The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge Reindustrialization Program is at the forefront of DOE efforts to reuse expansive amounts of government real property by seeking private sector applications. These efforts have extended the life of underutilized assets and saved millions of taxpayer dollars. The combination of the end of the Cold War and declining federal budgets left a legacy of underutilized facilities, equipment, and materials, many of which were chemically contaminated and awaiting disposition through DOE’s Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) Program.
Reindustrialization is an innovative method to accomplish D&D of underutilized facilities, equipment and materials, and make them available for productive use by the commercial sector. The East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) is being transformed through reindustrialization into a self-sustaining private sector industrial park where commercial tenants lease DOE facilities and equipment. The goal is to deindustrialize ETTP by 2010, and give the site new life as a home to a wide range of commercial business.
To date, achievements include:
- Reuse of over one million square feet of building space through leasing (avoiding the high cost of utilities, maintenance, and in some cases, decontamination).
- Recycling of over 17,000 metric tons of materials and equipment at a cost savings of nearly $15.5 million to the taxpayer.
- Lease of the Horizon Center’s site infrastructure to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee has resulted in a cost savings of nearly $93 million.
Specific initiatives include fixed price and no cost D&D contracts, and lease-barter arrangements.
For more information, contact Ms. Susan Cange at (865) 576-0334 or via e-mail at cangesm@oro.doe.gov
