For Immediate Release
Contact: Ben Williams
(865) 574-4912
Contact: Wayne McKinney
(865) 576-6284
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Demolition of the K‐31 Building at Oak Ridge’s East Tennessee Technology
Park (ETTP) began today, marking the removal of the fourth of five gaseous diffusion buildings
at the former uranium enrichment site.
The two‐story building covers 750,000 square feet and spans a 17‐acre footprint. The K‐31
facility began operations in 1951, and it was used to enrich uranium for defense and
commercial purposes until it was shut down in 1985. In 2005, EM removed most of the
hazardous materials from the building’s interior.
“This project is possible because of the project managers and crews that completed the K‐25
Demolition Project under budget and ahead of schedule,” said Sue Cange, acting manager of
the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (EM). “DOE and UCOR have established a
model partnership that is allowing us to maintain momentum, complete additional cleanup
work, and retain skilled workers.”
URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR), EM’s cleanup contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation, is
responsible for demolishing the facility. The company prepared it for demolition this past
summer by conducting asbestos abatement, removing the facility’s exterior transite paneling,
disconnecting the building’s power sources, and completing pollution prevention efforts, such
as filling interior and exterior storm drains.
EM and UCOR worked together to accelerate K‐31’s demolition five months ahead of its original
proposed baseline schedule. The early start was achieved through EM’s oversight and the hard
work and safety focus of UCOR’s skilled workforce, supporting subcontractors, and labor
partners.
“Demolishing K‐31 will bring us another step closer to our Vision 2016 initiative — removal of
all gaseous diffusion facilities from ETTP by 2016,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and project
manager. “Achieving this vision will mark the first‐ever complete cleanup of a gaseous diffusion
plant and facilities. Removal of K‐31, and afterward K‐27, will eliminate a nuclear hazard and
open up more ETTP property for reindustrialization and regional economic development.”
Once the K‐31 demolition is completed next year, the 383,000‐square‐foot K‐27 Building will be
the only remaining gaseous diffusion building at ETTP. It is scheduled for demolition in 2015.
Under DOE’s reindustrialization program, property at ETTP is being transferred to the private
sector as the agency works to make the site a private sector industrial park. Cleanup at the site
is paving the way to achieve DOE’s goal and creating a safer environment.