Members of the UCOR leadership team accepted the Joseph R. La Rocca Union Project of the Year and Thomas J. Reynolds awards during the 2026 TAUC conference. From left are Ken Rueter, UCOR Executive Board Director; Hughes; Lawrence Brede, UCOR Y-12 Cleanup Area Project Manager; Bobby Alred, UCOR Y-12 Cleanup Safety and Health Manager; Hogan; Joe Barletto, UCOR Lead Y-12 Cleanup Project Manager; Wolfley; Dawn Millis, UCOR Y-12 Area Superintendent; Steve Manthe, UCOR Director of Labor Relations and Management, and Brian Langhorst, presenter of the award from Procore Technologies.. Image by United Cleanup Oak Ridge

OAK RIDGE, TN - United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC’s (UCOR) successful teardown of a massive, Manhattan Project-era facility has earned national recognition for project execution and safety excellence.

UCOR recently won the “2026 Union Project of the Year Award” from The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC), which represents over 1,800 companies that use union labor. Presented at TAUC’s Annual Meeting, the award recognizes the skilled UCOR workforce for demolishing the Alpha-2 Complex, a 2.5-acre former uranium enrichment facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

While Project of the Year Awards typically honor new construction and infrastructure installation, UCOR’s recognition underscores the national importance of environmental restoration. “UCOR’s Alpha-2 Deactivation and Demolition Project reflects the very best of union construction and maintenance: complex work performed with discipline, expertise, and an unwavering commitment to safety,” said TAUC Chief Executive Officer Dan Hogan. “Projects of this scale and significance require tremendous coordination and trust across every level of the team, and TAUC is proud to recognize UCOR with the 2026 Project of the Year Award for projects over $50 million.”

Alpha-2 in 2025 before it was fully demolished earlier this year. Image by United Cleanup Oak Ridge

The project was done under a Project Labor Agreement between North America’s Building Trades Unions and UCOR and required close coordination and strong partnerships among craft labor, project management, radiological control, industrial hygiene, engineering, and safety professionals throughout its execution.

Over the 6-year project duration, UCOR and building trades crews worked 1.38 safe hours and they completed the 325,000-square-foot deactivation and demolition. The project also advanced innovative worker protection measures such as UCOR’s nationally recognized Mercury Assessment and Control Program.

“This recognition highlights the extraordinary partnership among UCOR, our union craft workforce, and the Department of Energy,” said UCOR Senior Vice President of End State Delivery Clint Wolfley. “Clearing away this facility creates new land for modernization and enduring national security missions.”

UCOR also received the prestigious TAUC’s 2026 “Thomas J. Reynolds Safety Award,” which is reserved only for companies that achieved a Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) rate of zero in 2025. “Safety is the foundation of every mission we execute,” said UCOR Senior Vice President of Safety, Security, Health, and Quality Assurance Jimmy Hughes. “Achieving a zero DART rate while performing some of the country's most complex environmental cleanup reflects the professionalism, discipline, and care our workforce brings to the job every day.”

TAUC serves as a national advocate for union contractors and promotes cooperation among unions, contractors, and owner-clients in the industrial maintenance and construction industry.

UCOR is the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s lead environmental cleanup contractor. The company’s ~2,200 workers are dedicated to safely removing nuclear production facilities that have completed their missions, clearing land for modernization and enduring science and national security missions.