The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Tuesday that Tennessee ranked among five states selected as potential homes for Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, which the agency said are part of a federal “effort to strengthen and modernize the nation’s full nuclear fuel cycle.”
According to the Tuesday press release, a total of 28 applications were submitted from 28 states, and Tennessee was selected as a “potential host” along with Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Utah. The federal agency reported that each state’s governor has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the DOE.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright stated that the campuses will become “massive generators of economic growth” that create “thousands of high-paying jobs” and unleash “America’s nuclear renaissance.”
Both Wright and Governor Bill Lee said President Donald Trump, through his push to strengthen national security through domestic energy production, made the effort possible.
“As the global epicenter of nuclear energy, Tennessee is honored to be selected as a potential host for a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus,” Governor Bill Lee said in a statement. “As our state answered the call during the Manhattan Project and helped shape the course of history, Tennessee stands ready once again to advance the safe, reliable energy solutions our nation depends on.”
Lee stated, “I thank President Trump and Secretary Wright for their leadership as we strengthen America’s energy dominance and create new opportunities for Tennesseans.”
Tennessee submitted a 207-page proposal to the DOE in March. According to the governor’s office, Tennessee’s campus would perform tasks related to almost every part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
This would include uranium enrichment, fuel fabrication, reactor deployment, reprocessing and recycling of used fuel, isotope recovery, interim storage, and potentially permanent underground waste disposal. It would be built across 8,665 acres of property near existing nuclear facilities, and would incorporate an “out-of-commerce” transportation system between the sites.
According to the DOE, each campus could potentially generate $50 billion in capital investment, $10 billion in state revenue, and 25,000 new jobs.
Though the federal agency did not clarify how many states would receive a campus in its latest press release, the office of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said three of the five potential hosts would be selected.
During a March 2025 visit to Oak Ridge, Wright said Tennessee would become part of the Trump administration’s “Manhattan Project 2” to create the energy necessary to power artificial intelligence (AI).
“We’re at the start of Manhattan Project 2. It critical, critical, just like Manhattan Project 1, that the United States wins this race,” said the energy secretary. “If we don’t get energy right, if we don’t unleash American energy, we can’t win the race for artificial intelligence.”
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee.
I am waiting for the data center protestors to get wind of this.