Leadership from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management recently visited the Portsmouth Site to observe firsthand the accelerating pace of cleanup work actively clearing the path for future reuse and energy development.
Office of Environmental Management
October 27, 2026
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Assistant Secretary for the Office of Environmental Management Tim Walsh (left) and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne consult a map of energy projects planned for the area surrounding the Portsmouth Site.
PIKETON, Ohio — Leadership from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) recently visited the Portsmouth Site to observe firsthand the accelerating pace of cleanup work actively clearing the path for future reuse and energy development.
Led by Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Tim Walsh, the visit highlighted how safely addressing Cold War-era legacy facilities serves as the vital foundation for transforming the 3,400-acre site into an energy and industrial hub for southern Ohio. By safely dismantling former uranium enrichment facilities and remediating legacy soil and groundwater, EM is enabling new opportunities for the future.
“We met with building trades and United Steelworkers to talk about how we can continue to accelerate our cleanup mission here to make space for new economic opportunities built and operated by American union labor,” Walsh said. “More than $33 billion of investment is coming to this site to create the Portsmouth American Energy Hub. Both the local community and the building trades are excited about what is coming here and the tremendous possibilities for the future.”
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Environmental Management Tim Walsh speaks with union members at the Portsmouth Site.
A central highlight of the multi-day itinerary was direct engagement with the local workforce and community. Leadership met with frontline personnel, craft workers and union representatives to discuss project milestones, operational safety and the future transition of the site as new life changing jobs are created.
“A cleanup of this scale only works when the community, the trades and leadership are on the same page,” Tri-State Building and Construction Trades Portsmouth Site Representative Jody Crabtree said. “We put in the work early to listen to our community's concerns and show that this site had a future. Seeing new energy and industrial projects taking root today proves that when you earn that local trust, big things can happen for our families and our region.”
During the Portsmouth visit, EM leadership also toured the Centrus Energy Corp. American Centrifuge Plant, emphasizing that reviving U.S.-owned, domestic uranium enrichment preserves the region’s deep-rooted nuclear expertise while creating enduring, high-paying technical careers for the southern Ohio workforce.
“Our workforce has generations of hands-on experience, and Centrus is showing that companies want that talent here,” United Steelworkers Local 689 President Andria Tipton said. “It keeps good, high-paying jobs right here at home for our families as the site transitions from cleanup to new energy projects.”
From left, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne, Southern Ohio Cleanup Company Demolition and Operations Manager Bob Chancy, Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh and Acting Portsmouth Site Lead Christy Brown give a thumbs up to the progress on the demolition of the X-333 Process Building.
EM leadership, along with local leaders, address the local press about the progress of Portsmouth Site cleanup paving the way for reuse of the site for an American Energy Hub.
EM leadership expanded their regional outreach with several key stops across the area, including the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office in Lexington, Kentucky, the Office of Legacy Management Fernald Preserve in southwestern Ohio, and the EM Consolidated Business Center headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The comprehensive tour underscored EM’s ongoing commitment to executing high-hazard cleanup missions safely while maintaining strong alignment with local communities, workforce partners and stakeholders across the region.
-Contributor: Melissa Green
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