Oak Ridge Continues Cycle of Cleanup Progress at Y-12

Oak Ridge crews have prepared the Old Steam Plant for demolition this summer. The facility dates to 1943 and has supported multiple missions over that span.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and cleanup contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) continue to make steady cleanup progress at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The latest advancement involves taking the final steps to ready the Old Steam Plant for demolition — another in a string of projects to remove outdated and deteriorating infrastructure to clear space to support important national security missions.

The Old Steam Plant, also known as Building 9401-1, is a single-story, 13,454-square-foot facility constructed in 1943. Over the decades, it supported multiple missions, including uranium enrichment support activities, fuels testing and maintenance and storage operations.

Crews have successfully removed materials from the facility, the final preparation needed to begin its teardown. That is slated to start this summer.

Crews take down the final columns of Alpha-2, marking the first former uranium enrichment facility officially on the ground at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Completing this project months early allows Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and UCOR to shift up the schedule for tearing down the Old Steam Plant.

“Being able to start this project a year ahead of schedule showcases the talent and commitment of our teams leading the transformation at Y-12,” said Joanna Hardin, portfolio federal project director for Y-12.

Hardin continued, “Completing Alpha-2’s demolition early has resulted in a trickle-down effect allowing us to deliver more risk reduction, clear the way for more modernization, and demonstrate responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars by avoiding costs associated with maintaining and overseeing this facility for a longer period.”

Crews pour a cement-like material into the basement of Beta-1 to enable large equipment to safely travel on the facility’s foundation during demolition.

The Old Steam Plant is the latest project in a broader sequence of deactivation and demolition reducing Y-12’s legacy footprint.

Since major cleanup began at Y-12 in 2020, OREM and UCOR have completed demolition of Alpha-2, the former Criticality Experiment Laboratory and the former Biology Complex, which collectively total more than 650,000 square feet. Together these removals have cleared more than 20 acres for Y-12 to reuse.

Now crews are busy preparing for the next wave of Y-12 demolitions — some of the biggest facilities yet to be torn down, altering Y-12’s landscape on an even larger scale. The first project in that sequence is Beta-1, a 210,000-square-foot former Manhattan Project uranium enrichment facility.

Beta-1 is scheduled to be demolition-ready by the end of the year.

-Contributor: Ryan Getsi