About
The Y-12 National Security Complex is a manufacturing facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. For six decades, Y-12 has been a national center for handling, processing, and storing highly enriched uranium. Stockpile management activities include production, maintenance, refurbishment, dismantlement, evaluation, and storage of certain components of nuclear weapons.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL was established in 1943 as a part of the Manhattan Project to pioneer a method for producing and separating plutonium. During the 1950s and 1960s, ORNL became an international center for the study of nuclear energy and related research in the physical and life sciences. With the creation of DOE in the 1970s, ORNL’s mission broadened to include a variety of energy technologies and strategies. ORNL also is engaged in the treatment and disposition of legacy radioactive wastes and nuclear materials stored at the site.
Details
Status: Active
Y-12 National Security Complex
Primary Function: Uranium Component Manufacturing and Storage
Ongoing Operations: Stockpile stewardship and nuclear weapon component surveillance; weapon component assembly, dismantlement, and disposition; uranium processing; nuclear materials management and storage.
Website: https://www.y12.doe.gov
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Primary Function: Research and Development
Ongoing Operations: Research in energy technologies and physical and life sciences; treatment and disposition of legacy radioactive wastes and nuclear materials.
Website: https://www.ornl.gov
