Today Ohio Governor Ted Strickland was in Piketon, Ohio at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Portsmouth site for a major announcement with executives from Duke Energy, AREVA, USEC Inc., UniStar Nuclear Energy and the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI). Together they shared news of the formation of an alliance to pursue the development of America’s first clean energy park project on the DOE site.
The clean energy park project builds on the DOE’s initiative to take former weapons sites and transform available resources for use in future clean energy production. This supports the reindustrialization and reutilization of key site assets, while aiding with site cleanup and providing sustainable economic development for the region. Gov. Strickland emphasized the multiple benefits of the project, and how it “will revitalize the region’s economy, further advance Ohio’s nuclear infrastructure, help address our energy needs and be part of Ohio’s solution to the challenge of climate change.”
The initial focus of the alliance, formally known as the Southern Ohio Clean Energy Park Alliance, will be to evaluate the DOE Portsmouth site as a potential location for a new nuclear power plant. AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon noted that “an advanced reactor, such as the U.S. EPR™, offers many benefits to the region including providing reliable electricity to more than one million households, without producing greenhouse gases.” The alliance will utilize the various assets of each partner, from project management, licensing, and nuclear operations. It represents a unique opportunity for all parties to transition a portion of a former DOE weapons complex into a commercial asset.
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