A Lexington company wants to built a massive nuclear plant in Kentucky, but the process to bring such a facility onto the energy grid would likely take a decade or more.
If it’s built, Prosperity One would be one of the world’s largest at 6.6 gigawatts. It would be in Lewis County, home to 13,000 residents along the Ohio River.
The Nuclear Company said Wednesday it wants to begin construction in 2028 if it receives the necessary approvals.
Kent Chandler, a former state utility regulator, said the process will not be a quick one.
“If you started today, you're talking about probably a 10-year process,” he said
For example, he said the transmission infrastructure upgrades alone could cost $1 billion.
“Even if you just cut that check at the outset, the time it takes to actually build and expand the transmission necessary to accommodate it would likely take years,” Chandler said. “So, yeah, it's certainly not an overnight outcome.”
Two reactors at Georgia Power’s Votgle plant were the nation’s last to come online, in 2023 and 2024. The project clocked in at $32 billion — about twice as much as originally projected.
The Kentucky plant would use the same Westinghouse AP1000 reactors as the Georgia one.
Joe Klecha, chief nuclear officer for The Nuclear Company, held construction and operational readiness roles at Vogtle.
Co-founder and CEO Jonathan Webb was the founder and CEO of AppHarvest, a company that grew produce in greenhouses in Eastern Kentucky. It filed for bankruptcy in 2023.
Still, Chandler says conditions in the electricity market have changed in the past five years. Growth in demand, especially from artificial intelligence and data centers, could give the project a customer base.
Nuclear accounts for about 20% of domestic electricity generation, but none in Kentucky.
Coal still dominates Kentucky’s electricity generation, but Chandler says that could change if the nuclear facility is built.
“The risk to old generation is new generation,” he said.
