In August 1952, the Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor agency to DOE, selected a tract of land in the Ohio Valley along the Scioto River in Pike County, Ohio, for the site of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP), the third of three GDPs in the United States. In 1956, the plant began enriching uranium for nuclear weapons. In the 1960s, Portsmouth’s mission changed to focus on producing fuel for commercial nuclear power plants and other national security applications. An extensive environmental cleanup program began at the 3,777-acre site in 1989, with deactivation and decommissioning activities initiated in 2011.
Portsmouth Photo Gallery
An excavator operator fills a dump truck near one of two cells being built at the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility at the Portsmouth Site.
Portsmouth News
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Thanks to their safe and successful cleanup work in 2025, the Portsmouth and Paducah sites demonstrated the strong role the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management plays in advancing American energy dominance and innovation. December 23, 2025December 23, 2025
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Helping to grow America’s burgeoning nuclear renaissance, advancing infrastructure critical to winning the artificial intelligence race and safely addressing aging facilities to contribute to the modernization of America’s strategic deterrent — these are just some of the ways the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management helped enable American energy, innovation and security in 2025, according to a new document released today.December 23, 2025
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The Portsmouth Site announced the start of structural demolition on the X-333 Process Building last month, almost 70 years to the day it was turned over to the Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor agency to the U.S. Department of Energy, to assume the facility’s role in fueling America’s fight in the Cold War. December 9, 2025December 9, 2025
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With crews in the early stages of demolishing X-333, the second of the Portsmouth Site’s three former uranium process buildings, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management leaders at the site are emphasizing the number one priority: safety of the workforce and community. November 25, 2025November 25, 2025
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Workers have begun demolishing the massive X-333 Process Building, achieving a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management priority to begin demolition of the second of the Portsmouth Site’s three former uranium process buildings. November 18 , 2025November 18, 2025
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Public tour participants heard firsthand accounts from past employees of the former gaseous diffusion plants at the Portsmouth and Paducah sites this year. November 18, 2025November 18, 2025
Acting Site Manager
Reinhard Knerr is the acting Manager of the Department of Energy's Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. In this role, he oversees the deactivation and demolition of the former gaseous diffusion facilities at the Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky sites, and the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Project at both locations.
Click here to view full bio.
High-Level Budget Information
FY24 Requested (in the millions) | FY24 Enacted (in the millions) | FY25 Requested (in the millions) | FY25 Enacted (in the millions) | FY26 Requested (in the millions) |
| $493 | $580 | $600 | $593 | $582 |
For more information on the Office of Environmental Management's budget process and performance check out the Budget & Performance page.