A festive ceremony of the inauguration of element 117 of the Periodic table of D.I. Mendeleev – tennessine was held in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Tennessee, USA) on 27 January 2017. The ceremony was attended by a JINR delegation headed by JINR Director Academician V.A. Matveev; the delegation also consisted of FLNR Scientific Leader Academician Yu.Ts. Oganessian, JINR Vice-Director Professor M.G. Itkis and FLNR Director Professor S.N. Dmitriev. The high efficiency of scientific cooperation between JINR and ORNL, as well as the importance of its further development, especially in light of the implementation of the JINR the project – the Factory of Superheavy Elements, were especially noted in speeches of Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Dr. Thomas Mason, Governor of Tennessee Mr. William Haslam and JINR Director, Academician V.A. Matveev.