Tennessee is on track to be the world leader in nuclear innovation.
The Trump administration and state leadership are working relentlessly to obtain private, federal and state investments and grants, as well as foreign direct investment in new enrichment technology, advanced nuclear power plants, and other innovations that are being built and deployed in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
This past week, Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Tim Walsh made a stop at ORNL to discuss the continued commitment of the Trump administration to economic development and nuclear innovation.
“I think under President Trump's leadership, we're going to continue to lead the globe in scientific discovery that's enabled by AI and the future of quantum computing, which happens right here in Oak Ridge. All of that requires power, and that power is going to happen through the nuclear renaissance,” said Walsh in an interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel.
His visit came on the heels of Kairos Power breaking ground on the Hermes 2 Demonstration Plant in Oak Ridge, a salt-cooled nuclear reactor that will produce over 50 megawatts of power to the TVA grid. It is the first project of its kind to receive a permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and is on track to be operational by 2030. Hermes II is one in a series of thrilling projects announced in the Valley over the past year.
In March, the White House, along with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, announced a new agreement that would reshape how energy is delivered across the Southern states. GE Vernova Hitachi plans to develop small modular reactors (SMR) in Alabama and at Clinch River, Tennessee. The Japanese investment is expected to total $40 billion in the two projects, which would be overseen by the TVA nuclear team. Each SMR will power roughly 300,000 homes.
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Nuclear and Tennessee have a long history. During his time as Senator, Howard Baker worked hard for Tennessee to be the nuclear hub of America, fighting for the Sequoyah nuclear plant in the 1960s, which began operation in 1982. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Haggerty have continued to champion this cause, penning an op-ed in Power Magazine last year about the importance of investing in nuclear entitled America’s Nuclear Renaissance: How the TVA Can Lead Our Energy Future.
The senators wrote, "TVA could lead the way in our nation’s nuclear energy revival, empower us to dominate the 21st century’s global technology competition, and cement President Trump’s legacy as 'America’s Nuclear President."'
The Deputy Governor and head of Economic Development has also weighed in on the nuclear vision for TVA in an op-ed he wrote for the Tennessean: “It is imperative that we work closely with our partners at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).”
“As the nation’s largest publicly owned power company, TVA’s ability to collaborate with the new Trump administration, which has shown strong support for nuclear energy, energy independence and technological advancements, will be key to pushing the boundaries of energy innovation,” he wrote in a section of his op-ed entitled “TVA is America’s energy innovation lab.”
The investment in SMR technology will provide major economic benefits to Tennessee and Alabama, including good-paying construction, manufacturing, and operations jobs. Two plants would create nearly 2,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs. According to estimates, for every 100 jobs a nuclear power plant creates, 66 additional jobs are created in the local community. Not only will those communities thrive from the opportunities, but nuclear power plant jobs pay 20 percent more on average than jobs supported by other energy sources.
President Trump has also reinvested in mining uranium in the United States. This administration has issued several permits to allow the U.S. nuclear supply chain to operate domestically and ensure electricity bills are reduced.
For years, the U.S. has imported most of its uranium from Canada, Kazakhstan, and Russia, with domestic production reaching almost zero during the pandemic. President Trump is reinvesting in producing and enriching Uranium here in the United States so that the fuel for small modular reactors can be mined, refined, and consumed all on U.S. soil, completing the nuclear supply chain and unleashing American energy.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced in January that TVA and Centrus Energy would partner to build a large-scale uranium enrichment facility at Oak Ridge. This partnership will invest more than $560 million and will create approximately 430 jobs. This project represents a resurgence in domestic uranium production.
President Trump and Tennessee leadership’s commitment to nuclear will pay off for generations and TVA is leading the way.
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