Tennessee could get $50B for storing nuclear waste. The state won’t say where it plans to put it

Tennessee is one of five Republican-led states under federal consideration to store the nation’s nuclear waste. An agreement would mean $50 billion in capital investments for the state. But some of the specific communities that could potentially host a nuclear waste site were redacted from the public-facing version of Tennessee’s proposal.

The state has identified Oak Ridge as the primary site for a nuclear campus, which would not only store waste but also be a site for uranium enrichment, reactor deployment, data centers and other ways of generating power. However, the state has not specified other places in Tennessee that would only store nuclear waste, despite indicating that it has places in mind.

Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday said that he doesn’t know for sure that the feds are asking for a repository site, although it is outlined in the proposal. He told WPLN News that Tennessee will only commit to the deal if it can balance the economic benefits with the environmental risks.

“You make certain that you protect the environment and protect the natural resources that we have, and at the same time bring economic benefit as a result of this campus coming,” Lee said. “If, and only if, you can do both, should you do it at all.”

The state’s redacted proposal earlier this year considered how seismic risks might inform the best place for long-term nuclear storage underground, and denoted four “potential candidate area counties” on the Cumberland Plateau: Pickett, Fentress, Morgan, and Scott Counties. But the state has not finalized an agreement with the Department of Energy.

In addition to significant investment in the state, lawmakers have said the nuclear campus will create thousands of jobs.

Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus concept details State of Tennessee

In a proposal earlier this year, the state of Tennessee considered seismic risks in relation to Oak Ridge and other nuclear sites, which could inform where to store nuclear waste underground.

Democratic state Sen. Heidi Campbell has called on the governor to release the names of the specific sites under consideration to host the program.

“Those communities have a right to know the governor has volunteered their town to hold the nation’s nuclear waste,” Campbell said. “This is one of the most consequential decisions in our state’s history, and it shouldn’t be made behind closed doors.”

Lee’s administration has been a proponent of nuclear energy. During Lee’s time as governor, he’s pledged millions to the state’s nuclear program, and the Tennessee Valley Authority hopes to finish a small modular reactor in Oak Ridge by the early 2030s.

The Trump administration has been similarly focused on nuclear. Last year, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders to reform American nuclear policy and set a goal of quadrupling U.S. nuclear capacity.

However, Lee’s term ends after this year, and another governor will ultimately oversee the deal with the U.S. Department of Energy.