Latest Move Brings Oak Ridge’s Total Land Transfers to Over 1,800 Acres

An aerial perspective of the 32-acre parcel the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management recently transferred at the East Tennessee Technology Park. The flat terrain is ideal for development, and there is already interest from businesses to reuse the land.

Cleanup program transfers 32-acre parcel at former production site for reindustrialization

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR’s successful cleanup of a former uranium enrichment complex continues to boost economic development opportunities for the region, with the latest providing a 32-acre parcel for private sector use.

OREM recently completed the land transfer at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) to the Industrial Development Board of Oak Ridge, bringing the site’s total amount of property transferred from federal ownership for economic reuse to 1,832 acres.

Tennessee law enables the board to acquire, own, lease and dispose of properties to promote industry and to develop trade by attracting manufacturing, industrial and commercial enterprises to Oak Ridge.

“The economic development that’s happening today at ETTP is a testament to the value and impact of our cleanup mission,” said Mark McIntosh, OREM’s ETTP portfolio federal project director. “It’s rewarding to see the nuclear legacy come full circle here. Our projects cleared away some of the nation’s oldest enrichment facilities, and now that space is being reused as the home for the next generation of nuclear companies.”

A view of the East Tennessee Technology Park, previously known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, before cleanup. The K-27 and K-29 building are highlighted. K-27 was demolished in 2016 and K-29 was demolished in 2006.

The transferred parcel once served as the site of the K-27 and K-29 buildings, two of five massive gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment facilities that operated there for decades.

The K-27 Building, built in 1945, covered 383,000 square feet and was demolished in 2016. The K-29 Building, which spanned 291,000 square feet, began operating in 1951 and was demolished in 2006.

ETTP, formerly known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, operated from the mid-1940s until 1985. Initially used to enrich uranium used in the nuclear weapon that helped end World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, the plant later produced enriched uranium for defense missions and commercial power.

OREM and UCOR completed major field work at ETTP last year, culminating more than 20 years of cleanup. Along the way, Oak Ridge became the first site in the world to remove a former enrichment complex, and the first U.S. Department of Energy site to pursue reindustrialization.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s cleanup and land transfers have transformed the East Tennessee Technology Park from a shuttered uranium enrichment complex into a privately owned industrial park that’s ready for new growth.

Cleanup and transfers 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 land is now home to more than 25 businesses that are making a projected capital investment of $7 billion, and they expect to generate 1,700 private sector jobs.

“As evidenced by this latest property transfer, the cleanup of ETTP has provided numerous economic opportunities for the region,” said Ashley Saunders, UCOR environmental programs and stewardship manager. “The dilapidated, crumbling structures that once dotted the site have been replaced with new businesses and attractive parcels ready for development, and more property will be available in the future.”

The next property transfer planned at ETTP will be a 3.5-acre tract adjacent to the K-27 and K-29 area, and the process is also underway to transfer a 667-acre parcel near ETTP in coming months.

-Contributor: Ryan Getsi