The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is starting work on a new facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that the agency says will strengthen U.S. capabilities to monitor foreign uranium enrichment activities and support nuclear nonproliferation missions.
The Advanced Testbed and Operations Learning Laboratory, or ATOLL, will be a 21,000-square-foot facility designed to develop technical expertise and operational capabilities used to assess foreign weapons-grade uranium production activities, NNSA said in a June 3 press release. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2028.
NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams joined Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) and ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer at a groundbreaking ceremony for the testbed. Williams said the facility will help maintain the technical expertise needed to understand and monitor nuclear weapons-related activities abroad.
“It takes a weapons program to know a weapons program,” Williams said in a statement. “At NNSA, we deter adversaries by being experts in atomic science and weapons production, and the investment in ATOLL strengthens our understanding of both.”
According to NNSA, the facility will support efforts to distinguish between civilian and military uses of uranium enrichment technology. While uranium enrichment is a key component of commercial nuclear fuel production, the same technology can be used to produce highly enriched uranium suitable for nuclear weapons.
The agency said ATOLL will bolster U.S. capabilities to identify and characterize foreign nuclear activities, supporting broader nonproliferation and intelligence objectives.