PIKETON, Ohio — A newly formed company is proposing to build an AI-focused data center on a section of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site near Piketon, one of the most contaminated industrial properties in Ohio, according to federal environmental records.
New Day Data Centers LLC, registered in Ohio in August 2025, would develop the project on a designated “Batch 1” parcel within the sprawling U.S. Department of Energy reservation, lease documents obtained by the AP show. The site, which operated for decades to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and power plants, remains heavily contaminated with radioactive and chemical pollutants, including uranium, technetium-99, plutonium, trichloroethylene, and other hazardous substances in soil and groundwater.
The lease imposes strict limits on groundwater use, prohibiting extraction, consumption, or exposure except for DOE-approved monitoring, remediation, or limited construction dewatering. Annual compliance reports to the DOE would be required, and the lessee is barred from installing wells that could alter subsurface flow or hydrogeological conditions beyond what is needed for the proposed “AI Campus.”
Details of the project remain scarce because of a non-disclosure agreement. The company has not publicly released plans, timelines, or construction schedules.
The proposal arrives as the nearby Centrus Energy facility expands its uranium enrichment operations, a development that has drawn attention to the region for potential industrial and energy projects.
Environmental groups and some residents have long raised concerns about the Piketon site’s contamination legacy, which has required ongoing cleanup efforts costing billions of taxpayer dollars. Critics argue that placing new industrial facilities, particularly water- and power-intensive ones like data centers, on such a heavily polluted property could complicate long-term remediation or pose additional risks.
Ohio has seen rapid growth in data center development in recent years, driven by demand for AI and cloud computing infrastructure. However, the trend has sparked debate over water consumption, electricity demand, and the use of public incentives for projects on sensitive or contaminated land.
No construction timeline has been given, and it is unclear whether the proposal will move forward or receive final approvals from the DOE or other regulators.