Governor Bill Lee Signs Executive Order to Create Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Council

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee traveled to the University of Tennessee’s College of Engineering to sign an executive order creating Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Council. The Council is designed to provide the Governor and the Tennessee State Legislator with recommendations concerning the development of nuclear energy within the state and will include representatives from all levels of government, as well as members of the private sector, educators, and nuclear developers. The formation of the Nuclear Energy Advisory Council comes as the Tennessee State Legislator recently approved a fifty million dollar nuclear energy fast-track development fund designed to incentivize nuclear power-related businesses to develop or continue to develop in Tennessee, thereby providing the state with what the Governor described as an ecosystem conducive to advancing new nuclear technologies. In addition to policy and legislative recommendations, the Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Council will also provide recommendations concerning the dispersion of these fast-track funds. This announcement also follows a recent visit from Governor Bill Lee to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Clinch River Nuclear Site in March where TVA announced a partnership with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Ontario Power Generation, and Synthos Green Energy to develop and demonstrate the first GEB BWRK-300 Small Nuclear Reactors.