Democratic senator asks TN governor for details about potential federal nuclear partnership

A Tennessee state senator is asking Gov. Bill Lee to disclose the location of any new nuclear energy and waste sites as part of a potential partnership with the federal government. 

Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Nashville Democrat, sent a four-page letter to Lee Thursday asking for the disclosure and for the administration to let the General Assembly provide review and comment before any deal is made. 

The United States Department of Energy announced earlier this week that Tennessee was one of five states under consideration for partnership as part of the Trump administration’s attempt to boost nuclear energy production. 

The federally designated Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus would allow Tennessee to create an industrial-like zone near Oak Ridge that could support “the full nuclear fuel lifecycle, including fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing used nuclear fuel, and disposition of waste.”

Campbell said that, aside from saying the campus would be centered around Oak Ridge, the Lee administration has kept most of the details quiet. 

“You simply can’t make our state a nuclear dumping ground without public awareness, input, and participation,” she said in the letter to Lee. 

Tennessee named finalist for federal partnership involving nuclear energy sites

Tennessee has long been at the forefront of nuclear energy because of Oak Ridge, which served as a federal research site for the initial production of the atomic bomb in World War 2. The Tennessee Valley Authority today operates two nuclear energy plants in the state. 

Gov. Bill Lee has been a strong advocate for revitalizing Tennessee’s nuclear energy, praising the federal Department of Energy’s choice of the state as a finalist.  He has also created a state investment fund that, as of 2025, was offering $70 million in incentives for companies in the nuclear energy industry.

Part of the reason for the lifecycle campus concept is that currently there is no approved place to store high levels of radioactive waste, which the Trump administration hopes to get around through the new program, according to a White House memo obtained by Politico.

Campbell’s letter