SITE RESTORATION | OAK RIDGE REPURPOSED
A Tennessee fuel industry reborn
Sites in Tennessee that participated in the Manhattan Project have been cleaned up in recent years. Now they are attracting new companies in the commercial nuclear fuel industry.
IN 1942, THE US ARMY Corps of Engineers bought an estimated 60,000 acres (24,000 ha) of rural farmland to construct a temporary city and three facilities for the Manhattan Project. Some 60% of the $2bn Manhattan Project funding came
to Oak Ridge, which became a city of more than 75,000 people and had over 80,000 workers. In addition to defence missions, the plant also produced enriched uranium for the commercial nuclear power industry. In 1987, US Department of Energy (DOE) terminated uranium enrichment operations in Oak Ridge and closed the site permanently. It is now under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. In 1989, the DOE formed the Office of Environmental
Management (EM) to begin cleanup at the site. In the years since then, the site has been transformed from a government-owned former enrichment complex into a privately-owned, multi-use industrial park. The region includes what is now the 2200 acre (888 ha)
East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). This area was home to a complex of facilities that enriched uranium during the industry’s previous phase. At its birth, the technology park had contaminated buildings, soil, sediment, and groundwater that required remediation. In 2020, EM celebrated ‘core cleanup’ at the site, after it
had demolished more than 500 structures, including five uranium enrichment buildings, and addressed major areas of soil contamination. The next step was soil and groundwater remediation, which kicked off in May 2023. Soil remediation was completed within the area in 2024 (after removal of 554,000 cubic yards (421,000 m3
estimate of 100,000 (76,000 m3
) of soil – five times the initial ) cubic yards) and in the
surrounding area (known as Zone 1) in 2025. In 2024, regulatory approval and guidance was granted
for the final phase of cleanup, to address groundwater. ETTP is divided into three sections for groundwater remediation planning. In the Main Plant Area, which encompasses most of the operations area at the former enrichment complex, it will use enhanced in-situ bioremediation, which involves injecting microorganisms and a carbon source, such as vegetable oil, into the ground. The microorganisms reduce or detoxify the contaminants. The area where the large K-31 and K-33 uranium enrichment buildings once stood will be subject to ‘monitored natural attenuation’, which relies on natural processes that reduce contaminant concentrations in groundwater.
Above: Oak Ridge became a city of more than 75,000 people and, in addition to defence missions, the plant also produced enriched uranium for the commercial nuclear power industry Source: ORNL
38 | October 2025 |
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