Paducah Mayor George Bray points to idle uranium-enrichment site as potential hyperscale data center power hub

Paducah Mayor George Bray is urging renewed economic-development planning around an industrial site with a long national-security legacy, saying the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County could be well suited for hyperscale data centers that require very large amounts of electricity.

In remarks reported by Kentucky Lantern, Bray argued that data centers, which depend on steady, high-capacity power for servers and cooling, are increasingly looking at existing industrial locations where energy infrastructure may already exist. He described the former enrichment plant as an “ideal” candidate because of the level of utility capability the site had when it was operating.

The plant, which historically used uranium enrichment processes, was initially connected to the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and later to supplying nuclear power plants with fuel, according to Kentucky Lantern’s account of the facility’s mission. The newspaper also reported that during its operational period, the site had the ability to use more than 3 gigawatts of power.

That electrical capacity is the central practical justification in Bray’s pitch for redevelopment. Hyperscale data centers typically plan for long-term power delivery and redundancy, and local leaders have increasingly sought to match those needs with available transmission access and industrial power systems. In this case, Bray’s focus is on whether the former plant can transition from a regulated, national-security purpose to a civilian computing and storage one.

The effort would require local, state, and regulatory review of environmental conditions and industrial safety, especially given the facility’s nuclear-era history. Kentucky Lantern’s report does not describe the specific next step in the approval process, such as public hearings, permits, or negotiations, but it places Bray’s comments within a broader discussion about how Kentucky communities can compete for new power-intensive investment.

McCracken County and nearby municipalities face the same core questions that often arise with large data-center proposals: whether infrastructure can be modernized efficiently, how electricity costs and tax impacts would be handled, and what standards would apply to construction, stormwater, and emergency planning. Those issues are particularly sensitive for reuse of former industrial sites, where legacy operations can complicate timelines and compliance requirements.

Bray’s comments arrive as Kentucky policymakers continue to weigh the economic and infrastructure tradeoffs of major energy users. If the former enrichment plant becomes part of a data-center pursuit, public accountability for redevelopment planning and utility agreements would likely become a focal point for local residents and officials, especially given the site’s role in past national nuclear programs.

For now, the report frames Bray’s proposal as an identified option rather than a finalized project, leaving open who would lead any redevelopment, what companies would be involved, and what exact scope of power and construction would be pursued. The next phase, if discussions move beyond the concept, would hinge on technical assessments and permits to ensure the transition meets state and federal requirements.