The city of Oak Ridge, Tenn., is studying alternative sites for a municipal airport with land cleaned up by the Department of Energy now earmarked by Orano USA for a major uranium enrichment project.
Although a local airport has been long sought by the city of Oak Ridge, Exchange Monitor reported in October 2024 it would take a back seat to the proposed 750,000 square-foot uranium enrichment plant that would be worth billions of dollars and employ 300 people.
“Following discussions with Orano USA’s Vice President, Lionel Antognelli, and their meetings with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the company requested the relocation of the airport to avoid potential complications with NRC approval,” the city of Oak Ridge said a few weeks ago in an online post.
The city bought three parcels of land for $9 million for an airfield on property once home to the K-25 uranium enrichment complex at the DOE Oak Ridge Site.
The city will look at other sites for the Oak Ridge general aviation airport and “specifically releases the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) [formerly known as K-25] land previously reserved for the airport for Industrial use,” according to the online post.
All property will be sold at fair market value and proceeds will be used for the airport project once a new site is selected, the city said online. The federal General Services Administration property will need the “airport use only” deed restriction lifted before any sale can occur, the city said.
The Oak Ridger newspaper reported in February the Oak Ridge city manager would be taking offers for the former DOE property previously planned for airport use.
Even though the remediated DOE property won’t be home for the new airfield, the city of Oak Ridge hopes it will still support plans for new advanced nuclear projects around Oak Ridge, Tenn.
“The state and the city have pledged to work together on the possible relocation of the airport to accommodate one of the largest, single economic investments in the history of the state of Tennessee,” Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, said in the online post. “We are committed to evaluating available options to determine the optimal path forward.”
Oak Ridge had earlier hoped to start operating the general aviation airport in 2025.
