TVA Seeks Construction Permit for Small Nuclear Reactor

Written by Jesse Broehl for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A nuclear renaissance in the U.S. continues inching slowly ahead, this week hitting a notable milestone. In the last week of May, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) (Knoxville, Tennessee) became the first American utility company to submit a small modular reactor (SMR) construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

TVA submitted to the NRC for the construction of a 300-megawatt GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 small modular reactor at the Clinch River Modular Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.

If development, permitting and regulatory oversight moves optimally, TVA said that non-nuclear construction could begin as early as January 2026 and nuclear plant construction beginning in 2028 for commissioning in 2032. Industrial Info believes the project could kick off in 2028 with completion by the end of 2033, according to a March project update. GMI subscribers can click here for the project report.

Tennessee Site Joins Ontario Site to Deploy the Same Nuclear Plant Design
With this filing, TVA is the second company in North America to apply for a construction permit, following Ontario Power Generation's application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for its Darlington site in Ontario, Canada, using the same reactor model. For more information, see May 12, 2025, article - Ontario Gives Green Light for SMR Construction.

There are potential economic and deployment efficiencies to be gained from simultaneous efforts in Tennessee and Ontario. TVA is working to form a working group with GE Hitachi (Wilmington, North Carolina), Ontario Power Generation (Toronto, Canada) and Synthos Green Energy (Warszawa, Poland) to develop a standard design for the BWRX-300 and its modular components.

Nuclear Plant and Technology Package Background
TVA's leadership envisions its 935-acre Clinch River site with up to four SMRs and a newly trained workforce providing reliable 24/7 power to the grid. TVA obtained an early site permit from the NRC for the Clinch River project in 2019. The company had announced in 2022 its choice of the BWRX-300 SMR.

The GE Hitachi unit is a 300-MW unit designed around the large boiling water reactors developed and commercialized by GE decades ago, but it implements the various plant packages into a small footprint design. It employs built-in safety and operational features like natural circulation and passive cooling technology and has an expected lifespan of 60 years.

The plant also uses the same low-enriched uranium fuel as the other 94 reactors in the U.S. commercial fleet. Therefore, it can rely on an established, global supply chain for the material. In comparison, other efforts for advanced nuclear reactors using high-assay, low-enriched uranium, or HALEU. The HALEU fuel approach has potential advantages, but the fuel is scarce. In April, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) made conditional commitments to five advanced nuclear reactor developers using HALEU fuel, according to POWER Magazine.

Funding for the Clinch River SMR
TVA has designated $350 million so far toward the Clinch River SMR project, including an initial $200 million approved by its board in February 2022 and another $150 million in April 2024 to support continued design and development work.

TVA is one of three lead applicants for the DOE's $900 million grant program, which was first announced last October and reissued on March 24 to help de-risk the deployment of Gen-III+ light water SMRs.

In its initial application, TVA said the grant funding would help accelerate SMR construction at Clinch River by two years, with commercial operation of the units possible by 2033.

The total investment value for the Oak Ridge Brownfield Nuclear 300-MW Clinch River Small Nuclear Reactor project is estimated at $5.4 billion.

U.S. President Donald Trump on May 22 ordered the NRC to cut down on regulations and fast-track new licenses for reactors and power plants, seeking to shrink a multi-year process down to 18 months. The requirement was part of a batch of executive orders that aim to boost U.S. nuclear energy production amid a boom in demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. The moves include a substantial overhaul of the NRC that includes looking at staffing levels and directing the Energy and Defense departments to work together to build nuclear plants on federal lands.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).