Y-12 opportunities shared during regional nuclear workshop

  • Posted: Thursday, August 18, 2022, 10:05 am

Lloyd Jollay addresses participants at the Nuclear Opportunities Workshop, presented by the East Tennessee Economic Council
Lloyd Jollay addresses participants at the Nuclear Opportunities Workshop, presented by the East Tennessee Economic Council.

Few communities are more comfortable with nuclear energy than Oak Ridge. That message rang loud and clear at this year’s Nuclear Opportunities Workshop, presented by the East Tennessee Economic Council.

The one-day conference featured dozens of nuclear industry leaders discussing topics from advanced reactors and nuclear fuels to the manufacture of radioisotopes.

In the audience were area nuclear contractors, businesses, interested vendors, and student interns looking for a career.

Acting CNS Chief Executive Officer and Y-12 Site Manager Gene Sievers, in his welcoming remarks, pointed out that the Oak Ridge and Knoxville area, with its assets at Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the University of Tennessee, make it uniquely suited for growth opportunities.

“We believe that Oak Ridge has many assets that make it the best place in the country to work in the nuclear industry,” Sievers said.

Sievers outlined Y-12’s missions: maintaining the United States’ nuclear stockpile, reducing global threats, and fueling the U.S. nuclear navy.

“Oak Ridge is known for its long and distinguished history of nuclear innovation, beginning with the creation and production of nuclear materials that ended World War II,” said Sievers.

He added that it should be no surprise that East Tennessee is leading the way in new nuclear opportunities. Sievers said those opportunities are at Y-12. “CNS is hiring,” he said emphatically.

“These world class institutions, combined with a community that is supportive of nuclear, make this area ideal for nuclear and job growth,” he said.

The final panel of the conference featured a discussion on a nuclear workforce. Ashley Stowe, director of the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center, spoke directly to the student interns in the audience, saying that at Y-12 alone, there were more than a thousand jobs that will need to be filled in the next fiscal year.

“We are hiring across the board,” he said. “You have the opportunity to work in history (alluding to Y-12’s Manhattan Project beginnings), help maintain the present, and look forward to the future,” Stowe said to the more than 180 attendees at the conference.

East Tennessee Economic Council’s 2022 Nuclear Opportunities Workshop
At the East Tennessee Economic Council’s 2022 Nuclear Opportunities Workshop, attendees heard about the great job opportunities in East Tennessee.
Acting CNS President and Chief Executive Officer and Y-12 Site Manager Gene Sievers
Acting CNS President and Chief Executive Officer and Y-12 Site Manager Gene Sievers addresses the attendees.