A Republican state lawmaker from East Tennessee has publicly opposed Governor Bill Lee's push to bring a large federal nuclear complex to the region, arguing that the hazards of storing radioactive waste outweigh the projected economic gains.
Rep. Ed Butler of Rickman wrote to Lee on August 10 to register his objection to Tennessee serving as a host for nuclear waste. Butler said his position reflects what he described as extreme concern among residents of House District 41 and the surrounding area. That district takes in Overton and Morgan counties along with portions of Anderson, Fentress, and Roane counties. Butler wrote that he understands several counties in his district and elsewhere on the Cumberland Plateau are under consideration as waste storage sites.
In his letter, Butler said Tennessee is a state of innovation and advanced technology rather than a dump site, and he asked the governor to shield residents from the environmental risk tied to the proposed Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus.
The U.S. Department of Energy has floated roughly $50 billion for the campus, which would combine fuel production, uranium enrichment, reactor construction, nuclear generation, fuel recycling, and waste storage under one program. Lee has called the project an incredible opportunity and said Tennessee has a strong chance of advancing to the final two candidate states.
Butler's letter follows questions from Democratic Sen. Heidi Campbell of Nashville, who asked the governor to disclose proposed site locations so the legislature can review them. The Energy Department named Tennessee one of five finalists in July. State officials have said only that the campus would sit in the Oak Ridge area, where the Tennessee Valley Authority also operates two nuclear plants.
Source: Tennessee Lookout - https://tennesseelookout.com/briefs/tennessee-republican-balks-at-nuclear-campus-waste-storage/