Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee visited Knoxville on Aug. 4 to celebrate Oak Ridge being named an American Energy Hub, further formalizing growth that has been underway for years at former Cold War-era sites.
The Secret City's history as a nuclear hub is well known across East Tennessee. In recent years, its status has attracted a historic level of investment, with nuclear companies tapping into existing infrastructure and a deep talent pool while helping cement Oak Ridge as a key player in what the Energy Department is calling a "nuclear renaissance."
Just last week, Lee announced Tennessee has been selected as a finalist to host a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, a new DOE initiative designed
to "strengthen and modernize the nation’s full nuclear fuel cycle." During his visit, Lee told Knox News the campus could bring $50 billion in capital investments and 25,000 jobs to Tennessee.
Also last week − with Lee's signature − Tennessee entered a nonbinding agreement with the Department of Energy saying the state would accept nuclear waste from around the country if selected for the nuclear campus. The governors of Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Utah also signed on to help make their case for the campus, which would facilitate uranium enrichment, reactor construction, electricity production, fuel recycling and spent fuel storage.
Walsh was asked in Knoxville how waste would be recycled safely after Lee said Aug. 3 the state doesn't have all the details − and that it's too early to discuss details of a potential waste site.
"Over the last 80 years," Walsh said, "we've learned a lot about how to safely and securely handle all kinds of nuclear materials and clean up and restore land back into its original use."
Sen. Heidi Campbell has sent a letter to Lee seeking transparency about the locations in Tennessee his administration has identified as potential waste storage sites.
“We have a lot of future ahead of us in this,” Lee said Aug. 4. “There’s a lot to learn, but I’m excited about that.”
Tennessee's goal is to be 'No. 1 in nuclear'
The Volunteer State is "poised to lead us into the future," Walsh said at the Aug. 4 media availability, tied to the East Tennessee Economic Council's annual Nuclear Opportunities Workshop happening through Aug. 5 at the Knoxville Convention Center on Henley Street.
Lee and Walsh appeared alongside U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican from the Chattanooga suburb of Ooltewah who chairs the appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over energy and water development. He represents the Third District, which includes Oak Ridge.
"We're all working together to make sure that Tennessee is No. 1 in nuclear," Fleischmann said.
The possibility of a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, paired with the new American Energy Hub designation, signals growing federal confidence in Oak Ridge's role in the nation's nuclear future.
"That kind of growth and opportunity and job creation" Lee said, "is what I view as the most valuable thing that can happen."
In a June video announcing the American Energy Hubs initiative, Walsh said the program would help turn former nuclear sites from "liabilities" into "assets for the American people."
"We are restoring power to these sites that are enabling all kinds of economic development and prosperity and lifting up the middle class with good, high-paying jobs," he said.
How Tennessee is 'investing in the future' of American energy
These efforts are well underway in Oak Ridge, where the Department of Energy in 2024 finished cleaning up the former K-25 gaseous diffusion plant used during the Manhattan Project and Cold War. Transformed into the Heritage Center Industrial Park, the site has welcomed a wave of nuclear companies in recent years focused on restoring American uranium enrichment capabilities.
Orano USA announced in June its $5 billion uranium enrichment site could begin operations ahead of schedule in Oak Ridge, aligning with President Donald Trump’s goal to ramp up America’s nuclear capacity in his second term. And last month, Amazon-linked nuclear firm TRISO-X announced it will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new fuel and research facility that would add more than 1,100 new jobs in East Tennessee.
TRISO-X will get some help with $11 million from Tennessee's dedicated nuclear fund set up under Gov. Lee to attract and supplement nuclear companies, including California-based Oklo, which plans to build a fuel reprocessing facility in Oak Ridge.
"We can't live on the past," Lee said Aug. 4. "We have to be investing in the future."
Knox News high-tech growth and development reporter Mariah Franklin contributed background reporting on recent nuclear investment in East Tennessee. State government and politics reporter Vivian Jones of The Tennessean contributed reporting related to the possibilities of a nuclear waste site in Tennessee.
Sophia Tiedge is the growth and transformation reporter for the Knox News Business Growth & Development Team, led by editor Ryan Wilusz. Reach Sophia and Ryan by email: sophia.tiedge@knoxnews.com | ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: In Knoxville, Gov. Lee touts TN nuclear growth as waste site worries linger
