OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WOKI / WVLT) – Federal officials, industry executives and educators gathered in Oak Ridge on Tuesday to address what they describe as one of the biggest challenges facing Tennessee’s rapidly growing nuclear industry: finding enough workers.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly joined Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and nuclear industry leaders at Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ “Next Steps for the Nuclear Workforce” summit. The event focused on findings from ORAU’s newly released East Tennessee Nuclear Workforce Demand Assessment.
The study found East Tennessee’s nuclear workforce currently includes approximately 17,000 workers, but demand is expected to grow to roughly 21,000 workers by 2032, creating a need for thousands of additional employees.
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