US To Build $100 Billion AI Data Centre At Former Kentucky Uranium Plant

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected investment firm Brookfield Asset Management to develop and operate a $100 billion artificial intelligence (AI) data centre complex at the government-owned Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. The project, which includes a natural gas-fired power plant and battery storage facility, is the latest effort to repurpose Cold War-era uranium enrichment sites. A similar initiative was announced in March for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio.

The Paducah and Portsmouth facilities are undergoing extensive cleanup, decontamination and decommissioning after decades of supporting the country's nuclear weapons programme and commercial nuclear power generation. The initiative aligns with the Trump administration's strategy of making AI leadership over China a key national security and economic objective.

Government Highlights Economic Benefits

The federal government is transforming former DOE sites into "engines of innovation and economic growth" to "ensure the United States wins the A.I. race," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement on Wednesday.

"There will be a lot of new natural gas power plants, a large data centre, thousands of jobs and tens of billions of dollars of investment in rural western Kentucky," Wright said on the Fox News programme Fox & Friends.

Earlier this month, the DOE selected engineering contractor Amentum to negotiate a lease for another AI data centre and power plant at South Carolina's Savannah River Site, a former nuclear weapons production complex.

Brookfield, NextEra To Lead Development

Brookfield Asset Management, headquartered in New York, manages more than $1 trillion in assets, with real estate, energy and data centre services among its core investments. The Paducah project will also involve NextEra Energy and local utility companies.

Florida-based NextEra Energy will build and own the power plant, which will include 2 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation, transmission network upgrades and 2.6 gigawatts of battery energy storage to support a new 1.8-gigawatt AI data centre campus. According to industry standards, one gigawatt can supply electricity to about 750,000 homes.

The project still requires approval of a power service agreement by state utility regulators, while surplus electricity will be supplied to the regional grid. Construction is expected to be completed by 2031.

Cleanup To Continue Alongside Development

The public-private partnership is also intended to support the environmental cleanup of the approximately 3,550-acre Paducah site. The facility was included among 16 federal locations identified last year as suitable for technology companies to develop data management and storage infrastructure.

The uranium enrichment plant ceased operations in 2013, and its gaseous diffusion technology is now considered obsolete. The DOE estimates cleanup of the Paducah site will continue until 2065 at a cost of about $17 billion, covering demolition of buildings, dismantling uranium converters, refrigerant removal and treatment of extensive groundwater contamination.