The selected locations by the DoE are Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina
Four federal sites chosen – DoE opens up land in Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky, and South Carolina for AI data center and power infrastructure development.
Fast-tracked permitting ahead – Executive order removes clean energy rules and streamlines reviews to accelerate deployment.
More sites under review – DoE and other federal agencies may unlock further land for AI, chipmaking, and energy projects.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has selected the first four federally owned sites where AI-focused data centers and supporting energy infrastructure could be developed in partnership with the private sector.
The selected locations are Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The initiative is part of a broader federal strategy aimed at accelerating AI infrastructure deployment while leveraging existing government-owned land and energy resources.
“These sites are uniquely positioned to host data centers as well as power generation to bolster grid reliability, strengthen our national security, and reduce energy costs,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
The effort to unlock Federal land for data center use began under the Biden administration and has been pushed forward under the Trump administration. Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order eliminating clean energy conditions from the original proposal and instructed federal agencies to fast-track environmental reviews and permitting for data center-related projects.
Formal solicitations outlining the scope, eligibility, and application process for private partners are expected in the coming months. The DoE aims to select development partners by the end of the year and is still considering additional locations. Other agencies, including the Department of Defense, are also reviewing their land holdings for potential use in AI, semiconductor, and power infrastructure projects.
In April, the DoE had identified 16 federally owned sites that could potentially host data centers and AI infrastructure and already have associated power resources available. The four sites announced last week were selected from among those 16 sites.
Here are site summaries:
–Idaho National Laboratory, where the DoE owns about 62,000 acres of an 890-square-mile site. INL, the RFI notes, “has a legacy of building and testing advanced technologies, including 52 nuclear reactors with four currently in operation, and is also a leader in integrated energy systems.”
-The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Kentucky. That 3,500-acre nuclear production site is undergoing remediation “for potential development of a data center” and is designed for up to 3GW in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) power market, and 30 million gal/day of water. It includes 19 miles of road, nine miles of railroad tracks and is close to major railroads, roads and a river.
–Oak Ridge National Laboratory “has utilities anticipated to be sufficient to support the rapid development of an AI data center,” with local power resources including hydro, nuclear and fossil fuel generation plants. The potential 550+ acre site has about 100 acres suitable for near-term development, the RFI noted, and is also “located approximately 5 miles from the proposed TVA Clinch River Small Modular Reactor (SMR) site, providing a future opportunity to capitalize on regional nuclear infrastructure up to 800MW in capacity.”
–Savannah River Site, where the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) operates a 310-square-mile site near Aiken, South Carolina, to supply and process tritium for nuclear weapons.
The other 12 sites from the federal list made available earlier this year include:
-The decommissioned Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which operated through 2001 and produced enriched uranium at a site of nearly 3,500 acres (the plant occupies about 1,200 acres). The site is designed for 2.2GW in the PJM Interconnection power market and 40 million gal/day of water, according to the RFI.
–Argonne National Laboratory’s site that is 23 miles from Chicago “could accommodate a 110-acre developable site for a future 1,000 MW AI data park on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) land with an early target for operations by 2028.” The site has nearby high-voltage power access and Argonne gets 60% of its electricity from two large nuclear power plants that are within 50 miles of the location.
–Brookhaven National Laboratory, where a 5,322-acre site is located 75 miles east of New York City. Of that, around 90 acres is being considered for a data center site, which could be powered by a new 750 MW gas turbine plant for the data center.
-The Femi National Accelerator Laboratory already does large-scale data science and operates one of the largest data centers serving the U.S. DoE. The lab covers 6,800 acres, and there are about 110 acres of available land for development, plus “excellent access to high-speed networking” and has commercially available extra high-voltage (EHV) transmission infrastructure. With its experience and expertise in large-scale construction projects, and a readily available high-tech workforce, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is well-positioned and equipped to support major initiatives.
-The National Energy Technology Laboratory campuses in Morgantown, West Virginia and and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The NETL’s Morgantown site includes 137 acres; its Pittsburgh site encompasses 57 acres.
-The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, in Colorodo, where its Flatiron Campus “has enough land, power, water, and broadband capability to host a 100 MW data center that could be initiated as soon as this year (2025),” the RFI said, adding: “The site could support an integrated data center energy system test bed, that could be deployed later at scale at other locations. NREL has an 11-acre site located just west of the Flatirons main campus that would be an ideal location for a data center facility.”
–Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, which offers “a stable, dry climate with low humidity and minimal natural disaster risk, making it ideal for reliable operations” and access to hydroelectric and conventional nuclear power, with the possible addition of “small modular reactors (SMRs) envisioned by energy providers in the region could provide additional power for the data center.” Major hyperscalers already use eastern Washington as a location for large data centers, the RFI noted.
–Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where a recent AI hub for New Jersey has already been announced and the site has 100 MW of energy capacity with district upgrade potential available.
–Los Alamos National Laboratory, which has “already responded to other recent calls for on/offsite data centers” and has work in progress to expand power capacity for AI mission support up to 70MW by 2027 and 160MW by the early 2030s. The RFI noted power capacity constraints at the site and suggested identify and deploy new on-premises power sources such as gas turbines or nuclear small modular reactors. A 40-acre site next to an existing power substation could be used for siting a high-density High Performance Computing facility suitable for AI.
–Sandia National Laboratories, which has locations in New Mexico, California, Hawaii; and Nevada, has identified two sites of roughly nine acres each.
-The Pantex Plant, an ordnance facility constructed in the early 1940s, and was converted to the nation’s primary site for assembly and disassembly of nuclear weapons and is the Center of Excellence for High Explosives Manufacturing, according to the RFI. There is one potential site of about 380 acres and another 5,700 acres currently owned by Texas Tech University and leased by the federal government.
–Kansas City National Security Campus of the National Nuclear Security Administration, located near Kansas City, Missouri, which produces non-nuclear components for nuclear systems. There are 35 acres cleared of a proposed 50 acres with multiple owners in a primarily agricultural/low-density residential area.
