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General Assembly approves bill that would establish CROET as ETTP manager

Posted at 4:35 pm April 21, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: Business, CROET, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Roane County, Slider, State, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Bill Haslam, City of Oak Ridge, Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, CROET, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, HB0978, Heritage Center, Horizon Center, IDB, K-25, K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Ken Yager, Kent Calfee, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, OREM, Roane County, SB0707, Tennessee General Assembly, U.S. Department of Energy, Vision 2016, Vision 2020

DOE finishes demolishing another building at ETTP

Posted at 4:06 pm March 20, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Building K-731 at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above during demolition. (Photo by DOE)

Building K-731 at East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above during demolition. (Photo by DOE)

 

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its cleanup contractor have finished demolishing another building at East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The work is part of an effort to advance toward Vision 2020, a goal to complete cleanup at ETTP by 2020 and continue transferring the remaining land to private industry, benefiting the regional economy, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in a story published February 28.

The latest progress involves the removal of Building K-731. The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, and cleanup contractor URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, began demolishing Building K-731 on August 30, moments after taking down the final pieces of Building K-27 and fulfilling Vision 2016. That was Oak Ridge’s ambitious goal to be the world’s first to successfully remove all of its former uranium enrichment facilities by the end of 2016. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 2014 Division I BlueCross Bowl, Building K-27, Building K-731, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Jay Mullis, K-25 site, K-29, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Office of Environmental Management, OREM, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium enrichment, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, Vision 2016

Local environmental board meets with federal, state agencies to discuss cleanup mission

Posted at 12:45 am September 28, 2016
By Ashley Huff Leave a Comment

annual-meeting-2016-web

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board holds its annual planning meeting in August 2016 with U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. (Submitted photo)

 

In August, members of a citizen’s advisory board met with representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to consider key issues for Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup in fiscal year 2017, which begins in October.

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board held its 2016 Annual Planning Meeting in Townsend, Tennessee, on August 6. The Saturday meeting brought together members of the Oak Ridge board, leadership from DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, and liaisons from federal and state regulatory agencies to review cleanup accomplishments in FY 2016 and discuss priorities for FY 2017.

ORSSAB is a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides recommendations to OREM on its environmental management activities at DOE sites locally. OREM encourages public participation in federal projects and meets regularly with the Oak Ridge board, as well as with other citizen and stakeholder groups within the community to gather public perspectives regarding a diverse cleanup mission that addresses legacy nuclear waste at sites across the Oak Ridge Reservation through numerous activities, including waste disposition, long-term stewardship, and site restoration. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, State, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: annual planning meeting, Belinda Price, cleanup, Dave Adler, DOE, DOE Information Center, East Tennessee Technology Park, environmental management, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, ETTP, Greg Paulus, groundwater strategy, historic preservation, Jeff Crane, Kristof Czartoryski, Oak Ridge cleanup, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, ORNL, ORSSAB, Sue Cange, TDEC, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, transuranic waste, TRU Sludge Processing Facility, TRU waste, U-233, U.S. Department of Energy, Vision 2016, waste disposal, Y-12 National Security Complex

DOE: Oak Ridge’s Building K-27 being torn down quickly

Posted at 1:46 am June 7, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

K-27 Demolition

Crews are moving at an impressive pace on Building K-27, completing more than 65 percent of the demolition since February. (Photo by DOE)

 

In February 2016, demolition crews started tearing down the K-27 gaseous diffusion building.

Now, only months later, the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR have already completed demolition on more than 65 percent of the four-story, 383,000-square-foot facility, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

K-27 is the last of five large gaseous diffusion facilities to be torn down at the East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, which was formerly known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant and often referred to as the former K-25 site.

“Due to the heavy contamination and state of the 1940s facility, K-27 was one of the environmental management’s highest cleanup priorities,” the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in a May 31 newsletter. “The progress taking down the facility moves EM closer to fulfilling its Vision 2016—the removal of all five gaseous diffusion buildings from the site by year’s end. It is not only a significant goal for EM and Oak Ridge, but it will also mark the first time in the world that a uranium enrichment complex has been cleaned and removed.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic weapons, Building K-27, demolition, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, K-25, K-25 site, K-27 Building, K-29, K-31, K-33, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, OREM, UCOR, URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, Vision 2016, Wendy Cain, World War II

Demolition starts on last of big five uranium-enriching buildings at K-25

Posted at 7:14 pm February 9, 2016
By John Huotari 1 Comment

K-27-Demolition-Start-Feb-8-2016

A high-reach machine is used to start demolishing the four-story, 10-acre K-27 Building on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. K-27 is the last of the big five uranium-enriching buildings at the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Demolition started Monday on K-27, the last of the big five uranium-enriching buildings at the former K-25 site, and officials expect the work to be complete by the end of the year.

The five buildings—K-25, K-27, K-29, K-31, and K-33—once used a process called gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Officials credit them for helping to win World War II and end the Cold War, and for playing significant roles in technological developments and the nuclear industry.

The K-25 site, which is now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center, was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first nuclear weapons. The site is now slowly being converted into a large industrial park.

“The majority of the property will be reused,” said Ken Rueter, president and project manager for UCOR, or URS |CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: DOE, DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, environmental management, Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, ETTP, gaseous diffusion, Heritage Center, high-reach machine, K-25, K-27, K-27 Building, K-29, K-31, K-33, Ken Rueter, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Sue Cange, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, Vision 2016

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Classifieds

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

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