OPINION:
Under President Donald Trump, American energy dominance and scientific leadership are experiencing a triumphant revival. We are witnessing the largest revitalization of American-made energy in our history and transformative efforts to secure America’s place as the global scientific leader. The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) is playing a critical role in achieving these successes.
For 37 years, EM has worked to fulfill the federal government’s obligations to communities nationwide affected by the byproducts of nuclear development and testing from the Manhattan Project and Cold War eras. The office that I am now honored to lead has successfully cleaned up over 90 of the 107 sites where legacy nuclear development allowed us to win WWII and the Cold War. While EM has achieved great successes over the decades, EM’s central mission to remediate and return land to local communities to benefit the people living there has drifted to the margins over the years. Instead of cleaning up for the future, EM has been stuck in a perpetual cleanup mindset, without looking ahead to the opportunities we can seize to aid our fellow Americans once cleanup missions are successfully completed.
Now, thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, EM is returning to its first principles and reclaiming its mission to protect human health and the environment while giving Americans in communities nationwide hope for the future.
A recent example of how EM is reclaiming its purpose is the historic announcement we made in March, when I joined Sec. Wright and Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick in announcing a public-private partnership with Japanese company SoftBank to build the world’s largest AI data center and new power generation on DOE land.
What was once the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which played a critical role during the Cold War to enrich uranium, will now be the site of a massive multi-billion investment that will create new jobs and opportunities for the people of southern Ohio. The importance of this project cannot be understated. Land that was once unusable due to legacy nuclear national security missions, has now been successfully remediated and given new life, rekindling hope for the future in an area of our country that has seen too many jobs disappear over recent decades and increasing affordable energy.
As Sec. Wright stated: “Energy abundance is national security when America produces more, families pay less and adversaries have less leverage. DOE is restoring commonsense energy dominance by ending reckless climate alarmist policies and putting American prosperity first.”
The Portsmouth site is just one example of EM’s success. You can also look to the Oak Ridge site in Tennessee, where EM recently completed demolition of the Manhattan Project-era K-25 building, providing space for national security missions and billions of dollars in new investment to free America from foreign sources of enriched uranium to fuel the nuclear renaissance which will power our nation into the future.
Many of the sites across EM’s portfolio nationwide are perfect for future public and private investments once cleanup missions are successfully completed. These sites, stretching from coast to coast, have existing capacity to create and transmit energy, are near critical natural infrastructure assets, and have existing highly trained and capable workforces that can transition seamlessly from legacy cleanup work to new jobs producing energy, expanding new nuclear capabilities, and building and operating AI data centers. These sites, such as Portsmouth and Oak Ridge, are ideal locations for new “Energy Dominance Parks” that will support the four pillars of DOE: to enhance our national security, unleash affordable and abundant energy, cement America’s position as the global leader in new technologies, and strengthen our economy by creating thousands of new jobs.
To be clear, EM’s mission to cleanup sites where legacy nuclear testing and national security missions took place will continue uninterrupted and unabated. The federal government has an obligation to these communities to fulfill its cleanup missions on time and without wasting taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. As we carry on ongoing cleanup work and protecting human health and the environment, EM and DOE will continue to look for ways to put Americans first with new opportunities that will strengthen our great nation for generations to come.
It is a new day at EM. President Trump and Secretary Wright have revitalized and renewed the important work that EM is doing for the American people. We will keep delivering for our nation to ensure America’s prosperity with affordable energy and national security is secured for the 21st century.
• Timothy J. Walsh serves as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Environmental Management at the U.S. Department of Energy, providing strategic leadership for the safe and effective remediation of environmental legacies stemming from eight decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.
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