TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS & WHAT TO KNOW THIS WEEK
- Mound Development Corporation announced on September 26th, the successful acquisition of the final parcel of land at the Mound Business
Park site, completes the comprehensive redevelopment of the former U.S. Department of Energy Mound Laboratory facility. This represents the culmination of years of planning and development efforts to transform the historic 306-acre site from a former federal research facility into a thriving commercial business park. Congratulations to the Miamisburg, Ohio Community and the DOE Environmental Management and the DOE Legacy Management Program.
- Congress is still
at an impasse over passage of a continuing resolution (CR).
- The 11th annual National Cleanup Workshop finished up last week. Thank you to everyone attended and ECA will posting the videos from the Workshop on ECA’s YouTube page.
- DOE Is Seeking Bids For AI Data Centers at SRS and Oak Ridge.
- ECA's latest report "From the Atomic Age to New Nuclear" highlights new nuclear projects across the country - see more below.
- Visit ECA on LinkedIn for regular updates.
MOUND DEVELOPMENT CORP. COMPLETES FINAL PARCEL ACQUISITION FOR MOUND BUSINESS PARK
Historic closure marks completion of transformation from former DOE facility to commercial development Congratulations to the Miamisburg, Ohio Community and the DOE Environmental Management and the DOE Legacy Management Program. Mound Development Corporation announced on September 26th, the successful closure on the final parcel of land at the Mound Business Park site, completing the comprehensive redevelopment of the former U.S. Department of Energy Mound Laboratory facility. This milestone represents the culmination of years of planning and development efforts to transform the historic 306-acre site from a former federal research facility into a thriving commercial business park. The acquisition of the last remaining parcel solidifies the Mound Development Corporation's vision of creating a premier business destination in Miami Valley. "Today's closing represents more
than just a real estate transaction – it marks the successful completion of one of the region's most significant redevelopment projects," said April Hauser, Executive Director at Mound Development Corporation. "The transformation of this site from the former Mound Laboratory to the Mound Business Park demonstrates our commitment to breathing new life into this important piece of local history." The former Mound Laboratory,
which operated as a Department of Energy facility for decades, has undergone extensive environmental remediation and redevelopment to meet modern commercial industrial standards. The Mound Business Park now serves as home to numerous businesses and organizations, contributing to the economic vitality of the Miamisburg community and surrounding region. Mound Development Corporation continues to work closely with federal,
local, and community stakeholders to ensure the site's continued success as a commercial development while honoring its important historical legacy.
DAY 2 OF THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
11th ANNUAL NATIONAL CLEANUP WORKSHOP RECAP!
Last week, ECA hosted the National Cleanup Workshop with support from the Energy Facilitators Contractor Group (EFCOG) and the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) in Arlington, Virginia. The workshop gathered DOE leaders, local government officials, and industry leaders from across the country to discuss the DOE's cleanup priorities, workforce issues,
and more. On Wednesday, September 24 Department of Energy office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Acting Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne gave the keynote address highlighting DOE Secretary Chris White’s ambitious vision for the new nuclear future, and the critical need of EM
to accelerate reuse to fuel new nuclear development. However, he noted that the success of these ambitious projects cannot happen without community involvement stating, “You cannot separate site and community - nothing is confined to the DOE space.” During the “Highlighting the Next Phase of EM Success” panel, Alicia Stetin, EM chief of staff said, “Together we are writing the next chapter of EM, one that not only
benefits all the Department of Energy but the entire nation.” During this panel, senior leadership from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) joined executives from Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) and West Valley Cleanup Alliance (WVCA) who highlighted key successes from the past several months and looked eagerly to the future of EM work. To learn more about this panel, click here. On the second day of the Workshop, Thursday, September 25 Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactors Dr. Rian Bahran was the featured keynote
speaker, where he expressed his excitement at the progress the Department has made stating, “The pace we are moving at is faster than anything I’ve ever seen, it is incredibly exciting…The Secretary has directed that we will be testing at least three reactors by next year – and we are on track to meet that goal.” During the panel session titled “Enabling Efficiency and Driving Innovation at Oak Ridge,” UCOR Critical
Projects Director Joe Aylor highlighted the five-point “efficiency plan” targeting safety, contracting, environment, performance and assessment that helped lead to a estimated cost savings of just over $100 million over the next several years. Erik Olds, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) emphasized the replicability of these changes stating, “Sustainable changes are the best changes, right? We want performance
efficiencies that are repeatable and that are consistent over time and teachable… So we want to ensure that our teams really understand and are prepared to fully support the changed environment.” To learn more about the panel, click here. “A New Vision for Paducah and Portsmouth” panel session featured Portsmouth Paducah Project Office Paducah Site Lead April Ladd, left, and Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Program Manager Zak Lafontaine who spoke on the innovating approaches and partnerships to transform liabilities into assets to help
unleash nuclear power. April Ladd said, “We’re integrating reindustrialization with cleanup to be able to have property and land for transfer sooner…If you have reindustrialization going on at the same time as cleanup … workers aren’t working themselves out of a job, they’re working to their next job.” To learn more about the panel, click here.
Thank you to Acting Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne and to Deputy Assistant Secretary Rian Bahran for taking the time to speak at the National Cleanup Workshop! Finally, ECA wants to thank all attendees for your energy, partnership, and collaboration during the 2025 National Cleanup Workshop. Make
sure to save the date for next year's National Cleanup Workshop hosted in Arlington, VA from September 14-16, 2026!
PROPOSAL CONSIDERED TO DIVERT PLUTONIUM FOR NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
The Trump Administration is considering a proposal to divert plutonium that plays a central role in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile to fuel a new generation of power plants, according to an Energy Department official and previously undisclosed department documents, POLITICO reported Monday afternoon The proposal calls for the department to alter the plutonium so it can be used by civilian power companies, including startups pitching advanced reactor designs. It’s part of
a broader push by President Donald Trump to convert tons of the Energy Department’s plutonium to civilian use, a notion that some lawmakers argue would undermine the U.S. weapons program for the benefit of untested private companies. The initiative would involve harvesting plutonium on a large scale: According to a department official and a July 31 DOE memo seen by POLITICO, more than a fifth of the plutonium needed to meet
the Trump Administration’s mandates would come from the highly radioactive spheres manufactured for the cores of nuclear weapons. DOE already faces a crunch to make more of those spheres, known as plutonium pits. DOE has committed an initial 20 metric tons of plutonium for civilian use, but the internal July 31 memo showed the department has envisioned a larger goal. The DOE memo called for delivering 18.5 metric tons of the government’s surplus plutonium and an additional 6.5 metric tons pulled from “material in classified form once it has been declassified.” That latter term, the current DOE official who spoke to POLITICO said, refers to the plutonium pits. Read the full story in POLITICO.
NNSA, DOE-EM SEEK PROPOSALS ON AI DATA CENTERS AT SAVANNAH RIVER SITE, OAK RIDGE
On September 30th, the National Nuclear Security (NNSA) and the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) issued Requests for Proposals (RFP) seeking proposals from U.S. private sector partners to build and power Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers at Savannah River Site and Oak Ridge respectively. These RFPs were released in an effort to promote
American leadership in AI aligning with two executive orders (Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence and Unleashing American Energy) issued by President Trump in May of this year. “As one of the original Manhattan Project sites, Oak Ridge is now poised to play a role in what has been dubbed Manhattan Project 2.0 as the Department ushers in
a golden era of American energy to fuel the AI race,” says Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Joel Bradburne. Proposals are due by December 1, and the Department will sponsor an industry day event on October 15 to learn more about the solicitation process and the requirements outlined in the RFP. To register, email Steve Cooke at steve.cooke@orem.doe.gov. Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams says, “Today’s solicitation is a great example of public-private partnership that accelerates scientific research to solve today’s challenges and strengthens U.S. leadership in AI and energy infrastructure." In advance of the December 5 deadline, NNSA will sponsor a virtual industry day event
to learn more about the solicitation process. Attendees should email NNSA_AI_Infrastructure@srs.gov to register. To learn more about the Savannah River Site RFP, click here, and to learn more about the Oak Ridge RFP, click here.
NEW NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHT: IDAHO
In ECA’s latest paper, “From the Atomic Age to New Nuclear,” ECA captures a snapshot of the nuclear projects underway in the United States by state including both federal and private
sites, and lays out the attributes that make energy communities optimal for this new era of American nuclear leadership. Keep reading what new nuclear projects are already underway in the great state of Idaho in the excerpt below: Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility – Oklo Inc.’s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility will be located at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and will help turn used materials recovered from
DOE’s former Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) into usable fuel for its advanced nuclear power plant. The Aurora powerhouse is a liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor that is designed to operate on both fresh high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF). These fuels allow the powerhouse to produce about 15MWe and usable heat. Oklo anticipates the first commercial Aurora powerhouse will be deployed in 2027. Click here to learn more about the project. DOME Test Bed – Repurposing the Experimental Breed Reactor II’s containment structure, the INL Nuclear Reactor Innovation Center Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (NRIC DOME) will host multiple
private companies. Initial selections for demonstrations include Radiant’s Kaleidos unit and Westinghouse’s eVinci reactor. Click here to learn more about the project. MARVEL – INL is building the Microreactor Applications Research
Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) microreactor, anticipated to produce about 85 kilowatts of heat, which will be converted to approximately 20 kilowatts of electricity - the capacity to power 10 homes. MARVEL will help federal researchers understand how to build, operate, and eventually decommission a new reactor design, and will provide private industry with important insights into how to develop their own reactors and make progress toward commercialization. MARVEL is planned to be operational
in 2026. Click here to learn more about the project. Micro Reactor Deployment at Idaho Falls – Aalo Atomics is cooperating with Idaho Falls Power in a project to deploy seven Aalo-1 microreactors, totaling 75MWe of generation in Idaho Falls,
ID. The utility said Aalo Atomics would lease land for the life of the project, up to 80 years at Idaho Falls Power’s Energy Research Park. Click here to learn more about the project. Project Pele - In a partnership between DOE and the Department of Defense (DOD) Strategic Capabilities Office, the objective is to design, build, and demonstrate a prototype mobile nuclear reactor within 5 years. DOD broke ground at INL on September 24, 2024, and plans to have the transportable reactor sited in 2026. The goal is to deploy the facility at an Air Force base in Alaska. Click here to learn more about the project. To learn more about New Nuclear projects in Idaho and across the country, as well as how energy communities will be instrumental to their success, click here to read From the Atomic Age to New Nuclear.
ECA NEW NUCLEAR FORUM TO BE HOSTED IN AUGUSTA, GA FROM APRIL 21-23, 2026
Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is pleased to host the fifth annual ECA Forum in Augusta, GA from April 21 - April 23, 2026. The meeting is part of ECA’s ongoing New Nuclear Initiative to define the role of local governments in supporting the development of the new nuclear technologies. April 21 | Registration Opens & Nuclear 101 April 22 | Full Day General Session April 23 | Half-Day General Session The ECA Forum is the only meeting designed to bring together DOE, federal, state, local and tribal governments and policymakers with developers, utilities, regulators, industry, and academia to identify opportunities, challenges and to build the partnerships necessary to support nuclear development. Stay tuned for further details on registration, agenda, and
more! Click here to learn more about the upcoming ECA New Nuclear Forum!
Gone Fission Podcast - TVA SMR at Clinch River September 22,
2025 | S5 E5 The 2025 Nuclear Opportunities Workshop sponsored by the East Tennessee Economic Council in Knoxville continues to yield newsworthy stories for the Gone Fission podcast. This week, host Michael Butler talks with Tennessee Valley Authority Vice President Greg Borschieg about TVA's plans to build a small modular reactor on the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge. In
May, TVA became the first American utility to apply for a construction permit to build an SMR. Learn more about this groundbreaking project in this week's episode of the Gone Fission podcast. https://gonefissionpodcast.com/ EFCOG Exchange Podcast September 17, 2025 | S1 E1 In this debut episode, EFCOG Chair and Honeywell Federal Solutions VP/GM David “DJ” Johnson sits down with Mike Nartker, VP of Communications at Longenecker & Associates, to explore EFCOG’s history, mission, and the impactful work happening across the DOE complex. New to EFCOG? This episode offers an engaging introduction to the
organization and its current priorities. Already familiar? You’ll hear fresh insights from DJ and Mike on opportunities to strengthen collaboration with DOE—highlighting how digital tools and AI can help advance the Department’s evolving mission. Stay tuned for future episodes of the EFCOG Exchange Podcast, where we’ll continue spotlighting innovation, collaboration, and success across the DOE enterprise. https://efcog.buzzsprout.com/2531686
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