|
|
|
Oak Ridge Reservation
Site Overview
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation is located on 37,000
acres in east Tennessee. The Oak Ridge facilities include the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex; and the East Tennessee
Technology Park.
The Reservation was established in the early 1940’s by the Manhattan district
of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The organization played a major role in
the production of enriched uranium for the Manhattan Project. Soon after World
War II, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (predecessor to DOE) was formed to
transfer the nuclear enterprise to civilian control.
Site Descriptions
The Oak Ridge – East Tennessee Technology Park was originally built as a
uranium enrichment facility for defense programs. The majority of the building
sites have been inactive since uranium enrichment production ceased in 1985.
The site will be closed in FY 2009.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory supported both defense production operations
and civilian energy research efforts. Currently, the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory conducts applied and basic research in energy technologies and the
physical and life sciences. Cleanup includes environmental remediation,
decontamination and decommissioning of radioactively-contaminated facilities,
and disposition of legacy low, mixed low-level, and transuranic waste.
The Oak Ridge Y-12 site originally was a uranium processing facility and now
dismantles nuclear weapons components and serves as one the of nation’s
storehouses for special nuclear materials.
The cleanup program mission in Oak Ridge will be complete when cleanup has
safely reduced risks to the public, workers, and the environment.
At the end of site cleanup, planned by 2015, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
will continue to operate as a world-class research facility. Y-12 will continue
to operate, fulfilling its national security mission. The East Tennessee
Technology Park will be available for use as a private-sector industrial park.
Site Links
Oak Ridge Reservation 
|
|