The Tennessee Valley Authority is positioned to receive the first construction permit issued in the United States for a BWRX-300 small modular reactor. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working toward a decision by September 30 on the federal utility's application to build the unit at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water cooled, natural circulation design from GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy. It uses passive systems and draws on the licensing basis of the ESBWR boiling water reactor. TVA became the first utility in the country to submit a construction permit application for the technology, and it holds an early site permit for Clinch River that certifies the location as suitable for a nuclear plant on site safety, environmental impact and emergency planning grounds.
TVA has invested in the standard BWRX-300 design through a technical collaboration agreement with Ontario Power Generation, Synthos Green Energy and GE Vernova Hitachi. Ontario Power Generation has already received approval to begin construction on the first of four BWRX-300 units at its Darlington site, giving the Clinch River project a reference build in North America. TVA also leads a coalition of utilities and supply chain partners that sought Department of Energy funding tied to the project.
A permit decision would move Clinch River from licensing into construction, a step no utility scale small modular reactor project has completed in the United States. TVA serves about 10 million people across seven states and has pointed to rising electricity demand across that territory as the reason for adding new generation.
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press - https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2026/sep/09/tva-expects-license-to-build-small-modular/