Global Laser Enrichment has announced plans to build a $1.76 billion nuclear fuel facility in McCracken County — the single largest capital investment in Western Kentucky history, according to Governor Andy Beshear.
The Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility, known as PLEF, would occupy a 665-acre site adjacent to the former U.S. Department of Energy Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant on the western edge of the city. When fully operational, the plant is projected to employ 240 workers in high-wage positions and re-enrich more than 200,000 metric tons of depleted uranium stockpiled from decades of Cold War-era enrichment activity.
"This is transformational for Paducah, for McCracken County, and for all of Western Kentucky," Beshear said at the announcement in late March. "GLE is bringing hundreds of good-paying jobs and investing in the long-term energy security of the United States right here in our backyard."
A new chapter for the old plant site
The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which enriched uranium for the U.S. nuclear weapons program and later for commercial power generation, ceased enrichment operations in 2013 after more than six decades. The sprawling site has since been the subject of ongoing environmental cleanup managed by the Department of Energy.
GLE's laser enrichment technology — known as SILEX, developed under a licensing agreement with GE-Hitachi — is more energy-efficient than the gaseous diffusion process and produces less secondary waste. The company holds a 2016 contract with the DOE to re-enrich the agency's depleted uranium inventory, generating commercial nuclear fuel while reducing the federal cleanup liability.
State incentives and federal review
To help attract the investment, Kentucky and McCracken County have offered GLE a 15-year incentive package totaling $98.9 million in tax and economic benefits. The project is currently under license application review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
County Judge Executive Craig Clymer called the announcement a once-in-a-generation opportunity. "We have been waiting for this kind of investment for a long time," Clymer said. "The infrastructure is there, the workforce is there, and the community is ready."
Local officials have already flagged housing supply as a pressure point. With GLE workers expected to relocate to the region ahead of construction, the county is working to accelerate residential development to meet demand.