The Oak Ridge Site, located in eastern Tennessee, is one of the three original sites in the Manhattan Project. The K-25 and Y-12 plants were built to explore different methods to enrich uranium, while the X-10 Site was established as a pilot plant for the Graphite Reactor and to explore methods for the production of plutonium. Throughout the following decades, the three sites purified isotopes, conducted advanced research, manufactured weapons components, and enriched uranium. These activities created environmental legacies that placed the Oak Ridge Reservation on EPA’s National Priorities List in 1989.
Watch the video below to learn how environmental cleanup operations in Oak Ridge are modernizing the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and creating new opportunities for the community. It also explores Oak Ridge’s first-of-a-kind achievements and the projects underway that will transform the site in the years ahead.
Oak Ridge News
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Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management contractor Isotek has surpassed a significant milestone supporting clinical cancer trials by extracting more than 15 grams of extremely rare isotope, thorium-229.April 29, 2025
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Crews with the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and contractor UCOR make headway preparing for the next major demolition project at the Y-12 National Security Complex.April 29, 2025
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Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management announces award of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Technical, Management, and Administrative Services contract to Independent Strategic Management Solutions, Inc.April 24, 2025
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Gone from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is legacy radioactive waste that had been stored there for more than 50 years, thanks to continued cleanup progress from the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR.April 15, 2025
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) notched a significant cleanup achievement after crews finished characterizing all 21 hot cells at a Cold War facility.April 15, 2025
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Highest priority cleanup project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is removing nation’s inventory of Uranium-233 from storage in the world’s oldest operating nuclear facilityApril 1, 2025
Erik Olds, the current Deputy Manager, is the Acting Manager for the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM).
Olds is the Deputy Manager for the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In this role, he oversees the daily operations needed to perform the organization’s environmental cleanup and stewardship, decontamination and decommissioning activities, waste processing and management, surveillance and maintenance programs, and procurement and contract functions. Before his assignment as OREM Deputy Manager, Olds served as Communications Director for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management headquarters (EM-HQ), and previously as acting Chief of Staff for EM-HQ.
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High-Level Budget Information
FY22 Enacted (in the millions) | FY23 Request (in the millions) | FY23 Enacted (in the millions) | FY24 Enacted (in the millions) | FY24 Enacted (in the millions) | FY25 Requested (in the millions) |
| $630 | $612 | $637 | $635 | $694 | $658 |
For more information on the Office of Environmental Management's budget process and performance check out the Budget & Performance page.