The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has released over 700 acres in a land transfer to support economic and energy development.
Oak Ridge said in its Monday press release that this is the office’s largest land transfer to date. The latest transfer includes two parcels from DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation: Self-Sufficiency Parcel 2 and Economic Development Parcel 18.
Self-Sufficiency Parcel 2 covers 624 acres near East Tennessee Technology Park and was transferred to the Industrial Development Board of the City of Oak Ridge, OREM said. The Economic Development Parcel 18 covers 77 acres in the East Tennessee Technology Park, it added.
According to the release, two nuclear companies, Orano USA and Oklo, have already announced plans for projects at the sites and will invest nearly $6.7 billion in the area with over 1,000 local jobs projected to come with it.
Orano USA has moved forward with plans to construct a $5 billion uranium enrichment facility, Project IKE, at the Self-Sufficiency Parcel 2 site. Project IKE was announced in September 2024. The company submitted its environmental report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February.
The 77 acres of Economic Development Parcel 18 is part of 250 acres that Oklo will use for its $1.68 billion proposed nuclear fuel recycling facility, which the company announced in September 2025.
“Our mission is making it possible for DOE and the community to reuse land in meaningful and impactful ways,” OREM Manager Erik Olds said. “Reaching this stage and seeing the benefits that are possible is the payoff to all the hard work that came before. With these transfers now complete, the community and private industry can move forward with some of the biggest plans ever announced for this region.”
To date, the Oak Ridge office has transferred 2,532 acres to the community for economic reuse, according to the release.