The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently accepted for review the Tennessee Valley Authority’s construction permit application for the Clinch River nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
NRC told TVA in a July 9 letter it has completed the acceptance review for the second part of the construction permit application. The regulator previously completed the first half on June 12.
In May, TVA submitted its full construction permit application to the NRC for a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor at its Clinch River site. The utility submitted its environmental report on April 28 and its preliminary safety analysis report on May 20.
NRC said it hopes to complete the application and issue the final safety evaluation report by December 2026, 17 months from docketing.
TVA was issued its early site permit from NRC in December 2019. The utility has said preliminary site preparation could start as early as January 2026, according to the TVA Nuclear Leadership Timeline.
The utility hopes to begin nuclear construction by 2028 and commercial operation by 2032.
The BWRX-300 SMR technology is a boiling water reactor with the capability of producing 300 megawatts of electricity. TVA will deploy a BWRX-300 SMR after partnering up with GE Vernova Hitachi in 2022 to deploy its SMR technology.
TVA also entered an international agreement with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Synthos Green Energy to advance the deployment of BWRX-300 technology in 2023.
OPG has already received regulatory approval for its first BWRX-300 SMR for its Darlington New Nuclear Project site in Ontario, Canada. The Canadian power company awarded a construction contract for its first SMR on May 28.
