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Tennessee Power Utility to Commit to Development of Advanced Nuclear Reactors

The initiative notably makes the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which is a self-funded corporate agency and the largest public power utility in the United States, one of the first utilities in the country to publicly commit to exploring the development of an advanced reactor fleet.

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An artist’s rendition of a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 nuclear unit. Photo credit: courtesy of GEH

The TVA will invest in a major program that will explore the construction of multiple advanced nuclear reactors—starting with a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River site in Tennessee.

TVA Board members during a meeting on Feb. 10 unanimously approved TVA’s “New Nuclear Program,” a broad new initiative that the utility describes as a “disciplined, systematic ‘roadmap’ for TVA’s exploration of advanced nuclear technology, both in terms of various reactor designs being proposed and potential locations where such facilities may be needed in the region to support future energy needs.”

According to TVA CEO Jeff Lyash, the new program will pursue phased activities that will kick off with design and licensing of a potential BWRX-300 SMR at Clinch River, a 935-acre site in Roane County for which TVA holds the nation’s only early site permit (ESP) from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The full story from POWER magazine is here.

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