Kentucky disburses $10M in nuclear grants

The awards: The KNEDA awarded grants to six organizations after initially receiving proposals from 16. The awardees span multiple industries and the private and public sectors.

American Electric Power (AEP) received a $1 million grant to lead preliminary siting identification work for potential small modular reactor projects in Kentucky. This work will include site identification, surveying, environmental reviews, and geotechnical testing.

General Matter has not disclosed the amount of its award. However, given the mandated limit of $2 million per grant and the total disbursed by the KNEDA, the company received between $1 and $2 million. (This holds true for the other organizations that did not state the amount of funding received.) General Matter will use its funding to develop a road map “for building urgent enrichment-related nuclear supply chain manufacturing capacity,” according to its project description.

Global Laser Enrichment also did not disclose its award amount. It plans to develop and launch a workforce training program that will be connected to its planned Paducah Laser Enrichment facility.

Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) received a $1,562,534 grant to expand workforce development and community readiness efforts in eastern Kentucky. SOAR is a nonprofit serving 54 counties in Kentucky that fall within the Appalachian Regional Commission. It will develop partnerships with technical colleges, K-12 systems, industry leaders, and more to prepare the workforce and host communities for new nuclear development. This project will build on existing efforts to support displaced workers, especially those formerly employed in the coal industry.

The West Kentucky Community and Technical College received an undisclosed sum that it will use to launch a regional hub serving the eight counties in the Jackson Purchase region of western Kentucky. This hub will offer customized, short-term training, along with certificates, diplomas, associate degrees, and transfer pathways to four-year institutions, according to the college’s associated project description. It also will include a dedicated classroom, lab, and control room simulator at WKCTC.

The West Kentucky Educational Cooperative, which also did not state its award amount, will use its funding to support its Nuclear Energy Education & Workforce Plan, aiming to develop technical pathways for nuclear education in eight rural western Kentucky counties.

More on the horizon: This state investment comes as momentum slowly builds in Kentucky, with a handful of projects in their preliminary stages and a decades-long moratorium on new nuclear construction having been lifted in 2017.

Currently, the Kentucky Public Service Commission is hosting a series of six informational meetings across the state, engaging with the public and gathering comments on the prospect of developing new nuclear projects.

As for what lies ahead, Senate Bill 57 is currently in committee. If passed, the bill would establish the Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program, which would “facilitate the application for and procurement of early site permits, construction permits, or combined operating licenses” from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for new projects in Kentucky.

Under the program, Kentucky would award chosen applicants’ grants, funding up to one-third of the cost incurred in applying for and procuring NRC permits. Each applicant would be awarded no more than $25 million per project.

State Sen. Danny Carroll (R., Paducah) said the $10 million in KNEDA funding awarded last week was “step one,” with S.B. 57 being “step two” in implementing new buildout across the state.