'Gone Fission' podcast details Congress' support for environmental cleanup programs

The Oak Ridger
·1 min read
An aerial view of the East Tennessee Technology Park after demolition was completed on more than 500 old, contaminated buildings. Soil cleanup is scheduled to be complete next year, and planning is underway to determine how the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management will remediate groundwater at the site.
An aerial view of the East Tennessee Technology Park after demolition was completed on more than 500 old, contaminated buildings. Soil cleanup is scheduled to be complete next year, and planning is underway to determine how the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management will remediate groundwater at the site.

A recent episode of the "Gone Fission Nuclear Report" podcast featured the environmental cleanup program at Oak Ridge and across the country and its 30-year support in Congress.

Guests are former U.S. Reps. Doc Hastings, R-Washington, and Zach Wamp, R-Tennessee, who discuss the birth of the Congressional Nuclear Cleanup Caucus in the 1990s.

Hastings' district included the Hanford, Washington site, and Wamp represented Oak Ridge.

According to a news release about the podcast, Wamp discusses how the Caucus promoted accelerated cleanup of the Oak Ridge Reservation to get the job done more quickly while saving taxpayer funds. He also cites the progress at the Department of Energy's East Tennessee Technology Park in diversifying the economy by attracting new industries that are advancing the nuclear renaissance.

"Consistent, reliable Congressional funding is an essential element of success in the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program," said the news release.

The access the podcast, click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAALjdHOa2s&t=439s.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Podcast details Congress' support for nuclear cleanup at Oak Ridge