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Type One Energy to invest $223.5M

Boston-based nuclear power innovator Type One Energy plans to invest $223.5 million to build a research facility and employ about 130 people in part of the former TVA Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton, TVA, state and local officials have announced.

A part of the Bull Run administrative offices will be renovated for use by Type One Energy, but none of the power plant itself will be involved, said Andy Wallace, president of the Anderson County Economic Development Association.

The facility will be used to develop the company’s prototype Infinity One “stellarator fusion” machine. It will use a form of nuclear fusion to generate electricity, a process the company calls safer and more efficient than currently used forms of fission-type nuclear power generation.

For the safety part, “In a stellarator, fusion will extinguish itself within a few seconds if the power plant is damaged … in some way,” the company explains on its website.

It’s also efficient enough that, “Just a single gram of fusion fuel releases as much energy as burning 10,000 kilograms of coal,” the website notes.

“This enormous energy density generates the power for a 250,000-person city for a full year with only a few hundred kilograms of deuterium and lithium.”

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Norris sets up utility

Stormwater runoff targeted; fees next


Norris City Council members and other city officials discuss creation of a stormwater utility department for the city during the council meeting on Monday, March 11. From left are Councilman Will Grinder, Councilman Bill Grieve, Mayor Chris Mitchell, City Manager Adam Ledford, and City Recorder Sandy Johnson. - G. Chambers Williams III
The Norris City Council on Monday night passed on final reading an ordinance creating a stormwater utility, with hopes that it could help the city avoid future trouble with state environmental authorities over raw sewage spills from the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

But the council still must set up an administrative structure for the utility, and decide on how much residents would have to pay on their monthly water bills to fund the new department.

Earlier suggestions for a monthly fee have put it somewhere under $5, but the council has not heard any formal recommendations yet from the city manager on how much it might need to charge.

On a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Chuck Nicholson abstaining, the council passed Ordinance 672, titled, “An Ordinance of the City of Norris, Tennessee, Establishing a Stormwater Utility.”

The intent of the council is to set fees for residents and businesses that would pay for the operations of the department, which would operate separately from the city’s water works and public works departments.

Nicholson from the start has opposed setting a flat fee for residential property for the stormwater utility, instead proposing a complicated formula that would create a sliding scale and/or exempt some property owners from having to pay the monthly fee if their property doesn’t contribute stormwater runoff to the city’s stormwater collection system.

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Daniel Forrester wins Chancery Court judge nomination

Daniel Forrester won the Republican nomination for Chancery Court judge in the March 5 primary election, outpolling three others, including the current chancellor, James W. Brooks.

In the Republican race for president, Donald J. Trump won with 75.66% of the vote. Joe Biden won the Democratic side with 93.14% of the vote, He had no opposition.

In the Republican race for District 7 Chancery Court judge, Forrester won with 46.34% of the vote, beating Brooks (32.8%), Roger Miller (13.43%) and Evan Hauser (10.45%) .

On the Republican side:

• Aaron Wells won an uncontested race for County Commission District 6.

• John K. Alley Jr. won uncontested for assessor.

• Dail R. Cantrell won uncontested for School Board District 3.

• Darren Carden won uncontested for School Board District 4.

• Sherri Jarnigan-Beaty won uncontested for School Board District 5.

• Genda J. Langenberg won uncontested for School Board District 8.

On the Democratic side, Ebony Capshaw won an uncontested primary for County Commission District 6, Theresa Evans Venable uncontested for School Board District 5, and David Miller uncontested for School Board District 8.

Social media policies to be topic of Norris council workshop

Whether or not the city of Norris should start its own Facebook page and maybe use other social media platforms as well will be the topic of a special City Council workshop to be held at 6 p.m. Monday, April 29.

The goal is to set policies for the use of social media, including the suggestion by some that the city choose not to participate in platforms such as Facebook.

Councilman Chuck Nicholson brought the topic up during the council’s February meeting, and it was on the agenda for further discussion at the March council meeting, held Monday night (March 11).

Nicholson said that since last month’s meeting, he had sent an email to all the other council members and City Manager Adam Leford listing nearby cities that have their own Facebook pages to communicate information to residents.

Some on the council, including Councilwoman Loretta Painter, said they worry that keeping up with a Facebook page would keep city staff members from taking care of other, more necessary city business.

That’s in part because they would have to be able to respond to comments posted by Facebook users on the city’s posts. But it was also pointed out that the city could operate a Facebook page with no user commenting allowed.

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Oak Ridge land bank looking for developers

The Oak Ridge Land Bank is looking for new developers for a future downtown-style development on some vacant lots.

The property the Land Bank hopes to sell is 6.5 acres near Rutgers Avenue, Wilson Street and Main Street East.

Submissions are due May 3. Nearby buildings include JC Penney, Tinseltown and the American Museum of Science and Energy.

City officials have laid out the kind of development they want and what the area’s zoning allows and encourages.

“The intention is to create an intense, active, diverse, walkable and unique urban, mixed-use district,” Oak Ridge Planning and Development Director Wayne Blasius said.

The city has zoned the area to include retail, restaurants, and residential or office developments, encouraging multi-story buildings and walking routes. It’s aiming for an urban rather than suburban feel.

The Land Bank will evaluate developers based on how well they fit this model.

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