ARLINGTON, VA — Two sister entities within the Department of Energy, the Office of Environmental Management and the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), are setting the stage for future work at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, Tenn.
That’s according to NNSA Y-12 field office manager Mary Helen Hitson at Exchange Monitor’s annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit. “We wouldn’t have land to build on if we didn’t leverage our friends at EM,” she said.
During a panel discussion, Hitson praised Environmental Management’s completed demolition of the 325,000-square-foot former Alpha-2 uranium enrichment building at Y-12. The dismantling of the more-than-two acre building by United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) represents the largest demolition so far at Y-12, according to Environmental Management. The teardown of the Manhattan Project-era facility started in September 2024 after radioactive and hazardous materials were removed.
The last wall came down in January, Hitson said. Some nearby smaller facilities at Y-12 could come down this summer, Environmental Management said in its Jan. 27 press release. The land remediated by the nuclear cleanup office will provide space for NNSA to build modern national security infrastructure.
Also, during the past year, EM and NNSA worked together to shrink the “protected area” at Y-12 inside which only workers with a high-level government security clearance can venture without an escort, Hitson said. This is something talked about at Y-12 for more than 20 years, she said.
The restricted area was traditionally 150 acres large, and having people lacking Q clearances work there was “wildly expensive,” Hitson said. Now thankfully, the protected area is down to about 70 acres, she added.