Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The first day of the annual Nuclear Opportunities Workshop (NOW), hosted by the East Tennessee Economic Council, is in the books after another record-breaking year.

From its humble beginnings just eight years ago, that first NOW conference attracted 80 some odd people and, if you believe folklore, 60 of those attendees were speakers. The event was suspended for a few years during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has grown exponentially since resuming in 2022.

The 2024 NOW event attracted slightly more than 600 people, necessitating a move from the Airport Hilton in Knoxville to the Knoxville Convention Center, and guess what? Attendance jumped to 1,000 registrants from 34 states.

More important, as is the case each year, the conference is chock-full of content.

Clean Up Today for a Nuclear Tomorrow

A four-person panel, moderated by Adam DeMella, Founder of AMM Strategies, featured three local residents and a soon-to-be resident. They were:

1. Joe Aylor, Director of Critical Projects for UCOR, the prime contractor for clean up on the DOE reservation;
2. Erik Olds, Manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Environmental Management Office;
3. Jean-Luc Palayer, Chief Executive Officer of Orano USA that plans to make the largest investment in Tennessee history in Oak Ridge; and
4. Mike Magill, President of the new Oak Ridge Corridor Development Corporation.

“There is something going on, and it’s right here” in Oak Ridge, DeMella said.

Palayer put a face on that very fact, explains Orano “would not have expected to selected Oak Ridge 18 months ago for Project Ike.” Yet, that’s exactly what Orano did because everyone in the community had the same vision and there was a strong commitment to workforce development.

Magill added that he thought three ingredients are critical to Oak Ridge’s success in the past and in the future. They are:

1. Humility;
2. Credibility; and
3. Ability to deliver on what is promised.

Christina England

A Senior Attorney for Nuclear Law at the Department of Energy (DOE), England is a dual graduate of Vanderbilt University and a 14-year veteran of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

She noted that China is building 10 nuclear plants annually, which prompted President Trump’s Executive Orders that declare “a national energy emergency.”

Saying that the nation needs “reliable, safe, around-the-clock energy,” England also declared that “public confidence is a critical piece in having a nuclear renaissance.”

She noted Tennessee is often cited as the Gold Standard for nuclear.

The NOW event wraps up on Wednesday with more panels and other sessions.

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