps required to complete environmental cleanup activities at the former uranium enrichment complex and transition the site to private ownership, a process known as reindustrialization,” a press release said. “The event also includes a panel discussion with partners who helped create the vision and blueprint for this ambitious conversion.”

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Centrus Energy has $15 million project to prepare K-1600 for demolition

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The "footprint," the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the "footprint." The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The K-25 “footprint,” the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the “footprint.” The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4, and it includes the K-25 History Center. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

Centrus Energy Corporation has a $15 million project to prepare K-1600, a building in the middle of the historic K-25 “footprint,” for demolition.

On Tuesday, Centrus announced that it had received a work authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) work at the building. The work will include removing and disposing of equipment and materials to make K-1600 non-radiologically contaminated and non-possessing (i.e. unclassified), a press release said. The work will occur between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019.

After the work is completed, DOE will be able to turn over K-1600 to a contractor to demolish it, the press release said. It’s one of the last remaining “legacy structures” on the 2,200-acre site of the World War II-era K-25 uranium enrichment plant, now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park, the press release said.

Many other buildings have been demolished there, including the five large gaseous diffusion buildings once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. ETTP is now being converted into a large industrial park in west Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Three subcontracts awarded for new K-25 History Center

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This is a rendering of the exterior of the K-25 History Center, center, on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. Also planned are an Equipment Building and Viewing Tower. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

This is a rendering of the exterior of the K-25 History Center, center, on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. Also planned are an Equipment Building and Viewing Tower. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, has awarded three subcontracts totaling more than $5.3 million to construct, conduct site improvements, and fabricate and install exhibits for the K-25 History Center at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

The history center will occupy 7,500 square feet in the second floor of the existing, city-owned Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4. The building is adjacent to the K-25 Building’s 44-acre footprint, which is now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The history center will include a theater and interactive galleries that display equipment, artifacts, and other media to highlight the site’s workers and numerous Manhattan Project and Cold War-era accomplishments, a press release said.

UCOR awarded two subcontracts for construction and site improvements to North Wind Construction Services LLC of Knoxville, and it awarded a third subcontract for exhibit fabrication and installation to Formations Inc. of Portland, Oregon, the press release said. [Read more…]

The legacy of Bill Wilcox lives on at K-25 History Center

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Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including the history of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at the the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at K-25, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

He was a passionate advocate for preserving Oak Ridge’s history.

He was known for his bow ties and captivating storytelling. He once led the effort to save the former K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge, or at least part of it.

Now the legacy of Bill Wilcox will live on at the K-25 History Center.

Construction on the history center could start early next year on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number Four. That fire station, previously transferred to the city, is on the south side of the former K-25 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

Officials preparing for the construction of the history center gave tours of its future home at the fire station on Thursday. The tours followed a lunchtime celebration that featured tributes to Wilcox and included speeches and presentations by U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge officials, and federal contractors and historic preservation advocates. Wilcox was hailed as the “father of K-25 historic preservation.”

“He would have been really proud,” said Ray Smith, Wilcox’s friend and Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian. “His legacy lives on.” [Read more…]

You can see the future home of the K-25 History Center on Thursday

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A rendering of the K-25 History Center at the Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

A rendering of the K-25 History Center at the Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4 at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

A celebratory event on Thursday will formally launch a project to commemorate the history of the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a uranium-enrichment site that was once known as K-25 and built to help make the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

Thursday’s celebration will be followed by a public tour from 2 to 4 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge, the event is part of the city’s 75th Anniversary celebration. It will feature a walk-through of the future home of the K-25 History Center, which will be located in the city’s Fire Station Number 4 at the East Tennessee Technology Park. The U.S. Department of Energy and URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, DOE’s lead cleanup contractor, will unveil plans and the layout for the History Center before construction starts, a press release said.

Large graphics placed throughout the building will provide the visitor a preview of the finished center, the press release said. [Read more…]

Out of service for decades, barge area at ETTP used again

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UniTech equipment transported from Michigan is unloaded at the barge access area at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge in 2017. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

UniTech equipment transported from Michigan is unloaded at the barge access area at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge in 2017. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

 

This story, which has been lightly edited here, was originally published in the EM Update on October 17 by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

Reindustrialization efforts at the East Tennessee Technology Park have brought new life to an old barge access area out of service for decades.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is cleaning and converting the former uranium enrichment complex into a private sector industrial park, and companies are seeing significant signs of progress and potential.

In September, UniTech Services Group, a private business at ETTP, the former K-25 site, needed to transport large industrial equipment from Michigan and noted the site’s neglected barge area. The company worked with DOE and the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee to use this area, and successfully shipped the equipment to ETTP using the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee navigable river systems. [Read more…]

Workers start demolishing Poplar Creek facilities at ETTP

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Workers tear down the K-832 Cooling Water Pumphouse at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Workers tear down the K-832 Cooling Water Pumphouse at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

 

Note: This is an edited version of a story that was first published by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management in an EM Update on Friday, July 28.

Workers began demolishing the Poplar Creek facilities this month, bringing Oak Ridge’s environmental management, or EM, program closer to completing major cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park by 2020.

“Demolishing the Poplar Creek facilities is significant for our program because it continues the visible transformation of ETTP’s skyline, and it removes the most contaminated facilities remaining at the site,” said Jay Mullis, acting manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM.

OREM has taken down more than 400 facilities at ETTP, including all five former uranium enrichment facilities. That’s about 10 million square feet of buildings that have been removed.

ETTP, also known as Heritage Center, is the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. The site was built to help enrich uranium for atomic bombs during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II, and it continued to operate through the Cold War, including to enrich uranium for nuclear power plants. [Read more…]

General Assembly approves bill that would establish CROET as ETTP manager

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The East Tennessee Technology Park, now known as Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above in this aerial photo from 2015. The large building that extends from left to right at left-center is the former K-27 Building, where demolition work was completed in August 2016. (Photo courtesy CROET)

The East Tennessee Technology Park, now known as Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above in this aerial photo from 2015. The large building that extends from left to right at left-center is the former K-27 Building, where demolition work was completed in August 2016. (Photo courtesy CROET)

 

The Tennessee General Assembly has approved legislation that would establish the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, or CROET, as the manager of the 1,300-acre East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The legislation was sponsored by Tennessee Senator Ken Yager and Representative Kent Calfee, both Kingston Republicans. It has been sent to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam for his signature.

East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, is also known as Heritage Center and the former K-25 site. It once housed the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could.

The ETTP site, once used to enrich uranium, is slowly being cleaned up. K-25 operations ended in 1985, and the site was permanently shut down in 1987. Now, it is being slowly converted into a large industrial park. Proponents hope it will become one of East Tennessee’s prime locations for new industry, the press release said.

CROET President Lawrence Young said the state legislation “is the latest step in efforts by the Department of Energy and CROET to reindustrialize the former K-25 site and help diversify the region’s economy.” [Read more…]

Historic day: Last wall to be demolished at last of big five uranium-enriching buildings at ETTP (K-25)

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K-27 Demolition Aug 17 2016 Freeny

The last wall of the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium at the former K-25 site will be demolished Tuesday. A section of the K-27 Building, the last to be demolished, is pictured above on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

The last wall of the last of the big five buildings once used to enrich uranium at the former K-25 site will be demolished Tuesday.

Demolition on the last building, the K-27 Building, started in February.

The other four buildings—K-25, K-29, K-31, and K-33—were demolished between 2006 and 2015. All five of the huge buildings once used a process called gaseous diffusion to produce highly enriched uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants, starting during World War II and continuing through the Cold War. The largest was K-25, a mile-long U-shaped building.

When K-27 demolition is complete, it will be the first time that all of a site’s uranium-enriching gaseous diffusion buildings will have been cleaned up anywhere in the world, officials said.

“Demolition eliminates environmental hazards and prepares the land for productive reuse through deindustrialization,” a media advisory said. [Read more…]

Demolition could start this year on K-27, last of five gaseous diffusion buildings

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K-27-Building-Interior-March-30-2015-2

The interior of the K-27 Building, which once enriched uranium through a process called gaseous diffusion, is pictured above on March 30, 2015. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

Information from Oak Ridge Today and the January 2016 issue of “Advocate,” a publication of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board

Demolition work could start early this year on the K-27 Building, the last of five gaseous diffusion buildings at the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. The giant buildings were once used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants, starting during World War II and continuing through the Cold War.

Deactivation work continues at the K-27 Building, preparing it for demolition. At the beginning of December, deactivation of the building was more than 96 percent complete. Workers continue to remove transite paneling on the building, but that job is 80 percent complete.

Sue Cange, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, has previously said that demolition work could start on the building in early 2016 and be complete by the end of the year.

Demolition work on the former K-31 Building, the fourth of the five buildings to be demolished, was completed in June. [Read more…]

DOE awards contract to demolish electrical switchyard at ETTP

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K-27-ETTP-Switchyard-Oct-20-2015

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $2.1 million fixed-price contract to a small business based in Michigan, CTI and Associates, to perform asset recovery and demolition work at the old electrical switchyard at ETTP. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $2.1 million fixed-price contract to a small business based in Michigan, CTI and Associates, to perform asset recovery and demolition work at the old electrical switchyard at East Tennessee Technology Park.

The scope of the work includes removal and recycling of electrical equipment. The switchyard is adjacent to the K-27 Building in west Oak Ridge.

Copper, aluminum, and steel from the yard can be recovered for recycling. CTI has engaged an Alabama subcontractor, TCI, that specializes in electrical recycling. [Read more…]

DOE launches K-25 Virtual Museum, helps preserve history of Manhattan Project site

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Making-History-K-25-Timeline

Photo from K-25 Virtual Museum/U.S. Department of Energy

 

Information from the January 2016 issue of “Advocate,” a publication of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board

A new virtual museum helps preserve the history of the former K-25 site, which was built in west Oak Ridge to enrich uranium for atomic bombs during World War II and once had the world’s largest building under one roof.

The K-25 Virtual Museum was launched in November by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) as part of a memorandum of agreement for the interpretation of the historic site now known as East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP.

The debut of the online museum coincided with the November 10 signing of an agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior establishing the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal effort to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

The K-25 Virtual Museum can be viewed at http://www.k-25virtualmuseum.org/.

[Read more…]