Tennessee

What could the ‘nuclear renaissance’ hold for Tennessee? Thousands of high paying jobs

Published

3 months ago

February 20, 2024

What could the ‘nuclear renaissance’ hold for Tennessee? Thousands of high paying jobs

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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Tennessee

Alligator caught on Norris Lake in Union County has a new home

Published

5 hours ago

May 21, 2024

Press Room

Alligator caught on Norris Lake in Union County has a new home

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Back in March, a young angler caught an alligator on Norris Lake.

Previous Coverage: Alligator caught on Norris Lake in Union County

In the days that followed, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Matt Cameron said it was likely brought into the state illegally.

“Someone brought it from another state and turned it loose in Norris Lake,” Cameron said.

Previous Coverage: An alligator was caught on Norris Lake— what do Tennessee wildlife officers have to say?

Cameron also said it’s illegal to own or bring an alligator into Tennessee, calling it an invasive species. He said Tennessee isn’t a good place for alligators to be.

“East Tennessee is not a good alligator habitat,” Cameron said. “They like swampy areas, warmer climates. Here in Tennessee, the winters get extremely cold and they don’t prefer deep-water lakes.”

After the alligator was caught, it was taken to Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue in Anderson County.

Little Ponderosa said on social media that after hundreds of calls, the zoo’s assistant manager, Abby, spoke to Jungle Adventures in Christmas, Florida.

Despite being nearly 700 miles away, Abby drove the alligator, now known as “Tennessee,” all the way to Florida to give him a new home.

“He will now spend his days lounging in the sun, with lots of other alligators his same size/age,” the zoo said.

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Tennessee

Tennessee professor swept away by wave during Brazil study-abroad trip has died

Published

12 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Press Room

Tennessee professor swept away by wave during Brazil study-abroad trip has died

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — A Tennessee community college professor who was swept away by an ocean wave during a study-abroad trip in Brazil has died, his school said Monday.

Clifford Gordon, associate professor of art, was walking with three students along an oceanside road in Paraty, Brazil, when they stopped to take pictures and a wave struck them, according to Columbia State Community College. The three students were not seriously injured, but Gordon was swept away and Brazilian authorities searched for him, the school said.

Columbia State received confirmation on Monday morning that Gordon’s body was found and positively identified.

“We were heartbroken to hear of this tragic accident,” Janet F. Smith, Columbia State’s president, said in a statement on the school’s website. “We are thankful that no students were seriously injured. Our college family mourns the loss of Clifford, who was a talented artist and greatly loved by his students.”

The school said the study abroad program in Brazil included 12 students from four community colleges across Tennessee.

The students were scheduled to board flights Monday and arrive back in Tennessee on Tuesday, Rick Locker, a spokesperson for the College System of Tennessee, said. They will be offered counseling.

Two of the students who were with Gordon when he was swept away are from Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, while the other attends Walters State Community College in Morristown.

Gordon started working for Columbia State in 2008 as an adjunct professor and then moved to a full-time position in 2013. He also was known for works of collage and painting, which were on display at various exhibitions in the state.

Gordon had traveled to Brazil during many summers, even teaching himself to speak Portuguese, the school said. He had a Bachelor of Science degree in art from Tennessee State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in studio art from the Memphis College of Art.

Paraty is located about 150 miles (241 kilometers) west of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

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Tennessee

Tennessee first SEC team with regular-season titles in men’s basketball, baseball, softball in same season

Published

19 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Press Room

Tennessee first SEC team with regular-season titles in men’s basketball, baseball, softball in same season

Tennessee athletics are sitting on the Rocky Top, indeed.

The Vols have accomplished major history this season, becoming the first SEC school to win the regular season championship in men’s basketball, baseball and softball in the same season. The Lady Vols are the No. 3 seed and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Super Regionals this weekend in softball, while the baseball team is the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, which kicks off Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama.

REQUIRED READING: Why it’s special for Tennessee softball seniors to lead Lady Vols back to NCAA super regional

Tennessee clinched the men’s basketball regular season championship on March 6 with a road victory over South Carolina, its first outright regular season championship since the 2006-07 season. On May 3, Tennessee softball defeated Kentucky in Knoxville to clinch its second straight SEC regular season title. The Vols went on to lose in the quarterfinals.

Following a sweep of South Carolina over the weekend, Tennessee baseball clinched a share of the SEC regular-season championship with Kentucky. It was the second time in three years the Vols won at least a share of the conference championship. They are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and are currently projected as a No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Tournament by D1Baseball, entering last weekend.

Here’s a look at how each team performed this season:

Tennessee men’s basketball

Tennessee men’s basketball advanced to the Elite Eight in 2023-24, losing to eventual runner-up Purdue. The Vols have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons under coach Rick Barnes.

Final record: 27-9, 14-4 SEC
Season finish: Lost to Purdue in Elite Eight
SEC regular season titles: 11

Tennessee softball

The Lady Vols won their second straight conference regular season championship and the third in program history, all led by coach Karen Weekly. Tennessee swept through the Knoxville Regional to advance to its 13th Super Regional.

Record: 43-10, 19-5 SEC
SEC regular season titles: Three
WCWS ranking: No. 3 overall seed
Next up: No. 14 seed Alabama in Knoxville Super Regional

Tennessee baseball

Tennessee baseball swept South Carolina, while rival Kentucky dropped its finale to Vanderbilt for the two schools to finish with a share of the regular season championship. The Vols ― led by coach Tony Vitello ― earned the No. 1 seed after taking two of three regular-season games against the Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky, earlier this season.