DOE awards contract for the remaining environmental cleanup at ETTP to URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC. The $2.2 billion contract will complete cleanup and provide support functions at ETTP.
Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management
April 29, 2011
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Oak Ridge, Tenn. – As part of its ongoing commitment to cleaning up the legacy of the Cold War at sites across the weapons complex, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a contract for the remaining environmental cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) to URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC. The $2.2 billion contract will complete cleanup and provide support functions at ETTP, while supporting local jobs and area small businesses.
“Today’s contract announcement means that we can continue to meet our commitments to the state of Tennessee and surrounding community to clean up the legacy of the Cold War,” said DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Ines Triay.
The estimated award value is $2,239,694,000, which includes an initial five-year term with a four year option. The contractor will complete the cleanup of ETTP, while performing ongoing Environmental Management (EM) missions such as facility surveillance and maintenance and various waste management operations at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security complex. Sixty percent of the total contract value is expected to be subcontracted, with half of that going to small business.
ETTP is located on the DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation and began operations during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. Its original mission was to produce enriched uranium for use in atomic weapons, but at the end of the war, the plant’s mission evolved. From 1945 to 1985, it produced enriched uranium for the commercial nuclear power industry and in 1987, it was permanently shut down. Restoration of the environment, decontamination and decommissioning of the facilities, and management of the legacy wastes have since been major activities.
EM is responsible for the largest nuclear environmental cleanup project in the world. After five decades of nuclear weapons production, the Cold War left 1.5 million cubic meters of solid waste and 88 million gallons of liquid waste that will require treatment and permanent safe storage. In addition to the decontamination of soil and ground water at these sites, thousands of buildings and structures must be decontaminated and decommissioned.