$11 million grant, 1,100+ jobs | TRISO-X expanding its footprint in Oak Ridge
The $11 million grant comes from the State of Tennessee's Nuclear Energy Supply Chain Investment Fund, which was established by Governor Bill Lee in 2023.
Four years after TRISO-X wagered that America’s nuclear revival would run through Oak Ridge, the state of Tennessee is placing a bet of its own on the company.
The advanced nuclear fuel maker has won an $11 million grant from the state to expand its fuel fabrication campus in Oak Ridge, a project expected to create more than 1,100 jobs and draw hundreds of millions of dollars in company investment. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and state economic development officials announced the award on Wednesday.
The grant makes TRISO-X the ninth company to draw from Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Fund, and it reinforces a familiar pattern: much of the state’s nuclear ambition keeps circling back to Oak Ridge. Housing Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and some of the world’s leading scientists, the region has spent 80 years at the center of the nation’s nuclear research, and it is now emerging as a proving ground to build a domestic supply chain for the next generation of reactors.
What TRISO-X builds, and why the fuel matters
Based in Oak Ridge, TRISO-X is a wholly owned subsidiary of Maryland-based X-Energy, Inc. The company makes the specialized fuel that runs advanced small modular reactors (SMRs), the compact plants that much of the energy industry is counting on to add carbon-free power to a strained grid.
TRISO-X already employs about 250 people in the Oak Ridge area, and it broke ground in 2022 on what was, at the time, North America’s first commercial advanced nuclear fuel facility. That plant, known as TX-1, is under construction in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The new state grant supports the next phase: a second, larger commercial fuel facility, TX-2, along with a dedicated research and development center, both planned for the Horizon Center Industrial Park adjacent to TX-1.
“This is an important step in building a world-class nuclear fuel campus capable of powering next-generation nuclear,” said Joel Duling, president of TRISO-X. “Oak Ridge stands as a cornerstone of nuclear innovation, and we are proud to carry its legacy forward with the continued support of the State of Tennessee.”
When the campus is complete, TRISO-X says it will be one of the largest commercial-scale nuclear fuel operations in the world, with the capacity to fuel roughly 55 of X-energy’s Xe-100 reactors. That is close to 4.5 gigawatts of nuclear power, or enough to run about 3.3 million U.S. homes.
A state fund that keeps pointing east
The $11 million comes from Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Fund, which Lee launched with a $50 million allocation in the 2023-2024 budget. The General Assembly has added to it in the 2024, 2025, and 2026 sessions, totalling $95 million since its creation.
Deputy Gov. Stuart C. McWhorter, who also serves as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), tied the award to the strategy behind the fund.
“Tennessee is playing a critical role in advancing America’s energy independence, thanks to the leadership of Gov. Lee and our Tennessee General Assembly in establishing the Nuclear Energy Fund,” McWhorter said. “TRISO-X’s investment is a strong example of how that strategy is strengthening our nuclear ecosystem and delivering meaningful results across the state, and we appreciate the company’s continued confidence in Tennessee.”
The company reached a regulatory milestone earlier this year, becoming the first to receive a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license to build and operate a commercial-scale facility for producing high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), the more concentrated fuel that advanced reactors require. The 40-year Special Nuclear Material License covers both TX-1 and TX-2.
Roane County’s early bet pays forward
For local leaders, the expansion is a return on a wager placed before the region’s nuclear resurgence was a sure thing. Roane County Executive Wade Creswell framed the announcement as a continuation of that early faith.
“Four years ago, TRISO-X became one of the first investors to believe that America’s nuclear renaissance would take place in the Oak Ridge Corridor,” Creswell said. “Now, TRISO-X is doubling down on its faith in the people of Oak Ridge and Roane and Anderson Counties through a phase two expansion to produce advanced nuclear fuel for our nation’s growing energy demands. TRISO-X is an important member of the most comprehensive nuclear energy ecosystem in the country, and Roane County stands ready to help them succeed.”
TX-1 is expected to be finished in the first half of 2028. TX-2, the facility the grant is meant to advance, is still in the design phase, and the company has not set a timeline for it.
What started with a pilot line and a bet on a corridor is now the kind of build-out that puts the East Tennessee town at the front of a national race for nuclear fuel.
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