The Tennessee Valley Authority is on track to receive a construction permit from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a small modular reactor at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, west of Knoxville. Knox News reported that the NRC will approve the permit on Tuesday, September 29, and Bloomberg reported the agency is expected to issue it.
The permit covers the first of up to four GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 units TVA is evaluating for the site. The BWRX-300 is a 300-megawatt design. According to the Times Free Press, the BWRX-300 would be the first reactor of its kind to win approval, and TVA would be the first utility to receive a construction permit for an advanced reactor.
It would also be only the second construction permit granted in the United States for an advanced reactor. TerraPower received the first in March for its Natrium project in Wyoming. TVA has not announced a construction start date. A TVA spokesperson told WATE that the utility hopes to deploy its first small modular reactor by the early 2030s.
The project has a long regulatory history. TVA asked the NRC in 2016 to approve a site plan for possible future small modular reactors at Clinch River, and the NRC issued an early site permit in 2019. A May 2025 executive order directed the agency to shorten its construction permit reviews to 18 months.
Hoodline compiled the reports on September 29, ahead of the expected NRC decision.
Source: Hoodline - https://hoodline.com/2026/09/tva-nears-historic-nuclear-permit-decision-could-power-homes-by-early-2030s/