A small Tennessee town is calling on local leaders to reject a uranium facility : NPR

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The United States is running out of a key ingredient for nuclear weapons, high-purity depleted uranium. Today, one of Tennessee’s smallest towns finds itself at the center of a new global arms race. For the Appalachia + Mid-South newsroom, Pierce Gentry reports.

PIERCE GENTRY, BYLINE: Jonesborough, Tennessee, population 6,000, is one of the oldest towns in all of Appalachia. It is perhaps best known for its annual storytelling festival. Its picturesque city center looks like a Christmas card. That’s what attracted Suzanne Fort (ph) and her husband here 25 years ago. They purchased a dilapidated Civil War-era property along a lazy creek known as Little Limestone Creek.

SUZANNE FORT: We love history, okay? This is the heart of Tennessee. It took me seven years every day to search for a historic brick house.

GENTRY: Unbeknownst to most residents, in September, nuclear technology company BWXT signed a $1.6 billion federal contract to expand a munitions plant on the outskirts of town. The project would refine depleted uranium into a metallic form that the government needs to make nuclear weapons. This is not the same as the enriched uranium used in the warhead core. Instead, it acts as a shield, making the explosion stronger for longer. Many community members say they were only informed of the plans at the last minute.

FORT: I said, oh, my God, no. We need to get the message out and make it known quickly. We have to stop this.

GENTRY: The company received state approval to emit more than 250 pounds of radioactive dust a year, which environmental advocates say is dangerous to human health and can increase cancer risks. Residents fear the dust could end up in Little Limestone Creek, which runs through the company’s property and feeds the Nolichucky River, a source of drinking water for millions of people. All BWXT needs to proceed with its project is local approval of the rezoning.

FORT: I don’t know if we can stay. This is our dream. And how can you make a dream come true when they contaminate everything around you?

GENTRY: Fort is one of thousands of nearby residents who feel victimized by years of federal maneuvering, starting with President Donald Trump’s desire to build a new nuclear warhead during his first administration.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and so powerful that it will deter any act of aggression.

GENTRY: During his second term, Trump ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing just weeks after BWXT signed its federal contract. Now, many Jonesborough residents are pressuring the county commission to reject the project. This is Luther Miller (ph), a retired Vietnam War veteran, who lives next to the factory.

LUTHER MILLER: I feel like every commissioner on this panel should say no. There should be no doubt about that.

GENTRY: Most of the 15 county commissioners have not said how they will vote on the project, which the company says will bring 175 jobs and investment to the area. Commissioner Jodi Jones says she weighs these promised economic benefits against the potential impacts on local residents.

JODI JONES: I’m probably most interested in the health of my community.

GENTRY: BWXT declined an interview for this story, but said in a statement that the company has been transparent with the community and will operate the facility safely. The county commission plans to vote on the company’s rezoning request at the end of the month.

For NPR News, I’m Pierce Gentry in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

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