Orano, labor unions sign deal to advance Tennessee uranium plant construction

Orano USA’s new labor pact for Project IKE turns a paper promise into a construction test: can the U.S. nuclear supply chain line up the skilled workers needed to actually build a domestic enrichment plant in Oak Ridge?

On April 22, Orano USA and North America’s Building Trades Unions signed a memorandum of understanding to support construction of the planned uranium enrichment facility in Tennessee. Orano said the agreement is designed to help deliver the project safely, on schedule, to high quality standards and in a cost-effective way, making labor alignment a practical milestone rather than a ceremonial one.

That matters because Project IKE is no small industrial add-on. Orano describes the plant as a $5 billion facility that would cover about 750,000 square feet and employ more than 1,000 people during construction. Commercial operation is targeted for the early 2030s, putting the project on the long runway that comes with nuclear fuel infrastructure, where financing, licensing and labor capacity all have to line up before a single commercial centrifuge can matter.

The MOU gives Orano a stronger framework for mobilizing trained construction labor around a project that has become one of Tennessee’s biggest energy-industry bets. In March, the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board signed a development agreement with Orano that transferred the 624-acre Self-Sufficiency Parcel 2 site for Project IKE. Oak Ridge officials called it one of the largest single capital investments in state history. State materials have said the project is expected to create more than 300 direct jobs in Roane County once operations begin.

Project IKE has also been moving through the regulatory lane. Orano submitted its Environmental Report to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on February 10, calling it a major licensing milestone after more than a year of environmental analysis, technical evaluation and interagency coordination. The company said it plans to submit the complete facility license application later in 2026. A pre-application meeting with the NRC took place on December 10, 2024, when Orano outlined plans to develop, construct, own and operate the facility.

The site itself is being framed as part of a broader U.S. fuel-cycle reset. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced on September 4, 2024, that Oak Ridge was the preferred location for the plant, which would sit on the Roane County side of Oak Ridge in the East Tennessee Technology Park area. The name IKE points back to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1953 Atoms for Peace address, a nod to the civil nuclear role Orano wants the plant to play as a domestic source of low-enriched uranium.

For Orano, the labor deal is the next proof point. If Project IKE is going to become a strategic asset for HALEU and broader fuel security, the workforce has to be lined up before the project’s construction window closes.