Tennessee helped usher in the nuclear age. It wants to lead the way again.

Tennessee is a finalist among five states for a Department of Energy 'nuclear lifecycle innovation campus' meant to address the nation's 86,000-plus tons of stored radioactive waste, leaning on Oak Ridge's Manhattan Project legacy. BWX Technologies purchased a Jonesborough rocket and missile factory and signed a 10-year, $1.6 billion contract to convert depleted uranium for the Y-12 National Security Complex, promising 175 permanent jobs.

Longtime residents like Luther 'Sunny' Miller, who worked at the same site, link their family's thyroid, bladder, and kidney problems to the plant, though he can't prove it. State officials point to $10 billion in nuclear-sector investment and 3,000 new jobs over the past decade as evidence of an economic revival, with more promised as the industry expands.

The Trump administration wants to quadruple nuclear energy output nationally, adding urgency to the waste question after Nevada's Yucca Mountain repository stalled amid opposition. Tennessee officials are already pitching the buildout to elementary schoolers as a future workforce pipeline.

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