The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn. is still looking for a replacement site for a municipal airport after the original location was tapped for nuclear industry expansion, City Manager Randy Hemann told Exchange Monitor Thursday.
In an emailed statement with the Monitor, Hemann said the city is still engaged in considering alternate sites that “meet our criteria to determine if land could be assembled.”
In finding a new location, Hemann informed the Monitor that a new environmental study would be required. According to a June update on the airport, the city will be supported by several federal and state agencies, such as the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Appalachian Regional Commission, in its search for a new site.
The municipality has for several years sought to build an airport on land cleaned up by the Department of Energy. The city bought three parcels of land for $9 million for an air strip that was previously at the K-25 uranium enrichment complex at DOE’s Oak Ridge site. After much remediation the K-25 area was renamed the East Tennessee Technology Park
However, last year the city was forced to pivot from this land after Orano USA secured the land for its uranium enrichment project, which is now under review with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Additionally, the city released the designated airport site at the East Tennessee Technology Park to allow for more industrial use.
The Monitor reported in October 2024 that the city of Oak Ridge would likely have to seek another location after the Orano USA uranium enrichment facility announcement.
Companies have begun to build various nuclear projects around Oak Ridge, as the DOE site has become an epicenter for advanced nuclear development in Tennessee. Kairos Power is constructing its Hermes 1 and Hermes 2 reactors locally, while TRISO-X, an X-Energy subsidiary, is building an advanced nuclear fuel facility that will use high-assay low-enriched uranium – or HALEU.
Centrus Energy is expanding its manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, which the company announced in January. Centrus CEO Amir Vexler said earlier this at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit 2026 earlier this year that ‘everyone and their brother’ are trying to build new nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge, attesting to the growing nuclear market in East Tennessee.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is also planning its Clinch River reactor adjacent to DOE’s Oak Ridge Site.
Despite having to pivot to a new location, Oak Ridge’s local government still wants an airport to support the growing nuclear hub in its backyard.
“Given the influx of Orano, Kairos Power, and many other nuclear companies locating to Oak Ridge, the city believes an airport is crucial to support the new nuclear industry,” Hemann said in the June update on the Oak Ridge Airport.