The Tennessee Valley Authority on April 17 submitted a Notification of Intent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it plans to submit a Construction Permit Application tied to plans to construct a small modular reactor at TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
In a Q&A posted on TVA’s website, Bob Deacy, TVA’s Senior Vice President-Clinch River, noted that the Notification of Intent “is a procedural way of saying we gave the NRC, the nuclear regulator, a formal heads-up that TVA plans to move to the next step in the NRC’s licensing process very soon.”
TVA plans to submit the CPA by June 2025.
Deacy said the construction permit application “is essentially the roadmap for the plant’s design and safety systems, and we have to have the NRC’s approval on the plans.”
Deacy said this is a big deal because TVA will be the first to file a construction permit application for the BWRX-300, a design General Electric is developing in collaboration with TVA and an international consortium of utilities.
TVA continues to evaluate the BWRX-300, as well as other SMR technology, as the standard design continues to mature, he noted.
“Already, TVA has been in preliminary conversations with the NRC over our construction permit application to ensure it is ready for the NRC to begin its review. We are ready to rapidly engage with the NRC to help support deployment of the reactor across the United States,” he said in the Q&A.
In January, TVA announced that it will be working with Bechtel and Sargent & Lundy along with GE Hitachi to support initial planning and evaluation for the first small modular reactor at TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Unlike previous nuclear construction projects in the United States, contractors will work with GEH and TVA as a highly integrated project team to plan, design, and potentially procure, construct and commission Clinch River Unit 1.
