Beneficial Reuse News

As EM begins to dismantle four massive electrical switchyards at the Paducah Site, the recycling of recovered materials and components is supporting local economic development while reducing or offsetting cleanup costs at the site.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has signed an agreement with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) that lays the groundwork to transfer more than 3,500 acres of scenic land to the state.

An EM team at Savannah River Site (SRS) has significantly improved the system for picking up, transporting, and processing excess materials and equipment for reuse, reducing the average number of days to complete such tasks from 45 to only a few.

EM was integral to a federal-state cleanup team honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week for revitalizing a former nuclear weapon production plant into a wildlife refuge that provides recreational opportunities.

It once housed one of the tallest, most visible buildings at East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), but now the site of the former Centrifuge Complex is cleared and ready for industrial development.

Work is underway at EM’s Portsmouth Site on the first of five legacy groundwater plumes to be excavated for soil needed in the newly constructed On-Site Waste Disposal Facility (OSWDF).

An EM program at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site has taken the “reduce, reuse, and recycle” concept to the next level by sending a legacy radioactive source to another DOE site for reuse.

EM’s Paducah Site recently transferred approximately 210,000 gallons of electrical insulating oil to support economic development in the region.

Land at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) is already being put to beneficial reuse and providing new economic opportunities for the community.

A $5 million grant that DOE recently awarded to a local nonprofit will strengthen the workforce pool needed to support the EM and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) missions, particularly at the Savannah River Site (SRS).