Building Tennessee’s Nuclear Workforce

Battelle Education has been named a recipient of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education‘s (SCORE) Future Forward Innovation Grant — recognition for a new effort to connect Tennessee students to one of the state’s fastest-growing industries: nuclear energy.

The grant supports the Nuclear Leadership Pathway, a career and technical education (CTE) pathway that gives high school students a clear, credential-backed route into the nuclear energy sector. It’s a natural next step for our work in the state through the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN), and it answers a need felt statewide.

The opportunity — and the gap

Tennessee is already at the leading edge of America’s nuclear future, and that growth is creating real demand for skilled workers. A single advanced nuclear investment is projected to create more than 16,000 jobs and generate over $1.6 billion in economic output. But until now, the state has had no dedicated CTE pathway connecting students to those opportunities.

That’s the gap the Nuclear Leadership Pathway is built to close — not with a one-off class, but with a clear line a student can actually follow from classroom learning to a career in the nuclear workforce.

How the pathway works

The pathway is a stackable sequence of industry-recognized credentials that leads to an Associate of Applied Science in Nuclear Technology — earned concurrently with, or shortly after, high school. Along the way, students learn directly alongside employers and institutions that will eventually hire them.

The result is a route that runs from high school to postsecondary education to a career, without the usual gaps and guesswork. Just as important, it gives students a pathway to meaningful, family-sustaining careers in the places where they grew up.

If that credential-to-career model sounds familiar, it should. It’s the same approach behind our Manufacturing Pathways Pilot — meeting real workforce demand by making the path from classroom to career visible and reachable.

From K-2 to careers close to home

The Nuclear Leadership Pathway also completes an arc that TSIN started with the state’s youngest learners. Working with the University of Tennessee’s nuclear engineering faculty, TSIN developed the nation’s first K-2 nuclear energy curriculum — an 11-lesson unit that makes big energy ideas accessible to five- and six-year-olds through storytelling and hands-on engineering challenges.

Now that early spark has somewhere to go. A student who first meets nuclear science in second grade can follow a continuous path — one that carries them all the way to a credential and a career in the sector. That’s what a real pathway looks like: not a single program, but a connected experience from the earliest grades through the first day on the job.

A coalition, not a solo act

None of this works without the right partners at the table. The Nuclear Leadership Pathway brings together:

• Knox County Schools
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
• Roane State Community College
• University of Tennessee, Knoxville

With SCORE’s support, these partners are aligning K-12, higher education, and industry around a shared goal — so that the pathway a student starts is one that employers and colleges are ready to receive.

“Tennessee is uniquely positioned to lead the next generation of nuclear innovation, but that future depends on people. The Nuclear Leadership Pathway gives students a clear connection between what they learn in school and the opportunities emerging across the state, helping them build meaningful careers while meeting a critical workforce need.” — Ben Di’Chiara, Network Director for the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network

Our partners at TVA see the same opportunity:

“East Tennessee is already at the forefront of America’s nuclear future. That growth is driving demand for a skilled workforce. One advanced nuclear project alone is projected to create more than 16,000 jobs and generate more than $1.6 billion in economic output, yet Tennessee currently lacks a dedicated career and technical education pathway connecting students to these opportunities. The Nuclear Leadership Pathway changes that by creating a clear pathway from high school to industry-recognized credentials, postsecondary education, and careers in one of the state’s fastest-growing sectors. More importantly, it gives students the opportunity to build meaningful careers in their own communities while helping ensure Tennessee has the talent to lead the next generation of nuclear innovation.” — Trina Gallman, Senior Program Manager of STEM Education, Tennessee Valley Authority

What’s next

Recognition from SCORE is a strong start, and the real work is ahead: building out the credential sequence, deepening the employer and campus partnerships, and getting the pathway in front of the students who stand to benefit most. We’re grateful to SCORE for helping us tell this story — and to the partners helping create new opportunities for Tennessee students.

To learn more about our work across the state, visit the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network.

Read SCORE’s full announcement.

About Battelle Education

Battelle Education is a national nonprofit organization launched by Battelle that works with education leaders, school communities, and industry to prepare students for the future of learning and work. Through partnerships, networks, and system-level initiatives, Battelle Education helps advance workforce readiness and opportunity for all students. Learn more at education.battelle.org.