Deacy announced TVA’s next step toward achieving that goal by sharing the company’s intent to file a construction permit application for the 935-acre site with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by June. The notification from TVA signals to federal regulators its plans to move forward in the construction and licensing process soon. TVA will be the first U.S. company to file a construction permit for GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 small light water reactor.
Quotable: Right now, Deacy described, “If you go to the interior of the site, you'd see a flat site that's been cleared, and you'd see a lot of stakes with ribbons on them. You'd see four stakes—I call them corner fences—that outline the footprint for our proposed nuclear units. You will see in this relatively small space the potential for something significant for our nation’s energy future—affordable and reliable nuclear power.”
Previously, an old wooden bridge over a small river channel that could accommodate just one lane of traffic was the only access to the site. “The first thing we did was replace that with a five-lane bridge that can handle the heaviest load—and the heaviest load would probably be the reactor vessel,” Deacy said.
Background: TVA obtained an early site permit from the NRC for the Clinch River SMR project in 2019. The company announced in 2022 its choice of the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 small light water reactor.
The BWRX-300 is a 300-MWe unit designed with built-in natural circulation and passive cooling technology and an expected lifespan of 60 years.
TVA continues to evaluate other SMR technology along with the BWRX-300, as the standard design continues to mature, Deacy said.
Funding: TVA has designated a total of $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 to support continued design and development work in April 2024.
“Small modular reactors are an energy innovation technology that America must dominate—for our energy security, which is really our national security,” TVA chief executive Jeff Lyash said in 2024.
TVA is one of three lead applicants for a U.S. Department of Energy’s $900 million grant program first announced last October and reissued on March 24 to help de-risk the deployment of Gen-III+ light water SMRs. The new application window closes this week, on April 23. Other lead applicants announced so far are Arizona Public Service and Constellation.
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.
“If we receive the DOE funding, we'd be able to roll into site-specific engineering. It may also allow us to procure some long-lead items and do grading of the site itself. We’re working with DOE to help offset the cost so we don’t burden our customers with first-of-a-kind costs, because this is a first-of-a-kind plant, even though it's based on proven technology,” Deacy said.
In related news: On April 4, Ontario Power Generation received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to move forward with construction of a BWRX-300 at its Darlington site in Ontario, putting in on track to be the first SMR constructed in North America.
That depends, however, on the pace at which TVA builds out its units. Both projects still need to secure operating licenses from the respective regulatory agencies.
