A proposed supersite of AP1000s has just been announced in Appalachia. The Nuclear Company just revealed plans to build up to six Westinghouse AP1000s on a single site in Lewis County, Kentucky. If all six reactors get built, it would be the largest nuclear site ever developed in the U.S. If the reactors are built in pairs, this would be the closest America has come to copying China’s recipe for nuclear success. My team and I have spent the past year studying China’s nuclear program through Chinese primary sources, and there’s a clear pattern to their builds: - 6 reactors planned per site built two at a time; - Using a standard design they repeat over and over; - With the same crews moving from one pair to the next. Although a frozen reactor design is nice, nothing gets you more standardization than building on the same spot with the same team. The site appears to sit along a major 765 kV transmission line in the Ohio River corridor (not a coincidence, I'm sure). But a full 6.6 GW will almost certainly need grid upgrades including additional outbound transmission. This is a proposed project, not a done deal. And we're far enough out from Vogtle that building these reactors will require significant workforce training, standing up of supply chains, and coordination across many parties. But oh boy, would be massive if The Nuclear Company pulls this off.