The Department of Energy announced on July 28, 2026 that it selected Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Idaho as potential host states for a new program called Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, intended to rebuild and modernize the country's domestic nuclear fuel cycle. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed non-binding memorandums of understanding with each of the five states to continue evaluating potential sites and hosting arrangements.
The department said it reviewed 28 applications from 26 states before narrowing the field. Each proposed campus could support activities spanning the full nuclear fuel lifecycle, including fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing of used nuclear fuel and final disposition of waste, and some states may also pursue advanced reactor deployment, power generation, manufacturing or co-located data centers on the same sites.
DOE said the campuses have the potential to draw up to $50 billion in capital investment nationwide, generate as much as $10 billion in state and local tax revenue, and create close to 25,000 jobs once a campus is established. Governors from all five finalist states, including Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, cited existing nuclear infrastructure and workforce experience, with Tennessee pointing to its history hosting Manhattan Project-era facilities in Oak Ridge.
States that move forward will sign formal hosting agreements with the department at a later date. DOE has indicated it plans to select a smaller group of finalists from among the five contenders to actually host the campuses.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy -- https://www.energy.gov/articles/nuclear-lifecycle-innovation-campuses-contenders-announced