July Energycast now available
 In this episode, we talk with project team members who conducted a two-year groundwater elevation study for the future Environmental Management Disposal Facility. The data collected from this study is crucial to finishing the facility's design and enables the continued cleanup and transformation of Y-12 and ORNL. We also explore an innovative approach by contractor Isotek that is helping advance the highest priority cleanup project at ORNL and saving taxpayers $175 million by avoiding two years of delays. Finally, we spotlight small businesses that are playing a big role in Oak Ridge's environmental restoration mission. UCOR hosted its annual small business awards bringing together this year’s top performers.
Creative fix avoids two year delay on top priority project
 Saving taxpayers $175 million. That's the result of an innovative workaround by contractor Isotek that's helping advance our highest priority cleanup project at ORNL, avoiding two years of delays, and maintaining progress eliminating the inventory of uranium-233 in storage. Read to learn more about the latest initiative to keep this important project on track.
Small businesses deliver big in Oak Ridge
 OREM contractor UCOR honored six small businesses whose work has advanced key cleanup projects this year. Read more to learn about this year's winners and the projects they supported.
UCOR’s small business subcontracting rate has far exceeded the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) goal of 45%. Since beginning its current contract with OREM in 2022, the company has awarded more than $1 billion in subcontracts, with 84% — or $840 million — going to small businesses.
Saving lives, powering the future
Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management Manager Erik Olds and Savannah River Operations Office Manager Edwin Deshong joined U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil for a recent U.S. House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus event. Titled “DOE's Isotope Mission: Legacy Cleanup Saving Lives and Powering America's Future,” the event emphasized how the nation’s legacy waste cleanup is driving the next generation of medical and energy breakthroughs.
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Crews remove hazards from ORNL facility slated for demo
 OREM cleanup crews are removing radioactive materials from Building 3029, a legacy production lab ORNL. The project represents a major risk-reduction effort in ORNL’s central campus. The work underway is paving the way for future demolition that opens space for important research missions.
Between the late 1940s and early 1960s, workers built eight radioisotope production labs and three storage facilities. The area became known as Isotope Row. Employees at the facilities produced, processed and researched isotopes used in medical, industrial, scientific, and national defense applications. After being shuttered for decades, OREM and UCOR are now deactivating and demolishing the facilities.
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