EM Marks Major Cleanup Milestones in 2024, Lays Groundwork for 2025 Goals

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) successfully completed the majority of its 2024 priorities, advancing critical cleanup work with the support of state, tribal and local partners.

The 2024 Mission & Priorities Scorecard highlights EM's accomplishments in addressing the environmental legacy of decades of nuclear weapons development and energy research. This includes meeting significant construction milestones, executing key cleanup projects, reducing its operational footprint, awarding transformative contracts and driving innovation and sustainability.

“Every milestone achieved this year underscores our mission to ensure a safer, cleaner environment for the communities surrounding EM sites,” EM Senior Advisor Candice Trummell Robertson said. “This progress is a testament to the collaboration and resilience of our team, partners and stakeholders.”

Among the notable EM 2024 priorities completed:

At Oak Ridge, EM completed Vision 2024, turning what was once a liability into an asset to boost the economy and attract next-generation nuclear companies and new jobs to the region.

Other 2024 priority highlights:

Construction milestones

• Installed all exterior walls and the roof for the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative in Aiken, South Carolina.
• Finalized the Cold Commissioning Management Assessment for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Field Office.

Cleanup progress

• Treated over a cumulative 100,000 gallons of radioactive sodium-bearing tank waste at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site.
• Transferred  Savannah River Site landlord responsibilities from EM to the National Nuclear Security Administration.
• Treated 2 billion gallons of groundwater at Hanford.
• Disposed of a cumulative 20,000 tons of waste since starting the Main Plant Process Building demolition project at the West Valley Demonstration Project.
• Completed disposition of 1 million pounds of R-114 refrigerant at the Paducah Site for the fourth consecutive year.

Footprint reduction

• Demolished the remaining Accelerated Retrieval Project enclosures at the INL Site.
• Initiated demolition of the Alpha 2 building at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge.

Contracts and innovation

• Awarded the Elemental Mercury contract.
• Issued Phase 1B Request for Proposal for West Valley deactivation and demolition.
• Placed orders for 175 zero-emission vehicles and installed 20 electric vehicle charging stations across EM sites.
• Selected a carbon-free electricity project for development at Hanford.

The full scorecard for EM's 2024 priorities can be found here.