OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) – New jobs and new technology are coming to East Tennessee. The Coqui RadioPharmaceuticals Corporation announced plans Thursday to open in Oak Ridge in the next few years.

Coqui hopes to open a medical isotope production facility to produce isotopes that diagnose and treat diseases.

These isotopes are used in 18 million medical procedures each year and as of now, there are no facilities able to produce the isotope in the United States.

Coqui is working to change that, saying Oak Ridge is the best place to make that happen.

“Being in Oak Ridge is just fantastic. There’s a nuclear talent pool. Everybody understands nuclear. It’s like Disney World for what we’re doing,” said CEO and founder Carmen Bigles.

So far, Coqui has obtained land for the facility from the Department of Energy. They hope to be fully operational by 2025, bringing more than 200 high paying jobs to the region.