The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a construction permit for the Tennessee Valley Authority's small modular reactor at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the agency announced September 29. It is the first construction permit issued for a commercial small modular reactor in the United States.
The project is a 300-megawatt GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 boiling-water reactor. TVA received an early site permit for the location in 2019 and submitted its construction permit application in April 2025.
The NRC completed its review in 14 months, four months ahead of schedule. NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said the early finish reflects the streamlined process the commission is now using.
GE Vernova described the permit as the first construction authorization for a BWRX-300 in the country. Ontario Power Generation received a Canadian construction license for the same design in April 2025 and filed its operating license application in March 2026. Blue Energy submitted its own BWRX-300 construction permit application to the NRC this month for a project in Texas.
Executives from GE Vernova, GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, TVA and the NRC's Office of Advanced Reactors were named in the company's announcement of the permit. Construction timelines and cost figures were not part of the material reviewed for this summary.
Source: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/news-releases/2026/26-079