Tennessee Republican balks at nuclear campus, waste storage

An East Tennessee Republican lawmaker is challenging the governor’s support for bringing a massive nuclear facility to East Tennessee, saying the risk of storing nuclear waste is greater than any economic benefits.

Rep. Ed Butler of Rickman sent a letter to Gov. Bill Lee on Aug. 10 expressing his opposition to using Tennessee for nuclear waste storage, based in part on “extreme concern” from constituents in and surrounding House District 41, which covers Overton and Morgan counties and portions of Anderson, Fentress and Roane counties. Butler told the governor in his letter he understands several counties in his district and across the Cumberland Plateau are being considered as sites for the storage of nuclear waste. 

“We are a state of innovation and advanced technology, not a dump site. With the innovation and beauty of Tennessee, there are no economic benefits that will outweigh the potential environmental risks associated with the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus,” Butler said in his letter. “We must protect Tennessee and Tennesseans from anything that will potentially harm the state and its citizens. I implore you to protect this state and its citizens.”

The U.S. Department of Energy is proposing a $50 billion investment for a nuclear campus that will involve fuel production, uranium enrichment, reactor construction, nuclear production, fuel recycling and nuclear waste storage. 

Lee recently called it an “incredible opportunity” the state should pursue and said Tennessee has a “really good chance” at being one of two states in the running for the facility. He said he doesn’t know whether the federal government is asking for sites yet but added that the public would be included in an open process.

Butler’s opposition comes on the heels of concerns raised by Democratic Sen. Heidi Campbell of Nashville who asked Lee to disclose the location of any new nuclear energy and waste sites in partnership with the federal government to make sure the legislature can vet them.

The Department of Energy announced in July that Tennessee is one of five states being considered for the campus project as part of the Trump administration’s plan to bolster nuclear energy production. Campbell said the Lee administration had been keeping details quiet, other than saying the campus would be in the Oak Ridge area, which served as a federal research site for production of the atomic bomb in World War II. The Tennessee Valley Authority operates two nuclear plants as well.