East Tennessee Technology Park’s (ETTP) youngest tenant, Kairos Power, is investing $ 100 million to build a demonstration project for a low-power reactor, an innovative job creation initiative that once again underscores the value of the Department of Energy’s long-term mission to Cleaning up the former site of the gas diffusion facility known as K-25.
Kairos is responding to the national search for cleaner, cheaper electrical energy with a small, lower-powered reactor on a 185-acre property at ETTP that previously housed two massive uranium enrichment buildings that were demolished. I am pleased to hear that the project is scheduled to go live in 2026 and will create 55 jobs. This is great news for our community!
For me personally, the decision by Kairos Power to move to ETTP is a satisfactory first-time demolition of a complete gas diffusion complex, which will make way for a new private industrial park.
As a former long-time manager of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, I’ve seen a circle come full circle at this historic site. The hard work of highly skilled men and women over decades has transformed the site from its original secret national security mission into a thriving industrial park that creates new jobs and contributes to our economy and quality of life.
ETTP is the perfect home for this exciting new company. Companies like Kairos are in many ways the reason for ETTP’s existence. It offers all the properties that many industries require – close to traffic routes with ample water and electricity supplies, adequate soil buffers, safety and extensive knowledge of soil and groundwater. The location is also close to the innovation and talent of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Kairos Power is the newest company to see the benefits of being with ETTP. Last year, Coquí Pharmaceuticals announced it would build a medical isotope manufacturing facility at ETTP, joining 20 other companies that call the park home.
These new jobs create new projects as the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) recently completed an extensive decade-long cleanup with the support of its lead environmental contractor, UCOR, an Amentum-led partnership with Jacobs.
Named Vision 2020, UCOR and its partners completed the core cleanup of ETTP in 2020, making it the first of the Manhattan Project’s statewide “Secret City” locations to clean up a budget, generating US $ 500 million – dollars in environmental obligations to taxpayers are eliminated.
Through ETTP’s environmental remediation, the UCOR team enabled DOE-OREM’s vision to turn once contaminated government facilities and land into a multi-purpose industrial park that – with projects like Kairos Power and others – will create jobs and economic prosperity in Oak Ridge and will promote the region for the next few decades.
More than 1,300 hectares of state-owned land have been given to the local community for reuse. With the ETTP purge complete and ready to welcome new industries, the DOE and UCOR have turned their attention to high-risk purification priorities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12.
Earlier this year, workers completed the demolition of the Oak Ridge Biology Complex and made room for new missions. Work is underway at the ORNL to remove excess contaminated facilities to make way for additional modernization efforts and to provide land for future research missions.
These environmental remediation efforts reduce the risks and make a difference for the taxpayer and the local community.
Harold Conner, Ph.D., PE, worked for more than 50 years in the Department of Energy Complex at various locations, including as site manager of the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. He is currently Senior Advisor to the President and CEO of UCOR.
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