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OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Oak Ridge is playing a central role in a U.S. Department of Energy initiative aimed at transforming former Manhattan Project and Cold War properties into sites for new energy production, advanced manufacturing and private-sector development.
DOE’s Office of Environmental Management highlighted the Oak Ridge American Energy Hub during this week’s Nuclear Opportunities Workshop at the Knoxville Convention Center.
EM Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh told attendees that environmental cleanup in Oak Ridge has made large areas of former federal property available for new development.
“Our work is transforming sites that were instrumental in powering and protecting our nation decades ago and making it possible for them to do it again,” Walsh said.
According to DOE, more than 2,500 acres of federal property in Oak Ridge have been transferred to the community for economic reuse, with hundreds of additional acres expected to become available in the near future.
Businesses locating on those properties have announced approximately $10 billion in projected capital investment and are expected to create thousands of private-sector jobs.
Several of the projects represent different portions of the nuclear energy lifecycle.
Orano USA has announced plans for a uranium enrichment facility, while BWXT is working on enriched fuels for national security missions. LIS Technologies is developing laser enrichment technology, and TRISO-X is producing nuclear fuel for next-generation reactors.
Kairos Power is constructing advanced reactor projects in the Oak Ridge area, while Radiant Nuclear has announced plans for a microreactor manufacturing facility. Oklo has also announced plans for a nuclear fuel recycling facility.
The growth has been supported by partnerships involving state and local governments, economic development organizations and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Governor Bill Lee launched Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Fund in 2023. Since then, the state has allocated $95 million to support nuclear-related businesses, workforce development and infrastructure.
Oak Ridge’s redevelopment has been made possible in large part through decades of environmental cleanup at the former East Tennessee Technology Park.
DOE says cleanup crews have demolished and removed more than 500 facilities with a combined footprint equivalent to approximately 225 football fields. Crews have also excavated more than 50,000 dump-truck loads of soil.
Much of the former government-owned uranium enrichment complex has since been transformed into privately controlled industrial property.
Walsh said DOE hopes to build upon the Oak Ridge model through its American Energy Hubs initiative at other former federal nuclear sites across the country.
Tennessee Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty and Congressman Chuck Fleischmann also participated in this year’s Nuclear Opportunities Workshop, highlighting East Tennessee’s growing role in the nation’s nuclear energy industry.
