From Remediation to Renaissance
The federal government has set a clear and ambitious course: transform the nation's energy landscape by unlocking the full potential of American resources, technology, and ingenuity. A series of executive actions, from cutting regulatory barriers to accelerating nuclear energy and digital infrastructure, has created a mandate the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM) is uniquely positioned to fulfill.
Executive Order 14299, Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, signed May 23, 2025, placed nuclear energy at the center of the nation's national security strategy. The order directs the Secretary of Energy to identify uranium and plutonium materials within DOE inventories that can be recycled or re-processed into nuclear fuel — an assignment that falls squarely within EM's stewardship of some of the nation's largest stockpiles of legacy nuclear material. As EM safely manages used nuclear fuel, depleted uranium hexafluoride, and surplus special nuclear material, it is laying the foundation for a domestic nuclear fuel cycle that can power the next generation of reactors and support the AI revolution.
“As we advance cleanup, we're transforming liabilities into opportunities to unleash American energy, lead the world in innovation, fuel the AI race, and support our communities.”
— EM Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh
Executive Order 14318, Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure, signed July 23, 2025, established a national priority to rapidly build AI data center infrastructure and directed DOE, the Department of War and the Department of Interior to authorize construction on appropriate federal lands. The next day the department announced the selection of four EM cleanup sites — Idaho National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and the Savannah River Site, as priority locations for public-private partnerships to develop AI data centers and energy generation projects. These are sites that served the national defense and are rich with infrastructure and resources these projects require.
The connection between these executive actions and EM's mission is direct and consequential. Every contaminated building demolished, every acre of land meeting regulatory cleanup standards, every canister of used nuclear fuel reused or moved to safer storage is a step toward energy abundance, technological leadership and national security. EM is not merely a cleanup program, it is an engine of American reindustrialization, transforming the liabilities of the past into the assets of the future. EM sites across the country are being reimagined as hubs for nuclear energy, advanced manufacturing, AI infrastructure, and economic opportunity. Discover how the work happening today is shaping America's energy future tomorrow.
Beneficial Reuse News
American Energy Hubs
Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh announces American Energy Hubs, a bold initiative that's transforming former Manhattan Project and Cold War sites into hubs for innovation and energy production.
A model replicated across the EM complex
The beneficial reuse model pioneered at Oak Ridge and now accelerating at Paducah and Portsmouth is being actively replicated at EM sites across the country. The Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Idaho National Laboratory Site, and other cleanup sites are being identified as priority locations for public-private AI and energy infrastructure development, each made possible by the environmental remediation work that has been underway for decades.
The pattern is consistent: EM cleans up the legacy of the past, transfers land back to communities, and industry opens the door to generational economic development. The executive orders of 2025 did not create this dynamic they recognized it, elevated it, and gave it the urgency and resources required.
OAK RIDGE, Tennessee Nuclear renaissance hub 2,550 acres transferred; Orano USA enrichment facility | PADUCAH, Kentucky Uranium enrichment returns General Matter lease signed for domestic enrichment facility |
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio Advanced reactors Two advanced reactors in development by Oklo on transferred land | SAVANNAH RIVER, South Carolina Energy & innovation campus One of four DOE sites selected for AI data center and energy infrastructure development |
Together, these efforts reflect a fundamental shift in how EM's used nuclear fuel mission is understood. The safe receipt, storage, processing, and movement of used nuclear fuel is not merely a compliance obligation, it is infrastructure for the nuclear renaissance. Every canister sealed, every facility modified, and every research partnership enabled brings the United States closer to the closed nuclear fuel cycle that makes advanced nuclear energy more economical, more sustainable, and more secure for generations to come.