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Tennessee helped usher in the nuclear age. It wants to lead the way again.

AP Photo/Erik Schelzig / This Aug. 17, 2012 file photo shows signs warning against trespassing onto the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The price tag for a new uranium processing facility in Tennessee has grown nearly sevenfold in eight years to upward of $6 billion because of problems that include a redesign. The nuclear labs are getting renewed scrutiny in light of forced across-the-board federal budget cuts and high-profile security lapses, such as an incident last year in Tennessee. Protesters there cut through a fence and spread blood on the walls of a plutonium lab before being detected.
AP Photo/Erik Schelzig / This Aug. 17, 2012 file photo shows signs warning against trespassing onto the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The price tag for a new uranium processing facility in Tennessee has grown nearly sevenfold in eight years to upward of $6 billion because of problems that include a redesign. The nuclear labs are getting renewed scrutiny in light of forced across-the-board federal budget cuts and high-profile security lapses, such as an incident last year in Tennessee. Protesters there cut through a fence and spread blood on the walls of a plutonium lab before being detected. AP Photo/Erik Schelzig / This Aug. 17, 2012 file photo shows signs warning against trespassing onto the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The price tag for a new uranium processing facility in Tennessee has grown nearly sevenfold in eight years to upward of $6 billion because of problems that include a redesign. The nuclear labs are getting renewed scrutiny in light of forced across-the-board federal budget cuts and high-profile security lapses, such as an incident last year in Tennessee. Protesters there cut through a fence and spread blood on the walls of a plutonium lab before being detected.

By Katie Myers / Grist 9 min read

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.

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Luther “Sunny” Miller is nearly 80, but in his younger days, he worked at Aerojet, a rocket and missile manufacturer located quite literally in his backyard. He can’t prove it, but he worries that his thyroid and bladder problems, and his wife’s kidney disease, can be traced to the plant.

Last year, national nuclear supplier BWX Technologies purchased the factory in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and announced plans for a significant expansion. The new facility will convert depleted uranium oxide supplied by the Department of Energy into high-purity depleted uranium. The 10-year, $1.6-billion contract will supply the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with the material needed to maintain the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Despite the company’s promise to bring 175 permanent jobs to the area, Miller and many neighbors were left irate.

“They’re going to turn over the most beautiful parts of Tennessee into a nuclear waste area,” Miller said.