Officially, the announcement won't come before Thursday, still, residents of Pike County are waiting anxiously for confirmation of the intentions of building a nuclear plant near Columbus, in Piketon.

Governor Ted Strickland scheduled a conference for morning news on Thursday to declare plans for the construction of what is officially called the 21st centuries clean energy generation center.

A spokesperson of the governor said on Wednesday that they wouldn't talk about the possibility of having a nuclear plant, once word leaked on Tuesday that a new nuclear facility could employ nearly 4,000 people over the next few years in construction and other jobs.

Blaine Beekman, who is Commissioner of Pike County, said that he and the other commissioners couldn't discuss the subject until Thursday because of the confidentiality agreement he'd been operating against the past couple of months. When referring to coverage in the news of the proposed plant and the possibility of 4,000 new construction jobs being brought to the county, Beekman stated that reports were accurate.

The unemployment rate in Pike County is above 15 percent, so, according to some residents who spoke to NBC 4, the nuclear plant would mean a big boost to the economy.

Herman Potter, a resident in the area, said that many of our kids have to leave the area to get good jobs.

Susie Ridner, another area resident, said that she thought it would help everywhere - jobs, restaurants, housing and businesses.

At JC's, a diner in town, Theresa Evans says that she would really love to be busy enough she may have to hire more staff. She said that she would be glad to be able to hire some good, hard-working people.

Jim Sorrell, who is a trainer and works for UDS (Uranium Disposition Services) said that once the plant is up and running, the regular, full-time jobs pay the same rate as industry standards.

Sorrell said that the really big boost would be initially in the construction phase because it requires an enormous construction crew in order to build one. An average salary, engineering, operating, and all the rest of the way down, you may average typically $90-100,000 a year.

When NBC 4 asked whether the residents had concerns for their safety, not one indicated that they had any worries about the plant.