TVA exploring advanced nuclear plans at Clinch River, Bellefonte
Company celebrates Browns Ferry’s 50 years in service
The Tennessee Valley Authority this week discussed the potential for new nuclear technology at its sites during its second-quarter earnings call.
TVA and GE Hitachi signed an agreement in 2022 to develop and deploy a BWRC-300 small modular reactor at the Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tenn.
“That effort continues [with] good progress,” said Jeff Lyash, TVA’s president and chief executive. “The partnership between Ontario Power, Synthos Green Energy, TVA and GE Hitachi around developing the standard design is progressing on pace. We expect to complete that standard design work sometime in 2025. We’re also continuing with development of the license application for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and we will be discussing that with our board in the coming weeks and months. We expect to be prepared to submit that license application, if we decide to proceed, likely in the first half of next year.”
“We’re taking this as a very deliberate, gaited process to make sure that if we decide to build this plant, we’re ready to build it and we’re ready to execute it on a predictable cost and schedule,” he added.
Lyash said the company is optimistic about new federal funding available for SMR demonstration. Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm visited Clinch River in 2023 to lend support for TVA’s advanced nuclear technology plans for the site.
New energy opportunities: TVA is also looking at its Bellefonte site in Alabama as another potential place for SMRs.
Lyash said TVA considers Bellefonte “an important site for TVA’s future.” He explained, “It is potentially a site where we could locate new nuclear, if we expand the program, and we’re continuing to look at that site and consider all generation alternatives for it.”
Despite receiving a pair of licenses for the site in the 1970s, the units never came to fruition. When construction ceased at Bellefonte in 1988, Unit 1 was about 88 percent complete and Unit 2 was about 58 percent complete.
In 2021, TVA finally decided against renewing construction permits for the site after spending more than $5 billion on the project.
Existing nuclear: TVA executives said the company is committed to extending operations for its existing nuclear fleet. It has submitted its first nuclear license renewal application to the NRC for the three units at Browns Ferry in Alabama.
Browns Ferry is celebrating 50 years of safe operations today. At the time Unit 1 started commercial operation in 1974, the plant’s boiling water reactors were the first in the world capable of producing more than 1,000 MWe.
TVA’s first and largest nuclear plant, Browns Ferry provides nearly 4,000 MW of carbon-free energy and accounts for about 20 percent of the company’s total generation. It is the third largest nuclear facility in the U.S. and employs 1,500 people.
“As we experience growth in the valley, our customers depend on our ability to meet demand and we are continuing to invest heavily in the plant’s assets to meet this commitment,” said Daniel Komm, Browns Ferry’s site vice president. “The complexity of our work at Browns Ferry and the value we place on safe, reliable operation requires teamwork. There are so many individuals who’ve helped us get to this point, and we have an opportunity to create a new legacy for the next 50 years.”