Approval to build Oak Ridge nuclear reactor comes ahead of schedule for TVA.
The Tennessee Valley Authority will receive a landmark permit to build an advanced nuclear reactor along the Clinch River in Oak Ridge, 160 miles east of Nashville.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will approve a construction permit for TVA’s small modular reactor Sept. 29, according to a joint news release from TVA, the nation’s largest public power provider, and the NRC, the nation’s main nuclear regulator.
The permit will mark just the second approval in the U.S. for a commercial advanced reactor and the first for the GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor design TVA selected. The design is similar to, but smaller than, the type of reactors TVA employs across its nuclear plants on three sites spread between Tennessee and Alabama.
The NRC approval will come with some fanfare, with TVA leaders, NRC staff and Tennessee politicians scheduled to attend an event at TVA's headquarters in Knoxville to mark the milestone Sept. 29.
Key points:
- Historic permit approval: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved a construction permit for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build a small modular reactor (SMR) along the Clinch River near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
- Design and capacity: The project uses the GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR design, capable of generating up to 300 megawatts of electricity, making it the first permit issued for this specific design in the U.S.
- Timeline and funding: Approved months ahead of schedule, the multi-billion-dollar project includes $400 million in federal support from the U.S. Department of Energy, with commercial operations projected to start in December 2033.
Small modular reactors generate up to 300 megawatts of electricity, and their backers say they’ll be faster, cheaper and simpler to build than traditional power producers like the giant ones TVA maintains. In 2019, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved TVA’s Clinch River site for a nuclear power facility, the first time the regulatory agency signed off on a site designated for a small modular reactor.
The permit comes months ahead of schedule. The regulatory commission has cut approval timelines for a number of projects since the beginning of President Donald Trump's second administration, which has stressed faster approvals in executive orders on energy while boosting AI development amid rising energy demands nationwide.
TVA, a federal utility that serves millions of ratepayers across seven states, has not announced a start date for construction at the site, but it has projected commercial operation will start in December 2033. The utility will need a license to operate the reactor once it completes construction work, NRC spokesperson Scott Burnell told Knox News in August.
The build permit will apply to just one reactor system, but TVA may build more on the riverside site.
The Clinch River project could cost billions. TVA, which doesn’t receive congressional appropriations, gets most of its funding from ratepayers in its service region. But it has also gotten federal support from the government for the Clinch River reactor plans, including $400 million from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The land for the reactor is under TVA management but is owned by the federal government. It is near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a major research center dating back to the Manhattan Project, and a frequent TVA partner.
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Energy leaders have formed plans for small modular reactors across the world and in East Tennessee, a growing nuclear hub. The permit paves a path for future small modular reactor projects, TVA and NRC spokespeople said in the news release. But the Clinch River project also will benefit from work done by Canada’s Ontario Power Generation on a device with the same design. The Ontario provincial government gave Ontario Power, a TVA partner, permission to start building the first of four reactors in May 2025. Ontario Power said over the summer of 2026 it’s currently making progress on its turbine building.
