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From Uranium to AI: Southern Ohio Is Preparing for a Massive New Technology Era

A former Cold War uranium-enrichment site in Pike County, Ohio, is being positioned for one of the most ambitious artificial intelligence infrastructure developments in the United States. The project could also offer a glimpse at how America repurposes former industrial sites for the enormous energy demands of AI.PIKETON, Ohio — The artificial intelligence boom is creating a problem that cannot be solved by better software alone.AI needs physical infrastructure—and enormous amounts of it.Behind today's increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems are data centers filled with servers, networking equipment and cooling systems. As companies race to build more advanced AI models, demand for the electricity and infrastructure needed to operate those systems is rapidly becoming one of the defining technology challenges of the AI era.An ambitious development in southern Ohio shows just how large that challenge has become.The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a public-private partnership involving SB Energy, a SoftBank Group company, and AEP Ohio for the development of a massive artificial intelligence data-center project at the Portsmouth Site in Pike County.The proposed scale is extraordinary.According to the Department of Energy, the development is planned as a DOE has described the proposed development as the world's largest artificial intelligence data center.But the size of the project is only part of what makes the story significant.Its location tells another story entirely.From the Cold War to the AI AgeThe Portsmouth Site near Piketon was once home to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a massive federal facility constructed for uranium enrichment.The plant became part of America's nuclear infrastructure during the Cold War and required tremendous industrial resources to operate.Today, that chapter is ending.The Department of Energy has been carrying out extensive environmental cleanup, decontamination and demolition at the Portsmouth Site. Former facilities are being dismantled while portions of the property are being prepared for potential future industrial use.Now, a location built to serve one era of American technological ambition could become part of another.Instead of uranium enrichment, the next chapter may center on artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.That transition—from nuclear infrastructure to AI infrastructure—is what makes the Portsmouth project particularly noteworthy.Why AI Has Become an Energy Story For consumers, artificial intelligence can feel almost invisible.A question is typed into a chatbot. An image is generated. A document is analyzed. A piece of software responds within seconds.But those seemingly simple interactions depend on enormous physical computing systems.AI data centers contain specialized processors and servers operating around the clock. Those systems require electricity not only for computing but also for cooling and other supporting infrastructure.As AI adoption grows, securing reliable power is becoming increasingly important to technology companies and data-center developers.That helps explain why the Portsmouth proposal isn't simply a technology project.It is also an energy project.DOE says SB Energy plans to develop 10 gigawatts of new power generation in connection with the development, including the 9.2 gigawatts of planned natural-gas generation.AEP Ohio is also involved in the infrastructure buildout. According to DOE, plans include approximately $4.2 billion in new transmission infrastructure.Projects of this scale illustrate how the AI race is expanding far beyond Silicon Valley.The next stage of artificial intelligence may depend as much on electricity, transmission lines, construction and available industrial land as it does on algorithms.Why Pike County? .Its industrial history, however, helps explain the appeal.The Portsmouth Site covers thousands of acres and was developed for energy-intensive federal industrial operations.Today, cleanup and redevelopment are happening at the same time.As obsolete facilities are removed, portions of the property can potentially be repositioned for new industrial development.That creates something increasingly valuable in the AI era: large amounts of land with a long history of supporting major industrial activity.Rather than trying to place an enormous new development into a densely populated technology corridor, developers are looking at a location already shaped by decades of large-scale federal operations.For southern Ohio, that could turn an industrial legacy into an economic asset.SoftBank's Ohio BetThe project's international dimension is also significant.SoftBank Group has announced the creation of the Portsmouth Consortium, bringing together American and Japanese companies to participate in the development of power-generation and artificial-intelligence infrastructure at the site.The involvement reflects the increasingly global competition surrounding AI infrastructure.Countries and companies are investing heavily in the computing capacity required for artificial intelligence. That competition involves semiconductors and software, but increasingly it also involves something much more fundamental: access to energy.The Portsmouth project brings those worlds together.Technology, electricity, infrastructure and industrial redevelopment are converging in one rural Ohio location.The Environmental Legacy Has Not Disappeared The site's transformation also comes with an important reality.Portsmouth's Cold War history left an environmental legacy that continues to require federal cleanup.The Department of Energy continues remediation activities at the site, including decontamination, demolition, waste management and groundwater-related work.That history should not be overlooked as attention shifts toward the site's technological future.Instead, Portsmouth presents a complicated example of industrial redevelopment: cleaning up infrastructure from one generation while simultaneously preparing portions of the property for another.It is a reminder that converting former industrial locations into new technology hubs can require years of environmental work, public investment and careful oversight.Could Former Industrial Sites Become AI's Next Frontier?The Portsmouth project raises a larger question for America's AI expansion.Where should the country build the enormous infrastructure required for increasingly powerful artificial intelligence?New data centers require substantial amounts of land and electricity, and proposals have generated controversy in some communities over their potential effects on power systems, water resources, noise and surrounding development.Former industrial properties could present another option.Retired manufacturing complexes, former power-generation locations, federal industrial properties and other large-scale sites may already possess characteristics that make them attractive for redevelopment.They are not automatically suitable for data centers, and every location presents its own environmental, economic and infrastructure challenges.But Portsmouth could become an important test case.If a former hub, other communities with aging industrial sites may look closely at what happens in southern Ohio.Ohio's Unexpected Place in the AI Race Much of the public conversation about artificial intelligence focuses on companies, chatbots, computer chips and new software.The Portsmouth project reveals another side of the AI revolution.Artificial intelligence is becoming a physical infrastructure industry.It needs land.It needs transmission.It needs enormous computing facilities.And above all, it needs power.That reality could reshape where America's technology industry grows next.For decades, the Portsmouth Site represented the enormous industrial and technological ambitions of the Cold War.Now southern Ohio may be preparing for another transformation.From uranium enrichment to artificial intelligence.From Cold War infrastructure to AI infrastructure. And from a former federal industrial complex in rural Ohio to a potential centerpiece of America's rapidly expanding AI economy.The most important part of the Portsmouth story may ultimately extend far beyond Ohio.If the project succeeds, it could help demonstrate how some of America's old industrial landscapes might be redeveloped to support one of the country's newest—and most power-hungry—technologies.For southern Ohio, the AI revolution may not be something happening thousands of miles away in Silicon Valley.It may be arriving in Pike County.Yes. I found the four exact pages I recommend linking at the bottom of your Edge Tech Brief article. I would use these rather than sending readers to general homepages.Sources & Further Reading1. U.S. Department of Energy — AI Data Center at Portsmouth SiteThis is the DOE's April 7, 2026 report specifically describing the planned project as the world's largest AI data center. (The Department of Energy's Energy.gov)DOE: Special Report — World's Largest AI Data Center at Portsmouth Site2. U.S. Department of Energy — Portsmouth SiteThis is the official DOE page for the Portsmouth Site in Piketon. It provides background on the former gaseous diffusion plant, the property, current work and redevelopment. (The Department of Energy's Energy.gov)DOE: Portsmouth Site3. U.S. Department of Energy — Portsmouth Cleanup ProgressUse this one to support the environmental cleanup portion of your article. DOE discusses groundwater and soil contamination, remediation, demolition and preparation of land for future use. (The Department of Energy's Energy.gov)DOE: Portsmouth Cleanup Progress4. SoftBank Group — Portsmouth ConsortiumThis is SoftBank's official March 21, 2026 announcement. It confirms the Portsmouth Consortium and says it was formed to participate in the large-scale power-generation and AI-infrastructure project in Piketon. (ソフトバンクグループ株式会社)SoftBank: Launch of the Portsmouth ConsortiumEditor's Note: Edge Tech Brief has excluded claims from the original broadcast report that could not be independently substantiated through primary or other reliable sources.