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Crews start project to reduce maintenance, operations costs at Molten Salt Reactor

Posted at 8:38 pm January 22, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Cleanup crews started a $4.7 million project this month to reduce maintenance and operations costs at the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, which was shut down 50 years ago at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The project is expected to save nearly $25 million in costs, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management said in an “EM Update” published Tuesday.

The cost-reduction project will relocate employees stationed at the decades-old facility. Personnel currently housed in the building will move to other site locations to help with other projects, the “EM Update” said.

The project is expected to enhance the facility’s electrical distribution, sump pump, fire suppression, and monitoring systems.

“Although it was shut down 50 years ago, certain systems within the reactor building have continued to operate to keep the facility safe and stable until it can be demolished,” said the “EM Update,” with the Oak Ridge story contributed by Mike Butler. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Alvin Weinberg, Bill McMillan, DOE, DOE Office of Environmental Management, EM, Jay Mullis, Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, MSRE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR

Vacuum helps crews remove contaminated sludge, debris at ORNL

Posted at 1:35 pm September 3, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management now has a powerful, trailer-mounted vacuum for cleaning and maintaining the important liquid and gaseous waste operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management now has a powerful, trailer-mounted vacuum for cleaning and maintaining the important liquid and gaseous waste operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

 

Federal site cleanup workers reported in August that they had begun removing contaminated sludge and debris from tanks, sumps, and valve boxes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s liquid and gaseous waste operations using a powerful, new trailer-mounted vacuum.

The equipment has already enhanced safety and operational efficiency, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

“Without the vacuum, personnel would be required to fully dress in personal protective equipment and remove the sludge and debris with shovels and buckets,” DOE said. “In addition to being closer to contaminated materials in confined spaces, workers would face an increased chance of slips and falls while climbing in and out of slippery areas in the protective suits.”

Using the vacuum technology has eliminated the risk of heat stress for employees, who would otherwise perform manual labor in protective suits during the hot Tennessee summer, DOE said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Bill McMillan, contaminated sludge and debris, DOE, EM, Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, trailer-mounted vacuum, U.S. Department of Energy, waste treatment facilities

Workers demolish contaminated building at ETTP

Posted at 2:09 pm July 2, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Crews began tearing down Building K-633 at the East Tennessee Technology Park in May 2018 and completed the project in June. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Crews began tearing down Building K-633 at the East Tennessee Technology Park in May 2018 and completed the project in June. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

 

One of the most contaminated buildings left at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, has been demolished, federal officials said.

Demolition crews began tearing down Building K-633, which was once used to evaluate uranium enrichment equipment, in May and completed the project in June, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

The work was done by the Oak Ridge environmental management, or EM, program and its cleanup contractor URS|CH2M Oak Ridge, or UCOR.

“This project eliminates one of the most contaminated remaining buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park,” DOE said.

Building K-633—the K-633 Test Loop Facility—is the fourth building Oak Ridge’s EM program has removed from ETTP’s Poplar Creek area since last year, DOE said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Building K-633, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, environmental management, ETTP, gas centrifuge enrichment, gaseous diffusion, K-25 site, K-633 Test Loop Facility, Karen Deacon, Office of Environmental Management, Poplar Creek area, Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium enrichment equipment, URS|CH2M Oak Ridge

Anne Marie White sworn in as DOE assistant secretary for environmental management

Posted at 2:28 pm March 30, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Anne Marie White was sworn in on Thursday in Washington, D.C., as assistant secretary for environmental management at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Environmental management, or EM, is DOE’s cleanup program, and it’s one of the major federal programs in Oak Ridge.

As assistant secretary, White will provide leadership to continue the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy brought about from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research, a press release said. She will work closely with communities that have partnered with DOE and its predecessor agencies for many decades, the press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Anne Marie White, assistant secretary for environmental management, Bastet Technical Services LLC, EM, environmental management, U.S. Department of Energy

Spending bill has $639 million for DOE cleanup in Oak Ridge

Posted at 5:30 pm March 29, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Y-12 Biology Complex aerial

An aerial view of the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Plans call for eventually demolishing the complex. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The federal spending bill approved last week includes $639 million for the federal government’s cleanup program in Oak Ridge, including what could be full funding for a top priority deactivation and demolition project at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The $639 million for the current fiscal year is an increase of $141 million or more, compared to recent fiscal years, and it’s the most money appropriated in a while.

Besides Y-12, the fiscal year 2018 funding will be used for U.S. Department of Energy cleanup projects at East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“It’s very positive for us,” said Jay Mullis, manager of the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. Mullis gave a brief update at a meeting of the Oak Ridge Reservation Communities Alliance on Monday.

In addition to $125 million to deactivate and demolish the Biology Complex at Y-12, the fiscal year 2018 spending bill includes $17.1 million in funding for the planned Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12, about $200 million for continued cleanup work at ETTP, and a total of roughly $12 million for the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, or EMDF. That’s a proposed landfill that could be west of Y-12 and accept waste from future cleanup work at Y-12 and ORNL, possibly early in the 2020s. The project plan for EMDF is expected to be open to public comment later this summer. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 4, Barack Obama, Biology Complex, Bob Corker, Building 7500, Chuck Fleischmann, cleanup funding, cleanup program, cleanup work, COLEX, DOE, DOE cleanup, Donald Trump, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, EMDF, environmental management, Environmental Management Disposal Facility, ETTP, Excess Contaminated Facilities, excess facilities, federal spending bill, Homogenous Reactor Experiment, Jay Mullis, Lamar Alexander, mercury abatement, Mercury Treatment Facility, Mike Koentop, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation Communities Alliance, OREM, ORNL, risk reduction, spending bill, Trump administration, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium processing facility, uranium-233, Y-12 National Security Complex

A great technical achievement, Molten Salt Reactor could be entombed

Posted at 3:03 pm November 26, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:30 p.m.

Former director Alvin Weinberg once called it the greatest technical achievement at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It was inspired by the campaign to build a nuclear-powered aircraft in the 1950s, and it was the first reactor to ever operate using uranium-233.

Now parts of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment that are too radioactively “hot” for humans could be entombed in concrete.

For now, the idea is only under study, and there is no guarantee that any part of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, a nuclear historic landmark that has been dormant for decades, will be entombed.

But it’s one of the proposals being evaluated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The goal is to finish the evaluation by the end of the year.

Jay Mullis, manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, presented the proposal to the Oak Ridge City Council and Site Specific Advisory Board in two separate meetings earlier this month. The entombment proposal is one of five items being evaluated as part of a 45-day review started by DOE’s Environmental Management, or EM, program in June. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: advanced nuclear reactor technologies, Alvin Weinberg, Atomic Energy Commission, Ben Williams, cesium, DOE, EM, environmental management, fluoride salts, fuel salt mixture, Glenn Seaborg, Jay Mullis, luoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor, molten chloride fast reactors, molten salt, molten salt fuel, Molten Salt Reactor, Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, Molten Salt Reactor Workshop, MSRE, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, ORNL, Paul Haubenreich, pebble bed high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, plutonium, rem, Roentgen equivalent man, strontium, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium, uranium-233

GAO: DOE has more than 80 percent of U.S. government’s environmental liabilities

Posted at 9:18 pm September 3, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Workers clean 5,700 feet of piping on Alpha-4’s west side at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Photo by U.S. Department of Energy)

Workers clean 5,700 feet of piping on Alpha 4’s west side at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. Alpha 4 was built in 1944. It was used first for enriching uranium as part of the Manhattan Project and later for thermonuclear weapons production. It was shut down in 1987 and will be demolished. (Photo by U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 3:20 p.m. September 4.

The U.S. Department of Energy is responsible for more than 80 percent of the U.S. government’s estimated $450 billion in environmental liabilities, a federal agency said in a report published this year.

The agency, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, added the government’s environmental liabilities to a high-risk list of federal programs and operations in a report published in February.

Total environmental liabilities for the federal government are estimated at $447 billion. DOE is responsible for about $372 billion of them, or 83 percent, according to a fiscal year 2016 estimate, the GAO said.

Most of DOE’s environmental liability is related to nuclear waste cleanup, the GAO said. Fifty percent of it is at two cleanup sites: the Hanford Site in Washington state and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The GAO—an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress—said DOE’s total reported environmental liability has generally increased since 2000. It’s roughly doubled from a low of $176 billion in fiscal year 1997 to the higher estimate of $372 billion in fiscal year 2016.

“In the last six years alone, EM (environmental management) has spent $35 billion, primarily to treat and dispose of nuclear and hazardous waste and construct capital projects to treat the waste, while EM’s portion of the environmental liability has grown over this same time period by over $90 billion, from $163 billion to $257 billion,” the GAO said.

In the past few fiscal years, DOE environmental management has spent about $6 billion per year. The budget request submitted to Congress by President Donald Trump in May asked for $6.5 billion for the DOE Office of Environmental Management, the largest request in a decade.

Oak Ridge has a DOE environmental management program. It received more than $400 million in funding per fiscal year between 2013 and 2016. The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has major cleanup projects at the East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex. Cleanup work depends upon funding, but it could continue into the mid-2040s. Although they might be in various stages, projects that are under way now include finishing demolition work at ETTP by 2020, disposing of uranium-233 at ORNL, addressing high-risk excess facilities at ORNL and Y-12, building a Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12, and shipping transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Oak Ridge Reservation, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: 2016 Fire Department Instructors Conference, DOE, DOE's cleanup work, DOE's environmental liability, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, environmental liabilities, environmental management, Environmental Protection Agency, federal government's cleanup obligations, federal government’s estimated environmental liability, federal government’s total estimated environmental liability, GAO, Hanford Site, K-25 site, Nevada National Security Site, nuclear waste cleanup, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Savannah River Site, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Government Accountability Office, Y-12 National Security Complex

Workers start demolishing Poplar Creek facilities at ETTP

Posted at 11:06 am July 28, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic bombs, Ben Williams, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, EM Update, ETTP, gaseous diffusion buildings, Jay Mullis, K-25 site, K-832 Cooling Water Pumphouse, K-832-H Cooling Tower, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Poplar Creek facilities, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, uranium enrichment, Wayne McKinney

Y-12‘s Biology Complex would be top priority if excess cleanup funding available

Posted at 1:41 pm July 23, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Y-12 Biology Complex aerial

An aerial view of the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Plans call for eventually demolishing the complex. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

If excess funding is available, the federal cleanup program in Oak Ridge has a top priority: the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The budget request submitted to Congress by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, May 23, included $225 million for high-risk excess contaminated facilities at Y-12 and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

It’s not clear how much of that money might be used in Oak Ridge, if the president’s budget request were approved. Officials said the allocations would be determined by U.S. Department of Energy headquarters.

But the Oak Ridge cleanup program, known as environmental management, has taken steps to ensure that some projects here, such as the planned demolition of Y-12’s Biology Complex, are “in a good position” if money becomes available.

On Friday, Jay Mullis, acting manager for the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said the Biology Complex would be a primary priority if Y-12 gets some portion of the $225 million proposed by the Trump administration.

“Provided there is excess funding, that would be the building we would go after,” the Oak Ridge EM program said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge Office, Science, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Biology Complex, Chuck Fleischmann, Congress, DOE, DOE Office of Science, Donald Trump, EM, environmental management, Excess Contaminated Facilities Initiative, House Appropriations Committee, House Energy and Water Subcommittee, Jay Mullis, Lamar Alexander, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Oak Ridge cleanup, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Trump administration, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS-CH2M, Y-12 National Security Complex

House bill keeps DOE Office of Science spending flat, increases NNSA funding

Posted at 2:02 pm July 18, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Photo by ORNL

 

Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

A House bill approved Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s proposed funding cut of about $900 million for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

Instead of cutting, the House Appropriations Committee bill would keep spending flat for the Office of Science, holding it at $5.39 billion in the next fiscal year, the same as in the current fiscal year.

That could be good news for DOE Office of Science laboratories and offices here, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, or OSTI.

Separately, the House bill recommends a funding increase for the National Nuclear Security Administration. That’s something that the Trump administration had also proposed. The NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within DOE, and its activities include nuclear weapons work, nuclear nonproliferation efforts, and naval reactors. The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is an NNSA site.

“Issues of national and economic security are continually on the forefront of the minds of all Americans,” said U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge. “Last week, the House Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, approved the Fiscal Year 2018 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. I was proud to help direct additional funding towards the national security programs at Y-12.

“Additionally, funding levels included in this legislation will allow for cleanup of high risk excess facilities at Y-12. This is the first step in a long process, and I want to assure my constituents that I will continue fighting to ensure that Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and environmental management activities get the funding needed to continue their critical missions.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Front Page News, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, ARPA-E, budget request, Chuck Fleischmann, DOE Oak Ridge Office, DOE Office of Science, DOE spending, Donald Trump, East Tennessee Technology Park, EERE, EM, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, environmental cleanup, environmental management, House Appropriations Committee, House bill, K-25, Lamar Alexander, Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, Mike Simpson, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, nuclear facility cleanup, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Office of Science, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, ORNL, Pantex Plant, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Trump administration, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium processing facility, West End Protected Area Reduction Project, Y-12 Biology Complex, Y-12 National Security Complex

Updated: Cange, former Oak Ridge cleanup manager, appointed visiting scholar at Vanderbilt

Posted at 12:05 am July 7, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

k-27-demolition-aug-30-2016-cange-web

Sue Cange, who was then manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, is pictured above at the end of demolition of the K-27 Building on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12 p.m.

Sue Cange, former head of the federal government’s cleanup program in Oak Ridge, has been appointed as a visiting scholar at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

It’s a two-year appointment as a visiting scholar in civil and environmental engineering that started July 5, Vanderbilt University spokesperson Jim Patterson said. Cange has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Cange remains a paid U.S. Department of Energy employee, Patterson said. At Vanderbilt, she will help to establish a nuclear environmental engineering curriculum and internship program.

Cange is a former manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. She had most recently worked at U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C. In December, she was named principal deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, or EM. She had previously been interim principal deputy assistant secretary, temporarily serving in the role formerly filled by Mark Whitney, who took a job in the private sector. Whitney is also a former manager of the Environmental Management program in Oak Ridge.

In January, Cange became acting assistant secretary for environmental management, the Exchange Monitor reported. She replaced Monica Regalbuto on a temporary basis, at about the time that President Donald Trump was inaugurated. Regalbuto was the Obama administration’s final appointee to the position that oversees DOE’s $6-billion-a-year legacy nuclear cleanup program.

But last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that James M. Owendoff had been promoted to principal deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Environmental Management, or EM, replacing Cange. Owendoff had served as a senior adviser to the assistant EM secretary since January 2010, DOE said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: assistant secretary for environmental management, Cold War, DOE, Donald Trump, EM, Exchange Monitor, federal government cleanup program, James M. Owendoff, Jim Patterson, Manhattan Project, Mark Whitney, Monica Regalbuto, nuclear cleanup program, nuclear environmental engineering, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Office of Environmental Management, Sue Cange, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, Vanderbilt University, World War II

President’s budget: DOE cleanup funding could be up, with benefits for Oak Ridge

Posted at 2:05 pm July 6, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Jay Mullis, front center, acting manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, talks about federal site cleanup work in Oak Ridge during a visit by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, left, on Monday, May 22, 2017. Pictured between Perry and Mullis are U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, both Tennessee Republicans. (Photo by DOE)

Jay Mullis, front center, acting manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, talks about federal site cleanup work in Oak Ridge during a visit by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, left, on Monday, May 22, 2017. Pictured between Perry and Mullis are U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, both Tennessee Republicans. (Photo by DOE)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:30 p.m.

Cleanup funding could be up for the U.S. Department of Energy under the budget request from the Trump administration for fiscal year 2018, and there could be benefits for Oak Ridge, according to budget documents.

President Donald Trump submitted his budget request to Congress on Tuesday, May 23. In that request, the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, asked for $6.5 billion, the largest request in a decade. That would be $290 million above fiscal year 2016.

The funding request for Oak Ridge includes $390 million, or $78 million below fiscal year 2016, to continue deactivation and demolition of remaining facilities at East Tennessee Technology Park, continue preparing Building 2026 to support the processing of the remaining U-233 material at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and to support activities for the Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex.

It’s not clear whether that $390 million in the funding request includes part of the $225 million in funding requested for high-risk excess contaminated facilities at Y-12 and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. It’s also not clear whether the total funding for Oak Ridge cleanup programs would be up or down, compared to previous years. The DOE public affairs office in Washington, D.C., has not responded to about a dozen budget-related inquiries from Oak Ridge Today since May 23.

Among the highlights of the EM request for Oak Ridge, according to budget documents posted online by DOE and an EM press release: [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: cleanup funding, DOE, Donald Trump, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, environmental cleanup, Heritage Center, House appropriations bill, Jay Mullis, K-25 site, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Mercury Treatment Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Environmental Management, Rick Perry, Sue Cange, transuranic waste, Trump administration, U-233, U.S. Department of Energy, Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Y-12 National Security Complex

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