The Oak Ridge Office of EM (OREM) has conducted large-scale demolition at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) for nearly 15 years.
Office of Environmental Management
June 16, 2020
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OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has conducted large-scale demolition at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) for nearly 15 years.
OREM and its contractor UCOR are nearing completion of teardowns there, and one facility they recently demolished had supported demolition work over the years.
Crews took down K-2500-H, also known as the Segmentation Shop. Contaminated equipment, piping, and other items generated by demolition projects were sent to the facility to be prepared for shipment for disposal.
Constructed in 2007 near the massive K-25 gaseous diffusion building, the Segmentation Shop was used to process items from K-25, the K-27 gaseous diffusion building, and other facilities that once supported the site’s uranium enrichment operations.
“The Segmentation Shop served a crucial purpose, allowing for efficient disposal of a variety of components pulled from various buildings,” said James Daffron, acting ETTP portfolio federal project director. “The fact that it is no longer needed highlights how close we are to completing site cleanup.”
While crews have completed demolition of all facilities that previously supported uranium enrichment operations, the Segmentation Shop became the latest in a long list of unneeded buildings that crews have removed at ETTP.
Only a handful of unneeded structures remain at the site. Demolition and major cleanup activities are expected to be completed at ETTP this year — a goal known as Vision 2020. It will account for the elimination of more than 13 million square feet, marking the first time in the world an entire uranium enrichment complex is removed. More than 12 million square feet of the complex has been removed already.
OREM and UCOR are working together to transform ETTP into a multi-use industrial park, national park, and conservation area for the community. That vision has already started to become a reality. OREM has transferred almost 1,300 acres at ETTP for economic development, with another 600 acres slated for transfer in the years ahead. OREM has also set aside more than 100 acres for historic preservation and placed more than 3,000 acres in conservation for community recreational use.