ARLINGTON, VA. — The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management should transfer the Biology Complex, or Mouse House, to the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Oak Ridge Site Y-12 National Security Complex by the end of December, the head of the cleanup team said here Thursday.
That was the word from Ken Rueter, president and CEO of Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge, during the National Cleanup Workshop, hosted by Energy Communities Alliance.
Major demolition at the facility was completed during fall 2021. The transfer will clear the way for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to move ahead with construction of a Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12.
Also during the Thursday sessions, Laura Wilkerson, acting manager of the Environmental Management field office at Oak Ridge, said the Record of Decision for a new onsite low-level radioactive waste should be final later this fall. The state and DOE have already signed off on the document, which awaits the signature of regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Wilkerson said construction of the new landfill’s initial disposal cells has been targeted for 2027 with completion in 2029.
The existing onsite landfill is down to less than 20% capacity and will be full by the end of the decade, DOE officials have said.
The new landfill is considered vital to helping DOE accommodate low-level waste generated from planned demolition of scores of mercury-laden buildings at Y-12 and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
