Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement Archives

Power to TRISO at Horizon could cost $13 million

Posted at 4:08 pm January 2, 2023
By John Huotari 2 Comments

This map shows the potential route of 69-kilovolt overhead power lines for the TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge, starting at the substation (SUB) on the south side of Highway 95/58 (lower right), continuing up Novus Drive (center right), crossing onto Horizon Center land, and then running east (to the right) on the back side of Site 6 (open area at upper right).

Building a new substation and electrical lines to supply power to a nuclear fuel company could cost $13 million, Oak Ridge officials said in December.

The nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, needs about 32 to 35 megawatts of electricity at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. That would make the company the city’s biggest electrical customer. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex get most of their power directly from Tennessee Valley Authority.)

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IDB endorses overhead power lines for Horizon Center project

Posted at 9:28 pm December 7, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company, TRISO-X, at Horizon Center. The company’s site is pictured above on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Oak Ridge board on Monday endorsed overhead power lines and an alternate route that could be less controversial to provide electricity to a nuclear fuel company at Horizon Center.

Environmental advocates, ecologists, and trail users had objected to an earlier proposal to run overhead power lines along a U.S. Department of Energy patrol road on the back side of Horizon Center. Among other objections, those lines would have been relatively close to the Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement, and opponents said the power lines would have decreased the area’s recreational value.

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DOE, state pave way to transfer 3,500 acres

Posted at 3:05 pm December 30, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

From left, TWRA Executive Director Bobby Wilson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Acting Manager Laura Wilkerson, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office Manager Johnny Moore sign an agreement that lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the state of Tennessee. (Submitted photo)

More than 3,500 acres of federal land could be transferred to the state of Tennessee, including Clark Center Park and Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement.

The land could be transferred under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The two organizations signed an Agreement in Principle on Wednesday, December 15, that “lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land to the state,” a press release said.

“Transferring this federally owned land will increase natural resource management and designate areas for greenspace and mixed-use recreational opportunities for the public,” the press release said.

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From left, TWRA Executive Director Bobby Wilson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Acting Manager Laura Wilkerson, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Office Manager Johnny Moore sign an agreement that lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic East Tennessee land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the state of Tennessee. (Submitted photo)

More than 3,500 acres of federal land could be transferred to the state of Tennessee, including Clark Center Park and Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement.

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The power lines proposed at Horizon Center will be discussed during a Tuesday lunch in Oak Ridge.

The project, advocated by Oak Ridge officials for industrial development, has raised concerns among environmentalists and people who use the city’s greenways.

The guest speaker at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, January 7, will be Virginia Dale.Â Dale is a corporate fellow emeritus with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she worked in the Environmental Sciences Division. She is currently a researcher in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Tennessee, a press release said.Â Dale has been the author of 11 books and more than 250 published articles.

Her presentation on Tuesday will focus on the city’s recent action to seek authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy to build an electric transmission line along the DOE patrol road on the boundary between the Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement and the Horizon Center industrial park, or by cutting through otherÂ â€œnatural areas,â€ the press release said. TheseÂ â€œnatural areasâ€ are identified in mitigation conditions required for a federal finding of no significant impact, which allowed the subsequent development of the Horizon Center, the press release said.

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