Select for larger view.	Oak Ridge Reservation Oak Ridge K-25 Site
		•	Occupies 1,500 acres adjacent to the Clinch River
		•	Produced enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and reactors from 1945 to 1985
		Oak Ridge National Laboratory
		•	2,900 acres in Melton and Bethel Valleys
		•	Established to produce the atomic bomb in 1943
		•	Currently conducts nonweapons research and development
		Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant
		•	Occupies 811 acres in Bear Creek Valley
		•	Built in 1943 to support atomic bomb production
		Areas contaminated by Past Activities located outside the Reservation
		•	Waterways
		•	Industrial Sites

Public Participation and the FY 1999 EM Budget Development Process

The Office of Environmental Management currently is formulating its FY 1999 budget and encourages public comment. The public comment period is open through July 18, 1997. The current outyear targets for EM are $5.5 billion for FY 1999 through FY 2002, plus specified additional amounts for privatization. The Office of Management and Budget will re-examine these targets for the program for FY 1999 and beyond based on EM’s analyses of the program at $5.5 and $6.0 billion planning levels. Additionally, the recent agreement between the President and the Congressional leadership to balance the Federal budget by 2002 will directly affect the level of the EM budget for FY 1999 through FY 2002. Future budgets for EM will be required to be consistent with this agreement.

EM is proposing a strategy to accelerate site cleanup and improve productivity, with a focus on completing work at as many sites as possible by 2006. Stated goals are selected summaries of the proposals for acceleration contained in the discussion drafts of the EM site plans accompanying the EM report, Accelerating Cleanup: Focus on 2006, which is available for public comment.

Environmental Management activities within the State of Tennessee will be accelerated by several decades. This will be achieved through reindustrialization of the East Tennessee Technology Park (formerly the K-25 site), construction and operation of an on-site CERCLA waste management facility by FY 2000, implementation of the watershed approach for assessment and cleanup on the Oak Ridge Reservation, and aggressively pursuing methods to enhance program performance.

The Oak Ridge Operations Office K-25: The K-25 facility has been renamed the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) . As envisioned, ETTP will become an industrial park. Contaminated equipment will be removed, and buildings will be decontaminated and leased for commercial use. Unleasable buildings will be decontaminated and demolished or stabilized as necessary to abandon in-place. The reindustrialization of the site will be the primary method of decommissioning site facilities. The process is expected to incorporate the recycling and sale of scrap to offset costs. Success of recycling efforts will depend on the establishment of fixed-price contracts that assign recycle risks such as revenue recovery to the contractor(s). The release of the materials will be accomplished under existing Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations and policies. The Oak Ridge Reservation (ORNL, Y-12, and ETTP): Characterization activities identified that the optimal cleanup solution for cleanup of the Reservation needs to be determined at the watershed level. This method will ensure that decisions for a specific, geographic area are consistent with all known release site problems and the future planned use of the area. Incorporation of performance enhancements and implementation of the watershed approach will significantly increase the amount of remediation and waste management activities that will be complete by FY 2006. The watershed Record of Decision and all assessments of release sites will be complete; remedial actions will be complete on 262 of 314 release sites; and 137 of 201 facilities will be decommissioned. Legacy transuranic waste will be treated and made ready for off-site shipment. Most legacy mixed low level waste treatment will be complete, and 44 percent of low level waste will be disposed. Beyond 2006, the reservation’s continuing departmental mission will require waste management operations to disposition generated waste, long-term surveillance and monitoring of remediated sites, and remediation/decommissioning of remaining sites. Approximately 4 percent of the Reservation will require institutional controls following remediation. These areas, such as burial grounds, are being isolated hydrologically. Remaining area will not require institutional controls and will be made available for a wide variety of uses. For further information, contact Mr. Walter Perry (423) 574-3612

Accomplishment of EM goals depends on achievement of enhanced performance objectives, future funding levels, and Departmental programmatic decisions. EM is committed to full compliance with environmental and other legal requirements. The Department of Energy will request sufficient funds to comply with environmental requirements. EM also intends to meet its commitments to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. EM could achieve compliance at the $6.0 billion planning scenario at all sites if enhanced performances are achieved, but schedule and funding modifications may be necessary at some sites. At the $5.5 billion planning level, achieving compliance would be more difficult at several sites even with enhanced performance, and many other high-priority activities would not be possible.