The Department of Energy Public Facilities Bus Tour ends its 2026 season on Friday, November 20. That leaves about two weeks of departures from the American Museum of Science and Energy. The standard $20 tour no longer goes to the X-10 Graphite Reactor. The one remaining date that does is Thursday, November 19.
Anyone who last rode the bus a few years ago, or who sends visiting family on it every fall, will find a different tour this year. The regular route now stops at a quantum computer that came online in June. The reactor most people link to the Secret City is now a once-a-season extra. And the season closes the week before Thanksgiving, which affects plans for guests arriving that week.
The regular route now stops at the newest machine on campus
The AMSE bus tour page lists the standard 2026 itinerary in this order. The bus leaves AMSE, visits the Atomic History Center at K-25, continues to Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Translational Research Capability building, and then goes to the Y-12 New Hope Visitor Center. At the TRC building, riders see the IQM Radiance Pathfinder system.
Pathfinder is new. ORNL's announcement describes it as a 20-qubit IQM Radiance quantum computer that launched June 16 in the Quantum Computer Deployment Lab at the TRC building. According to IQM's release on Business Wire, it is ORNL's first commercially procured quantum computer and the first IQM system on U.S. soil. AMSE's tour page calls it the southeastern United States' only quantum computer.
ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer summed up the lab's view in the ORNL announcement:
"By adding Pathfinder to the array of cutting-edge systems available to our computational scientists, ORNL deepens its commitment to making the U.S. a leader in quantum science and technology."
The machine runs on superconducting technology. ORNL says a Bluefors cryosystem cools it to 4 kelvin, and a gas-handling system holds the superconducting internals below 10 millikelvin. The building is part of the tour. The cooling hardware is the part people tend to remember.
That leaves less room for the reactor. AMSE says only that the Department of Energy's "continued efforts to improve and ensure our country's historic sites" mean regular tours will not visit X-10 this season. The 2026 standard tour therefore covers the Manhattan Project at K-25 and Y-12 and shows present-day ORNL at the TRC.
November 19 is the last reactor tour of the year
AMSE scheduled three special dates in 2026: July 16, September 17, and November 19. Only the November date is left. It costs more and runs a different route. The page says it is first come, first served, with no walkups.
| Regular tour | Special tour, Nov. 19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per guest | $20 | $30 |
| X-10 Graphite Reactor | Not included | Included |
| Y-12 stop | New Hope Visitor Center | Y-12 Pilot Plant |
| K-25 History Center | Included | Not included |
| Walk-on tickets | Limited, not guaranteed | None accepted |
| Time | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. |
AMSE says riders come back by 12:30 with three business days of admission to AMSE and the K-25 Atomic History Center, which includes the History Museum and the William J. Wilcox Interpretive Center. Guests on November 19 can see K-25 later in the week on that pass.
The pass is also why the $20 ticket is a good deal. AMSE's visit page lists adult admission at $10. The K-25 History Center lists adult admission at $15. One regular bus ticket costs less than buying those two adult admissions separately, and it includes a 3.5-hour guided tour with two guides.
The rules that turn riders away at the curb
The tour runs inside federal facilities, and the boarding rules are firm. Before booking for a houseguest, check that they meet each of these requirements from AMSE's page:
- Arrival. Be at the AMSE lot, 115 Main Street East, by 8:30 a.m. Boarding begins at 8:40, and no one may board after 8:45. The bus leaves at 9:00.
- Citizenship. Every rider must be a U.S. citizen.
- Age. Riders must be at least 10. Children may be asked for proof of age.
- ID. Adults 18 and older need a current, original photo ID. Photocopies are not accepted. A family member must vouch for riders ages 10 to 17.
- Mobility. The tour involves a lot of walking and standing. It can accommodate slow walkers and wheelchair users, but wheelchair users must give 48 hours' notice so ORNL can provide a tour assistant.
- Prohibited items. DOE bans weapons, firearms, alcohol, controlled substances, and other dangerous items.
The citizenship and age rules most often change plans for visiting families. A grandparent who can ride and a 9-year-old who can't usually end up at the museums instead.
Thanksgiving week is museums only
Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, six days after the last bus leaves. Guests who arrive that week will see Oak Ridge history at the venues that stay open.
Both main museums keep the same weekly schedule. AMSE is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. K-25 lists the same hours. Neither had posted Thanksgiving-week hours as of this writing, so check both before heading out on the holiday weekend.
AMSE's adult admission is $10. Youth 6 to 17, seniors 65 and older, students with ID, and active military pay $5, and children under 5 get in free. K-25 charges $15 for adults, $10 for military and seniors, and $10 for youth 10 to 17. K-25's two websites list different prices for children 6 to 9, so families with younger kids should check the K-25 History Center site first.
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park's Oak Ridge visitor center is inside the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., with limited services on Sundays. It is closed Mondays. The Park Service lists it as closed on Thanksgiving Day and also on November 20, the same day the bus season ends. The Park Service says ranger-guided walks at the former K-25 site and Jackson Square usually run monthly year-round, with dates posted on its event calendar.
Here are the dated events between now and early December, in order:
- Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m. The free "Beyond the Bomb: Stories of the Atomic Age" program, presented by ORAU and the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Details are on ORAU's museum page.
- Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 1:30 p.m., through mid-November. Tours of the ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity at the Pollard Center, booked through AMSE. They run 1:30 to 2:15 and fit after a morning bus tour.
- Thursday, Nov. 19. The final special bus tour, with X-10 and the Y-12 Pilot Plant, for $30.
- Friday, Nov. 20. Last day of the 2026 bus tour season.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. "A Flattop Home for the Holidays" at the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. The museum calls it a new event. The Flattop House will be decorated for the holidays as it might have looked around 1945, and the day includes museum admission, activities, and holiday refreshments. Tickets went on sale November 1.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 6 to 8 p.m. The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, according to the City of Oak Ridge calendar.
For guests in town in early December, the Flattop event fills in where the bus tour can't. It has no age minimum and no ID check, and it focuses on the wartime housing the town was built around.
Book November 19 to see the reactor, or any regular weekday through November 20 to see Pathfinder. Visitors arriving Thanksgiving week can use AMSE, K-25, and the visitor center, and those staying into December can add the Flattop House on December 5.
Out-of-town guests on these tours often ask what it would be like to live in Oak Ridge. When that question comes up at your table, the agents at The REAL ESTATE Office have helped people answer it from our Oak Ridge office since 2007. We're glad to talk it through, and if your own plans are changing, we can start with a free home valuation.
