The nuclear industry has a $9.8 billion impact on Tennessee’s economy, and a new study is exploring the potential of the state’s coming “nuclear renaissance.”

Tennessee would lead states in the Southeast when it comes to return on investment for constructing new nuclear reactors, along with the creation of related jobs and wages, according to trade association E4 Carolinas, which looked at the nuclear “fertile crescent” in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

The Knoxville region is at the center of the nation’s nuclear renaissance. It’s home to about 150 nuclear companies, including the Tennessee Valley Authority, the federal utility that operates Tennessee’s two nuclear plants, and Kairos Power, a California-based company building an experimental advanced nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge.

The study modeled the hypothetical impact of investing $1 billion in constructing a new nuclear power plant using data from existing power plants.

Though there are no plans to build another traditional nuclear power plant in Tennessee, the hypothetical figures are a snapshot of the economic impact of new nuclear. TVA is developing what could be the nation’s first small modular nuclear reactors near Oak Ridge and several private companies are developing their own reactor technology in the state.

Of all five states, Tennessee would see the biggest economic returns on constructing a hypothetical new power plant:

• 16,154 construction jobs
• $1.17 billion in wages
• $2.05 billion economic output

The study estimated a new Tennessee nuclear power plant, once operational, could create big economic outputs, both directly at the plant and across all the companies that make operations possible:

• 1,128 jobs at the plant; 4,200 jobs overall
• $203 million annual wages at the plant; $386 million annual wages overall
• $1.02 billion annual economic output from the plant; $1.77 billion annual economic output overall

Tennessee colleges create nuclear workforce

Tennessee is readying to meet those workforce demands.

Gov. Bill Lee created a $50 million nuclear fund and the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council last year in a bid to make the Volunteer State the national leader in new nuclear energy.

Educating a local workforce is key to achieving the state’s goals, said Wes Hines, head of the nuclear engineering department at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a member of the council.

“The young kids nowadays want to be engaged in something that brings value to the world, and this is something that certainly can, whether you’re going into the medical physics area or whether you’re going into the power area to try and clean up carbon emissions,” Hines told Knox News.

Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville began partnering with ORNL last year to offer an associate degree in chemical radiation technology. Roane State Community College and Chattanooga State Community College also offer programs in nuclear technology.

This fall, Tennessee Tech University will begin offering bachelor’s degrees in nuclear engineering, creating a new alternative to UT, which has the oldest nuclear engineering department in the nation.

How nuclear fuels Southeast economy

Nuclear reactors — and the vast supply chains that make them possible — already contribute $42.9 billion and 152,598 jobs to the five-state region, the study said.

The five states are home to 25 of the nation’s 94 nuclear reactors and 13 of its 55 operating nuclear power plants. Most of these plants became operational in the 1970s and ’80s.

On average, the five states get 37% of their electricity from nuclear, far above the national average of 19%.

In addition to carbon-free electricity, one advantage of the nuclear industry is relatively high wages, the study found. The average wage across the nuclear industry in the region is $89,972, which is 65.5% higher than the average job in the region.

The study focuses on the nuclear supply chain, from fuel to plant operations to waste disposal, as well as research on related nuclear topics like medical isotopes for cancer treatment. It found 494 nuclear companies with 1,632 locations in the five-state region.

Here’s how Tennessee stacks up with the other Southeast states leading the way on nuclear power.

How Tennessee benefits from nuclear economy

Tennessee comes in second place for the highest percentage of electricity generated by nuclear power plants, according to 2022 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

• South Carolina: 55%
• Tennessee: 45%
• North Carolina: 33%
• Virginia: 31%
• Georgia: 27%

Tennessee has two nuclear power plants operated by TVA: Watts Bar outside Knoxville and Sequoyah outside Chattanooga. Together, the plants have a capacity of around 5,000 megawatts, enough to power close to 3 million average homes.

Watts Bar Unit 2 became the first new U.S. commercial nuclear reactor of the 21st century when it came online in 2016.

The E4 Carolinas study did not include TVA’s third nuclear plant, Browns Ferry in Alabama, which is older than the Tennessee plants and can generate more electricity than any other TVA plant.

Tennessee has second biggest nuclear impact

In 2021, Tennessee was second only to South Carolina in the five-state region for nuclear industry economic impact, including total employment and labor income.

• South Carolina: $11.1 billion
• Tennessee: $9.8 billion
• Virginia: $7.1 billion
• Georgia: $5.3 billion
• North Carolina: $4.9 billion

Tennessee leads the pack for wages:

• South Carolina: 41,949 jobs with $3.17 billion in wages
• Tennessee: 40,286 jobs with $3.2 billion in wages
• Virginia: 24,704 jobs with $2.48 billion in wages
• Georgia: 16,241 jobs with $1.56 billion in wages
• North Carolina: 15,494 jobs $1.54 billion in wages

Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com.

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