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NRC Accepts the Construction Permit Application for TVA's Small Modular Reactor Project

LCG, July 10, 2025--The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) accepted a construction permit application for review from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build one of the nation’s first small modular reactors (SMR). TVA submitted its application in late May to use GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 design and to install the advanced nuclear plant at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. TVA's application is the first in the U.S. that uses GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 design.

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Red Oak Power Facility in PJM to be Acquired by Strategic Value Partners

LCG, July 9, 2025--Strategic Value Partners, LLC (together with its affiliates, SVP) yesterday announced that its managed funds (the "SVP Funds") have agreed to acquire Red Oak Power, an 831-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power generation facility located in Sayreville, New Jersey.

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Industry News

NRC Accepts the Construction Permit Application for TVA's Small Modular Reactor Project

LCG, July 10, 2025--The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) accepted a construction permit application for review from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to build one of the nation’s first small modular reactors (SMR). TVA submitted its application in late May to use GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 design and to install the advanced nuclear plant at its Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. TVA's application is the first in the U.S. that uses GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 design.

TVA has already secured the nation’s first and only early site permit (ESP) for an SMR with support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to clear the environmental review process. TVA anticipates preliminary site preparation work could begin as early as next year while the NRC reviews the company’s construction permit application.

The DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy announcement stated, "The U.S. Department of Energy is committed to unleashing commercial nuclear power in the United States and is working diligently to enable the deployment and export of next-generation nuclear power systems, like SMRs, to bring more affordable, reliable, and secure energy to the American people."

“This is an exciting step to bringing the nation’s first utility-led SMR online,” said TVA's President and CEO. “As the first utility in the United States to have a construction permit application under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the BWRX-300 reactor, this will create a path for other utilities to deploy the reactor — ensuring energy security and reliable electricity for all.”

There are a number of advanced SMR designs being developed and proposed today. The SMRs are designed to have enhanced safety, smaller footprints, potential for a shorter construction schedule, lower costs and other benefits.

The BWRX-300 is a 300-MW advanced light water system. It is a smaller, simplified version of GE Vernova Hitachi’s licensed Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor that can leverage established supply chains that could accelerate its deployment.

TVA plans to deploy up to four SMRs using the BWRX-300 design, which has been under evaluation since 2023, when TVA joined a global collaboration to accelerate the design and development of the technology. TVA is now leading a coalition of industry partners, which includes Bechtel, Duke Energy, and GE Hitachi, in submitting an application for an $800 million DOE grant to accelerate BWRX-300 development and seeking an $8 million DOE grant to support the NRC license review cost.

In Canada, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is a step ahead of TVA. On May 8, the Province of Ontario approved OPG to begin construction on the first of four BWRX-300 SMR units at its Darlington New Nuclear Project site. OPG's first SMR unit is scheduled to be in service by the end of 2029, and it will be capable of generating 300 MW of safe, clean, reliable electricity. OPG's Darlington SMR will be Ontario's first new nuclear build in more than three decades. TVA should benefit from OPG's experiences constructing the first North American BWRX-300 SMR at the Darlington site, and other nuclear developers may benefit from TVA's experiences at the Clinch River site.

The Clinch River Site was originally selected for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project in the back in the early 1980s. The approximately 1,200 acre site is immediately adjacent to the DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation. Extensive grading and excavation disturbed approximately 240 acres on the site before the Breeder Reactor Project was terminated. Later, in December 2019, TVA became the first utility in the nation to successfully obtain approval for an ESP from the NRC for a potential nuclear power facility at the Clinch River site.

OPG's Darlington site is located in Ontario and currently includes four existing nuclear reactors, with a combined capacity of 3,500 MW, that have been operating for decades.
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