Site Information
This section provides a brief description, including physical location and early operations, of DOE sites for which data currently
exist in CEDR. Some studies include workers from more than one DOE site. Sites used for aggregate studies are not included here.
Select a Site to view more information:
Argonne National Laboratory
Fernald Facility
Hanford Site
Idaho National Laboratory
Linde Plant
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Mallinckrodt Facility
Mound Plant
Nevada Test Site
Oak Ridge Site
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
Pantex Plant
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant
Rocky Flats Plant
Salmon Site (previously Tatum Dome Test Site)
Sandia National Laboratory
Santa Susana Field Laboratory
Savannah River Site
Argonne National Laboratory is a direct descendant of the University of Chicago's Metallurgical
Laboratory, part of the World War II Manhattan Project. In 1942, Enrico Fermi and his colleagues created the
world's first controlled nuclear chain reaction in an abandoned squash court under the stands of the
University of Chicago's Stagg Field. By the end of February 1943, Fermi's reactor had been moved to the
then-remote Argonne Forest section of the Cook County Forest Preserve. The small laboratory that grew up around
the reactor became known as "the Argonne Lab."
In 1946, the Argonne Lab was officially renamed "Argonne National Laboratory"—the
nation's first national laboratory—and given the mission of developing nuclear reactors for peaceful
purposes. Long a world leader in advanced nuclear reactor systems and technology, Argonne designed, built, and
tested the prototypes for the commercial reactors that today produce 20 percent of the nation's electricity
and conducted the earliest design work on the Naval Submarine Reactor that powered the nation's first nuclear
submarines.
In the late 1940s, Argonne moved to its current location in southwest DuPage County, Illinois.
Over the years, Argonne's research has expanded to include many areas of basic and applied
science and engineering that support the U.S. Department of Energy's mission of providing the nation with a
safe, reliable, and environmentally friendly energy supply. The laboratory's current research and
development programs focus on energy, biological and environmental systems, and national security.
The Fernald Facility, located at Fernald, Ohio, is approximately 20 miles northwest of Cincinnati.
Construction of this complex began in 1951 with the mission to process feed materials. Early processes included
receiving, sampling, and assaying foreign and domestic uranium ores; chemical processing; reduction of uranium
tetra fluoride to metal; and fabrication of the metal by rolling and machining into fuel shapes. National Lead
Company of Ohio (NLO), a subsidiary of National Lead Industries, was the original operating contractor of what
was then called the Feed Materials Production Center. The processes changed somewhat in later years, and all
plants at the facility were used for production of slightly enriched (less than 1% of U-235) metal. Employment
at the facility peaked in 1956 and slowly decreased until operations halted in 1989, when the mission of the
facility became environmental restoration. Fernald Environmental
Restoration Management Company (FERMCO), a subsidiary of Fluor-Daniel, began managing the facility in 1992.
NOTE: Remediation at the Fernald Preserve was conducted in accordance with Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERLCA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations.
The site transferred to the Office of Legacy Management in 2006 and requires operation and maintenance of
remedial action systems, routine inspection and maintenance, records-related activities, and stakeholder
support. For more information about the Fernald Preserve site, please visit the DOE Office of Legacy Management.
The Hanford Site, covering a 560-square-mile area of southeastern Washington State, is near
Kennewick and Pasco, and immediately north of Richland. Activities at this site, founded in 1943, initially
evolved around plutonium production. DuPont was the sole Atomic Energy Corporation (AEC) contractor for the site until General Electric (GE)
assumed this role in 1947. After GE left in 1965, Hanford operations were divided among a number of
contractors that performed various services:
Battelle (1965 to present) - operating the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for technology development and basic research missions
Computer Sciences Corporation (1965-1975) and Boeing Computer Services (1975 to present) - computing services
Douglas United Nuclear (1966-1967), Isochem (1966-1967), Atlantic Richfield Hanford Operations (1967-1977), and Westinghouse (1970-1987) - operating the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory
United Nuclear Industries (1973-1987), Rockwell Hanford Operations (1977-1987), and Westinghouse Hanford (1987 to present) - nuclear/environmental missions and support services
Hanford Environmental Health Foundation (1965 to present) - occupational medical services
International Telephone and Telegraph (1966-1971) - support services
Over time, major activities shifted from plutonium production to nuclear power generation,
advanced reactor design, basic scientific research, and research related to the development of nuclear weapons.
Waste management and environmental restoration are now the largest part of the site's activities.
In operation since 1949, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a Government reservation located in the
southeastern Idaho desert. At 890 square miles (569,135 acres), the INL site is roughly 85 percent the size of
Rhode Island. It was established in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station and for many years was the
site of the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world. Fifty-two nuclear reactors were built,
including the U.S. Navy's first prototype nuclear propulsion plant. During the 1970s, the laboratory's mission
broadened into other areas, such as biotechnology, energy and materials research, and conservation and renewable
energy.
INL consists of several primary facilities situated on an expanse of otherwise undeveloped
terrain. Buildings and structures at INL are clustered within these facilities, which are typically less than a
few square miles in size and separated from each other by miles of undeveloped land. In addition, DOE owns or
leases laboratories and administrative offices in the city of Idaho Falls, some 25 miles east of the INL site
border. About 30 percent of INL's employees work in administrative, scientific support, and non-nuclear laboratory
programs and have offices in Idaho Falls. These include engineers, scientists, and administrative, financial,
technical and laboratory employees.
The Linde Plant, located in Buffalo, New York, was operated from 1943 to 1949 by the Linde Air
Products Company. The primary operation at the plant was uranium processing, whereby Congo pitchblende and
domestic uranium ores were converted to uranium tetrafluoride. The Linde Plant also developed and produced
barrier material necessary for the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant to use in processes to
enrich uranium. The Manhattan Engineer District constructed four buildings on land owned by Union Carbide
Corporation. Upon termination of the contract with the Atomic Energy Commission, ownership of the facility was
transferred to Union Carbide.
NOTE: This site is now closed and has been transferred to the DOE
Office of Legacy management. For more information about this site, please visit the DOE Office of Legacy Management.
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) facilities occupy about 43 square miles (27,800 acres) on the Pajarito Plateau in Los Alamos
County, New Mexico, approximately 60 miles north of Albuquerque and 25 miles northwest of Santa Fe. LANL was
established in January 1943 as Project Y of the War Department's World War II Manhattan Engineer District. The
mission of Project Y was the design and assembly of the first nuclear fission bomb. After World War II, LANL
continued to design fission and, subsequently, fusion-based nuclear weapons. Additionally, LANL has played a
major role in the research and development of nuclear reactors, and it has had a long-standing interest in nuclear
fusion power generation. In the 1960s and 1970s, LANL broadened and expanded its research and development
activities, and its major activities included nuclear weapons safety, non-proliferation, and environmental
restoration. The laboratory has been managed by the University of California since 1943.
Zia Company was a second major employer associated with the operation of LANL. In April 1946, the Zia Company
replaced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Base Post as the provider of construction, maintenance, and quasi-governmental
functions for LANL. In the early 1950s, quasi-governmental activities in Los Alamos County were turned over to
the local Government. On July 1, 1986, Zia was replaced by Pan American World Services, followed by Johnson
Controls World Services Incorporated in 1991. The Zia Company's offices were located in Los Alamos, New
Mexico, and its employees worked throughout the LANL facilities to provide construction and maintenance support.
Mallinckrodt Chemical Works was one of the earliest and largest uranium-producing facilities in
the United States. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, the Mallinckrodt Facility was in operation from April
1942 through 1966. Its Uranium Division converted uranium ore to uranium dioxide and uranium metal. The uranium
refining conducted at this facility was unique because the pitchblend ore was up to 60% pure uranium from 1946
through 1955. Uranium processing was conducted at two sites: St. Louis from April 1942 through 1957 and Weldon
Spring, Missouri, from 1958 through 1966.
The Mound Plant, located on a 306-acre site in Montgomery County in southwestern Ohio, was within
the Miamisburg city limits, approximately 10 miles south of Dayton and 31 miles north of Cincinnati. This
facility was operated first by the Monsanto Chemical Corporation and later by EG&G. From 1943 to 1948,
work was carried out at several locations within the city of Dayton under the title of the Dayton Project.
In 1948, operations were consolidated at the central Mound Plant. In 1991, EG&G replaced
Monsanto Chemical Corporation as the operating contractor. Historically, major operations included the
separation, chemistry, and metallurgy of polonium-210 and the processing of plutonium-238 for heat sources.
Other projects included work on explosives and tritium technology for manufacture of weapons components.
NOTE: Remediation at the Mound Site is being conducted in accordance with
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and/or Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. The site is expected to transfer to the Office of Legacy Management in 2010 and
will require operation and maintenance of remedial action systems, routine inspection and maintenance,
records-related activities, and stakeholder support. For more information about the Mound site, please visit
the DOE Office of Legacy Management.
The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is a Government reservation, located approximately 65 miles northwest
of Las Vegas, which has been used since 1951 for the testing of nuclear explosive devices. NTS, consisting of
more than 1,350 square miles of Mojave and Great Basin desert terrain, is approximately the size of the State of
Rhode Island. The Nellis Air Force Range surrounds NTS on three sides acting as a buffer between nuclear testing
activities and off-site communities and ranches.
During the years of atmospheric nuclear testing, from 1951 through 1962, airborne radioactive
debris from 74 nuclear tests was carried off-site by the winds. Subsequently, downwind residents expressed
concerns regarding the health and safety of their families as a result of nuclear testing activities in Nevada.
In 1979, the Off-Site Radiation Exposure Review Project (ORERP) was established to re-evaluate doses received by
downwind communities from fallout radiation. The data files generated by ORERP formed the basis for the
reconstruction of radiation doses to off-site populations.
The Oak Ridge Site, located about 20 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee, consists of three major
facilities near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. These facilities are X-10 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory [ORNL]), Y-12, and
K-25 (formerly called Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant [ORGDP]). Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.,
operated all three facilities from 1984, when Union Carbide Corporation Nuclear Division gave up
the contract, until 2000. Detailed information about the operations conducted at each facility is provided in the
sections immediately following this discussion.
During the 50 years that these facilities have been in operation, a number of epidemiologic
studies have been conducted on the workers employed at one or more of the Oak Ridge facilities. Most of these
were cohort studies that examined associations between mortality and occupational exposures to a variety of
agents, including radiation, nickel, mercury, and uranium.
The Oak Ridge K-25 Facility, previously called the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP),
occupied a 1,500-acre area approximately 13 miles west of downtown Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The K-25 Facility originally produced enriched uranium hexafluoride for defense purposes. Due to a
declining demand for enriched uranium, the enrichment process at the K-25 Facility was placed on standby in 1985
and subsequently shut down in 1987.
NOTE: This site is now closed.
The Oak Ridge X-10 Facility, also known as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), occupies
several sites and covers approximately 2,900 acres in Melton Valley and Bethel Valley, 10 miles southwest of
downtown Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The site has been in use since 1943, when it was referred to as Clinton
Laboratories and was operated by the Monsanto Corporation. ORNL's mission
is to conduct applied research and engineering development in support of DOE programs in fusion, fission, conservation,
fossil, and other energy technologies and to perform basic scientific research in selected areas of the physical
and life sciences.
The Oak Ridge Y-12 Facility occupies an 811-acre site in the Bear Creek Valley, approximately 2
miles from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Y-12 Facility, built in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, was
established to separate uranium isotopes by the electromagnetic process. The original operating contractor was
Tennessee Eastman Corporation (TEC). In May 1947, when the Union Carbide Corporation Nuclear Division became the operating
contractor, the work force at the plant had a significant turnover, and the
processes changed from uranium enrichment to manufacturing and developmental engineering of enriched uranium
metal products. For these reasons, two populations were identified for epidemiologic purposes. The workers
employed at the plant when TEC was the operating contractor are known as the TEC population, while workers
employed after May 1947 are known as the Y-12 population. The Y-12 facilities have been used for treating,
storing, or disposing of hazardous radioactive wastes and materials.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's
national laboratories, managed by DOE's Office of Science. PNNL scientists conduct basic and applied research
and development to strengthen U.S. scientific foundations for fundamental research and innovation; prevent and
counter acts of terrorism through applied research in information analysis, cyber security, and the
nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction; increase the U.S. energy capacity and reduce dependence on
imported oil; and reduce the effects of human activity on the environment.
In 1965, Battelle won a contract to perform research and development for the Hanford Site, a
nuclear site in southeastern Washington State. The Laboratory was originally named Pacific Northwest Laboratory
and served as an independent research entity from Hanford Site operations. In the 1990s, the Laboratory's
scientific reputation began to garner more attention on a global and national scale, beginning with its name.
In 1995, the Laboratory officially added "National" to its name, becoming the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory. The Laboratory's global environmental and nuclear nonproliferation work moved to the forefront
during the 1990s.
Pacific Northwest's first mission was research and development related to nuclear energy and
non-destructive uses for nuclear materials. Pacific Northwest designed the Fast Flux Test Facility used to test
fuels and materials for the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor for the Atomic Energy Commission's commercial
nuclear power program.
The Richland campus includes unique laboratories and specialized equipment as well as the William
R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science national scientific user facility.
In addition to the Richland campus, PNNL operates a marine research facility in Sequim, Washington, and satellite
offices in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Washington, D.C.
The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) is located on a 3,400-acre federal reservation in
McCracken County, Kentucky. The plant, one of two uranium enrichment facilities currently operating in the
United States, consists of 748 acres, about 15 miles west of Paducah, Kentucky. Completed in 1954, PGDP was the
result of efforts to expand the production of atomic weapons, which also included the expansion of the Oak Ridge
and Portsmouth uranium facilities.
PGDP's primary objective is the enrichment of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) in the U-235
isotope by the use of a gaseous diffusion (cascade) process. The diffusion plant consists of four major process
cascade buildings. There are other on-site facilities that recover and recycle valuable metals resulting from
other DOE operations. Since 1984, PGDP has been operated by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., followed by
Lockheed Martin with the merger of Martin Marietta with Lockheed in 1995. During the 41 years the PGDP has been
in operation, it has undergone two major
improvement programs. The most recent improvement, which combined the Cascade Improvement Program and the
Cascade Uprating Program, was completed in 1982. Employment usually runs at about 1,500 workers.
In the 1960s, the Paducah plant's mission changed from enriching uranium for nuclear weapons to one
focused on producing fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Until recently, Paducah and its sister plant located
near Portsmouth, Ohio, worked together to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power plants. In 1999, the United States
Enrichment Corporation (USEC) took over the operations. In May 2001, USEC consolidated its enrichment operations at
Paducah. The following year, transfer and shipping operations were also consolidated at Paducah.
The Pantex Plant is located on 9,100 acres in the panhandle of Texas in Carson County about 17
miles northeast of downtown Amarillo and 10 miles west of downtown Panhandle. The site was first used in 1942
by the Army Ordnance Corps for loading conventional ammunition shells and bombs during World War II. In 1951,
new facilities for fabricating chemical high explosives used in nuclear weapons and for final assembly of nuclear
weapons became operational. The Pantex Plant has been the Nation's primary weapons assembly/disassembly
plant. It receives conventional (nonnuclear) high-explosive materials and prefabricated nuclear weapons
components to produce new nuclear weapons; maintain, modify, and quality assurance test nuclear weapons already
in the military stockpile; and disassemble nuclear weapons for retirement. The plant also conducts research and
development work on conventional high explosives to support weapons design and development programs.
The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) is located on 3,800 acres near Portsmouth, Ohio.
The site consists of two major facilities: PORTS (constructed between 1952 and 1956) and the Gas Centrifuge
Enrichment Plant, whose construction was halted in 1985. Previously operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber
Company (Goodyear Atomic Corporation), Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., began operation of PORTS in
1986. PORTS is one of the two uranium enrichment facilities currently operating in the United States.
In the 1960s, the Portsmouth plant's mission changed from enriching uranium for nuclear weapons
to one focused on producing fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Until 2001, Portsmouth and its sister plant
in Paducah, Kentucky, worked in tandem to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power plants. The Paducah plant enriched
uranium up to 2.75% and then shipped it to Portsmouth for further enrichment to approximately 4% — 5%.
In May 2001, USEC consolidated its enrichment operations at Paducah. The following year, transfer
and shipping operations were also consolidated at Paducah. In September 2010, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth LLC was awarded
the contract for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the Portsmouth Site.
The site for the Rocky Flats Plant consists of nearly 11 square miles, located near Golden,
Colorado, in northern Jefferson County, about 16 miles northwest of Denver. Historically, major operations
conducted at the plant in support of weapons manufacture included fabrication and assembly (of plutonium,
beryllium, uranium, and other metal components), plutonium recovery, americium separation, and research and
development. Construction of the plant began in 1951, and limited production operations commenced in 1952.
By 1954, the plant was fully operational. In 1989, all production of nuclear weapons components ceased, and activities were changed to
primarily environmental restoration. The plant was operated by three
contractors beginning with Dow Chemical Company (1951), followed by Rockwell International (1975), and by EG&G
(1990).
NOTE: Remediation at the Rocky Flats Site was conducted in accordance with
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and/or Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. The site transferred to the Office of Legacy Management in 2008 and requires
operation and maintenance of remedial action systems, routine inspection and maintenance, records-related
activities, and stakeholder support. For more information about the Rocky Flats site, please visit the DOE Office of Legacy Management.
Lamar County, Mississippi, is the location of the Salmon Site, an underground salt dome, where
two nuclear and two non-nuclear detonations occurred between the years 1964 and 1970. The Salmon Site is
located in the piney woods area of the Gulf Coastal Plain, approximately 21 miles southwest of Hattiesburg,
Mississippi. It is a large salt dome, about 5,000 feet in diameter and 1,500 feet below the ground surface.
Upon completion of the testing program, the site was deactivated and decommissioned in June 1972.
NOTE: The DOE Office of Legacy Management assumed responsibility for long-term
surveillance and maintenance at the Salmon Site in 2008. The Salmon site requires routine inspection and
maintenance, records-related activities, and stakeholder support. For more information about the Salmon site,
please visit the DOE Office of Legacy Management.
Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) headquarters and main laboratory are located near Albuquerque
at Kirtland Air Force Base. Until 1994, it was operated by Sandia Corporation, a subsidiary of American
Telephone and Telegraph Company. Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, manages Sandia for the U.S. Department
of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. These same
contractors operate SNL Livermore (SNLL), which is located on a 400-acre site just west of Livermore, California,
and across the street from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), with which they share some
facilities.
SNL Albuquerque is the larger of the two laboratories. Its major activities are in research,
development, and engineering associated with the production of nuclear explosives for integrated functional
weapons used by the Department of Defense weapon delivery systems. Other areas of activities include energy
efficiency research, development of technologies for remediation of contaminated sites, and technology transfer
efforts. Employment usually runs at about 7,800 workers.
The smaller laboratory, SNLL, is also concerned with the design and evaluation of new and
existing nuclear weapon systems. Other areas of interest are energy research, including combustion and fusion
research, and research on nuclear and conventional weapons and space systems. Employment usually runs at about
1,000 workers.
The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) is located 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles in
southeastern Ventura County, near the crest of the Simi Hills at the western border of the San Fernando Valley.
SSFL was slated as a United States Government facility dedicated to the development and testing
of nuclear reactors, powerful rockets such as the Delta II, and the systems that powered the Apollo missions.
The location of SSFL was chosen in 1947 for its remoteness in order to conduct work that was considered too
dangerous to be performed in more densely populated areas. In subsequent years however, the Southern California
population grew, along with housing developments surrounding "The Hill." Today, more than 150,000 people live
within 5 miles (8 km) of the facility, and at least half a million people live within 10 miles (16 km).
The site is divided into four production and two buffer areas, (Area I, II, III, and IV, and the
northern and southern buffer zones). Areas I through III were used for rocket testing, missile testing, and
munitions development. Area IV was used primarily for nuclear reactor experimentation and development. Laser
research for the Strategic Defense Initiative (popularly known as "Star Wars"), was also conducted in Area IV.
The Savannah River Site (SRS) is located on 315 square miles near Aiken, South Carolina. At the
inception of the plant in 1952, the primary process was the production of nuclear fuels and other materials.
The facilities include five large production reactors, two chemical separation plants, plants for reprocessing
irradiated nuclear fuel, a fuel fabrication plant, a heavy water manufacturing plant, and a variety of research
and development laboratories. Waste management operations and extensive environmental programs are
conducted using advanced technologies. E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company was the original operating contractor
until 1989, when the Westinghouse Savannah River Company assumed management of the operations.
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Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) is managed for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU).