Cleanup Progress Paves Way for Industry Growth in Oak Ridge

This marks the seventh edition of the East Tennessee Economic Council’s annual Nuclear Opportunities Workshop. Since 2018, the event has grown from 85 attendees in a small conference center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to a two-day conference at the Knoxville Convention Center with attendance surging to 800 attendees and more than 175 students.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Advances on the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s (OREM) cleanup mission are creating unique opportunities for the nuclear industry. The effect was evident at a crowded Nuclear Opportunities Workshop on July 22-23.

This marks the seventh edition of the annual event hosted by the East Tennessee Economic Council. What began with 85 attendees in a conference center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 2018 has grown into a two-day conference at the Knoxville Convention Center with attendance surging to 800 attendees and more than 175 students.

"Building on our Manhattan Project-era legacy of nuclear innovation, East Tennessee is again at the forefront of new nuclear technologies that have the potential to change the world,” said Tracy Boatner, East Tennessee Economic Council president and CEO. “The state of Tennessee has many valuable resources for companies in the nuclear industry. The Nuclear Opportunities Workshop provides a platform to display those resources for companies interested in joining the nuclear renaissance occurring in our state.”

One of the featured panels at this year’s conference was titled “Atomic Insights: Cleanup Today for a Nuclear Tomorrow.” From left, participants included Oak Ridge Corridor Development Corporation President Mike Magill, UCOR Director of Critical Projects Joe Aylor, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Manager Erik Olds, Orano USA President and CEO Jean-Luc Palayer, and panel moderator Adam DeMella.

One of the featured panels at this year’s conference was titled, “Cleanup Today for a Nuclear Tomorrow.” Participants included OREM Manager Erik Olds, UCOR Director of Critical Projects Joe Aylor, Orano USA President and CEO Jean-Luc Palayer, and Oak Ridge Corridor Development Corporation President Mike Magill.

Panelists shared insight about the connection between cleanup and economic opportunities happening in the region — specifically, how successful cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) has led to the siting of the nation’s first nuclear innovation hub.

Oak Ridge’s landscape was markedly different only seven years ago when the workshop launched. Cleanup progress since then has paved the way for a business boom.

Since 2018, OREM and UCOR crews have finished demolition and completed soil remediation at the ETTP, marking the first removal of a former enrichment complex in the world. OREM has also transferred 730 acres for economic reuse and development over that span.

Those efforts have transformed the site from a government-owned, shuttered uranium enrichment complex into a privately owned industrial park that has become a hub for nuclear energy development that will play a crucial role in the nation’s energy future.

That land is now home to more than 25 businesses that are making a projected capital investment of $7 billion with an expectation to generate 1,700 new private sector jobs.

Cleanup is also generating benefits for the nuclear industry that extend beyond the ETTP. OREM’s work is also having a major impact at ORNL and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

OREM projects in recent years have cleared away numerous aging and contaminated structures — including former research reactors, laboratories and enrichment facilities — to make way for new infrastructure that will aid innovation and national security for the nation in the years ahead.

-Contributor: Ryan Getsi