Southern Ohio is inching closer to hosting one of the country’s first next-generation nuclear power hubs, with federal regulators and Big Tech both helping to nudge the project forward. On Thursday, the Department of Energy signed off on a key safety review for Oklo’s Aurora reactor design in Idaho, while the company, buoyed by a prepaid power deal with Meta, continues to push a 1.2-gigawatt nuclear campus at the former Portsmouth site in Pike County. Local officials are talking jobs and investment, even as some residents and worker advocates keep one eye on the project and the other on the site’s radioactive legacy and ongoing federal compensation programs.
DOE signs off on Oklo’s Idaho safety analysis
The Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office has approved the Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory, a major requirement under DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program and a key box checked on the way to deployment. World Nuclear News and Oklo’s own announcement both reported the move, which clears DOE to keep advancing the pilot project.
Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte called the approval a milestone that “establishes a foundation for future Aurora deployments,” language the company highlighted in its release as it works to convince investors, regulators, and communities that its compact reactors are ready for prime time.
Meta prepay and Oklo’s Ohio campus
In Pike County, that future is being sketched out on 206 acres managed by the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, where Oklo plans a 1.2-gigawatt, multi-phase nuclear power campus to feed Meta’s energy-hungry data centers. The company says pre-construction and site characterization are slated to begin in 2026, with a first phase targeted for around 2030.
Meta has framed its prepaid power agreement with Oklo as part of a larger push to lock in carbon-free electricity for its expanding AI and data center operations. Oklo’s project descriptions lay out a multi-stage build on the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant footprint, one of the marquee sites SODI has been trying to reposition for industrial reuse.
Fuel supply and Centrus’ HALEU push
The shiny renderings only work if there is fuel. To that end, Oklo and Centrus announced plans to form a joint venture to explore deconversion and other fuel-cycle services, potentially co-located at Centrus’s existing enrichment complex in Piketon. The planned collaboration was described in a joint statement, with PR Newswire detailing the agreement.
Centrus has separately noted that it holds a Department of Energy task order to expand production of high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, in Piketon, work the company says should begin adding new capacity around 2029. Centrus CEO Amir Vexler has pitched the effort as a crucial step toward rebuilding domestic enrichment capability and supporting the wave of advanced reactor companies like Oklo that are trying to deploy.
Local history, worker claims and community reaction
The Pike County site itself comes with a complicated backstory. The planned campus sits on the grounds of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, long a Department of Energy facility and now being stewarded for redevelopment by SODI, with the property featured on PORTS maps and fact sheets. The Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative promotes the area’s heavy-duty utility connections and industrial infrastructure as a selling point for power-hungry tenants.
Local reporting captures a community that is intrigued but hardly unanimous. Some county and regional officials have welcomed the prospect of high-wage jobs and new tax revenue. Others, including watchdog groups and nearby residents, are urging a go-slow approach, pointing to contamination issues at the old plant and the long shadow of federal cleanup. The split reaction has been documented by the Scioto Valley Guardian and Cleveland.com.
The site’s worker health history is central to that unease. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health notes that Portsmouth workers are covered under federal compensation programs for radiation-linked illnesses, a reminder that nuclear jobs in the region have never been risk-free. NIOSH/CDC documentation details outreach efforts and eligibility rules under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, which continues to process claims tied to the former plant.
Why this matters beyond Pike County
Industry analysts see Pike County as part of a bigger story playing out across the power grid. Artificial intelligence and cloud computing are driving tech companies to hunt for around-the-clock electricity, and nuclear is suddenly back in style. Meta’s roughly 6.6-gigawatt nuclear procurement earlier this year signaled just how far corporate buyers are willing to go to secure firm, carbon-free power. Axios and other outlets have cast these long-term nuclear deals as a big accelerant for advanced reactor projects and the HALEU supply chain that feeds them.
If Oklo, Centrus, and Meta all hit their timelines, Pike County could end up as a national test case: a single cluster where new reactor construction, commercial fuel production, and massive tech-sector power contracts all intersect on the same patch of ground.
What to watch next
Over the next few years, the action will shift from press releases to paperwork and concrete. For Oklo, the near-term markers include pre-construction work and local permitting expected in 2026, along with continued licensing steps with DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as it works toward commercial authorization around 2030.
Centrus will be watched for progress on its HALEU capacity expansions in Piketon, which the company expects to begin delivering in 2029. Closer to home, Pike County residents will be tracking a different scorecard: whether the promised jobs and tax base show up in tandem with rigorous monitoring, cleanup, and community engagement from both the companies and federal agencies that have shaped this site for generations.
