COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Pike County has one of Ohio’s highest rates of unemployment and of cancer. Some residents can’t justify the 2,000 incoming nuclear jobs.
“They want to bring in the data center, they want to bring in the reactors, and they want to bring in the largest power gas facility,” lifelong Pike County resident Vina Colley said. “We don’t want any of it.”
Colley is among thousands of southern Ohioans who worked at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, or PORTS, between its opening in 1954 and closure in 2001 after contamination concerns. Today, the former Portsmouth plant is revamping nuclear production through federal partnerships with private companies like Centrus, SoftBank and Oklo.
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“At the end of the day, I understand why people might have some questions,” Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of nuclear company Oklo, said. “But the great thing is, when you put physics on your side, it makes it so that you can actually manage yourself quite safely.”…