Tennessee senators call on Trump to “rescue TVA from itself”

March 28, 2025, 12:00PMNuclear News

Hagerty

Blackburn

In a strongly worded opinion piece published by Power Magazine on March 24, Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty call for new leadership at the Tennessee Valley Authority to jumpstart its small modular reactor program.

The GOP lawmakers are looking to President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright to overhaul TVA’s board of directors to drive America’s role in the nuclear renaissance. TVA is the first and only U.S. energy company to obtain an early site permit for a small modular reactor, but the utility has not progressed on physical deployment of a unit since the permit was awarded in 2019.