As Kairos Power’s high-temperature, fluoride salt–cooled reactor facilities in Oak Ridge, Tenn., take shape, the company is partnering with multiple regional groups to prepare the local workforce for new nuclear career opportunities.

Kairos has signed a memorandum of understanding with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Barnard Construction, Roane State Community College, Chattanooga State Community College, and Oak Ridge Schools to form the Nuclear Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Precast, or NuCAMP.

The drive to Kairos Power’s reactor demonstration site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is not only scenic—it’s historic. Nearly 85 years ago, roughly 30,000 construction workers transformed orchards and farmland into a key Manhattan Project site. Depending on your route, you may pass by one of the three gatehouses that were once military checkpoints controlling access to Atomic Energy Commission production facilities.