New Nuclear Power Plant for Piketon, Ohio?

ByRod Adams

At the risk of overloading you with new posts from Atomic Insights – three in one day is a bit much – I have to share one more story that kind of caught me by surprise. Apparently there is going to be a major announcement staged at Piketon, Ohio, the site of a former enrichment facility, on Thursday, June 18. When I first saw the link to the story in my Google Alert, I thought there must have been a misunderstanding by the journalist at the Columbus Dispatch.

That does not appear to be the case. Several other blogs and publications have picked up on the story with what appears to be somewhat independent research – they are not just copying or harvesting other people’s work.

Here is the brief summary – political leaders including Governor Strickland, Senator Voinovich (a strong nuclear power supporter who was there at the B&W mPower™ announcement on June 10th) and Rep. Schmidt will join on the podium with representatives from Areva, Duke Energy and USEC. They will apparently be announcing plans to begin the licensing process for an EPR with some investment from all three companies. I had heard rumors this week that the NRC total applications in process count was going to remain unchanged, even though at least one review has been suspended – this one might be the one that is replacing that one in the count.

There is some mention of possibility that there will be a second plant plus an enrichment facility located on the same site.

All of the publications have pointed to the importance of creating as many as 4,000 new construction jobs in southern Ohio, a region that has been hit hard by the economic recession since it was already having challenges before our current crisis began.

Rod Adams
Rod Adams

Rod Adams is Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital, a venture fund that invests in advanced nuclear, which provides affordable access to this clean energy sector to pronuclear and impact investors. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., which was one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. He has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology, regulation, and policies for several decades through Atomic Insights, both as its primary blogger and as host of The Atomic Show Podcast. Please click here to subscribe to the Atomic Show RSS feed. To join Rod's pronuclear network and receive his occasional newsletter, click here.

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