Plans also progressing to build four BWRX-300 nuclear power reactors in Ontario, Canada
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted a construction permit application for review from federally owned utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build one of the nation’s first small modular reactors (SMR).
TVA is the first utility applying to build GE Vernova Hitachi’s (GVH) BWRX-300 design in the US and could pave the way for other utilities looking to deploy the same technology.
TVA submitted its application to the NRC in late May to build the advanced nuclear plant at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The utility already secured the nation’s first and only early site permit for an SMR with support from the US Department of Energy to clear the environmental review process.
The next step is a full safety review of the reactor design before it is cleared for construction.
“This is an exciting step to bringing the nation’s first utility-led SMR online,” said TVA president and chief executive officer Don Moul.
“As the first utility in the United States to have a construction permit application under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the BWRX-300 reactor, this will create a path for other utilities to deploy the reactor – ensuring energy security and reliable electricity for all.”
The BWRX-300 is the only boiling water SMR design under development in the US.
Using Established Supply Chains
The 300 MW advanced light-water system is a smaller, simplified version of GVH’s licensed Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor and according to TVA will leverage established supply chains that could accelerate its deployment.
TVA has invested in the design of the BWRX-300 as part of a technical collaboration agreement with GVH, Canadian power company Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Poland-based nuclear developer Synthos Green Energy.
In May the province of Ontario and OPG approved a CAD20.9bn (€13bn, $15.2bn) plan to build the first of four BWRX-300 SMRs at OPG’s Darlington site in Canada with commercial operation expected by the end of 2029.
Only a handful of SMRs have been completed and only in Russia and China. The Darlington project is expected to be the first to be deployed in the developed Group of Seven countries.
Early site preparation work at Darlington, on a site next to an existing nuclear station with four operational large-scale nuclear plants, has been completed.
TVA anticipates preliminary site preparation work at Clinch River could begin as early as next year while the NRC reviews the company’s construction permit application.
