[Video] DOE Portsmouth Site's Reindustrialization Advances: 350+ Acres Transferred Toward a $33 Billion American Energy Hub
The U.S. Department of Energy on November 5 posted an official video on the reindustrialization of the Portsmouth Site near Piketon in Pike County, Ohio: the site's community reuse organization has now received transfers of more than 350 acres, almost 10 percent of the original site footprint, and an American Energy Hub backed by a $33 billion investment is taking shape on the former gaseous diffusion plant land. In the video, Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh meets American workers who are demolishing Cold War-era nuclear facilities at the site. The official video is embedded on this page.
According to DOE, the land has been transferred to the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI), a nonprofit formed in 1998 with a staff of only three, whose 15-member board of local leaders meets monthly to discuss community needs and potential projects. SODI's funding comes through two channels: asset recovery, in which surplus site material is donated, resold or recycled locally, and building and property transfers, in which federal land is evaluated and, after board approval, sold to industry to reindustrialize the site.
Central to the reuse is a public-private partnership announced earlier this year, in which SoftBank and AEP Ohio are redeveloping DOE land, modernizing energy infrastructure and developing advanced computing in southern Ohio. Greg Simonton, strategic planner with DOE's Portsmouth Paducah Project Office, said the site was originally chosen for its secluded, rural nature and proximity to resources and infrastructure needed for industry, and that those same features are an asset in reindustrialization, as the site still contains infrastructure beneficial to industry.
SODI Executive Director Steve Shepherd said the organization has already invested millions in the surrounding counties, developing industrial parks, a GIS system, workforce training programs, a business incubator and an entrepreneur loan fund benefiting Jackson, Pike, Ross and Scioto counties. SODI Legal Counsel Kevin Shoemaker said the community's desire since the site ended uranium enrichment has been for the site to be cleaned up and made available for new industry, and that after years of reaching out to developers, people are now reaching out to SODI because the value of the site is well known.
The Portsmouth Site produced enriched uranium for the U.S. nuclear program during the Cold War and has been in cleanup and decommissioning since enrichment ended. DOE says that with SODI's help, the site is transforming to create space for a new American Energy Hub, new jobs for generations to come and economic vitality in the local community.
(Source: U.S. Department of Energy)
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：俄亥俄州南部多元化倡议组织（SODI）人员在朴茨茅斯旧址的Centrus设施前合影，该公司近期宣布扩建以支持铀浓缩。图：美国能源部。 / Photo: Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI) staff and board members at the Centrus facility on the Portsmouth Site; Centrus recently announced an expansion to support uranium enrichment. Photo: U.S. Department of Energy.
