The signing took place on a Tuesday in TVA’s Knoxville office, with Gov. Bill Lee, Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Reps. Chuck Fleischmann and Tim Burchett in the room, and TVA’s Mike Skaggs and the NRC’s Jeremy Bowen held up a framed certificate for a small modular reactor called Clinch River Nuclear Unit 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The certificate says the NRC “hereby commemorates the issuance of construction permit CPAR-2 to Tennessee Valley Authority” for a 300-megawatt GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Federal Register notice dates the permit September 28, the NRC announced it on September 29, and the agency says it clears the way “for the nation’s first commercial small modular reactor.” It is a permit to build, and TVA will still need a separate operating license before the reactor can run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Four months ahead of schedule is what the new NRC looks like,” NRC Chairman Ho K. Nieh said in the agency’s statement, and he added that “Today’s Clinch River decision demonstrates that the new NRC can make rigorous and credible safety decisions that enable major American nuclear projects to move forward.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bowen, who directs the NRC’s Office of Advanced Reactors, told the event that the safety evaluation decision came nine months after the agency received TVA’s application, the staff safety review was done in 12 months and the signing came less than 14 months in, WATE reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in June, when NRC staff finished the safety report, Ricky Vivanco, a lead project manager in the NRC’s division of Advanced Reactors, put the quick turnaround down to “review efficiencies and frequent and productive engagements with TVA,” in a letter that Knox News quoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NRC was plain about the limit of what it signed, writing that “before loading fuel and starting operations, TVA will need a separate operating license from the NRC.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TVA asked for an early site permit at Clinch River in 2016 and got it in 2019, which World Nuclear News<\/a> says certified that the site “is suitable for the construction of a nuclear power plant from the point of view of site safety, environmental impact and emergency planning.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n TVA’s own announcement<\/a> calls SMRs “advanced nuclear reactors that generate up to 300 megawatts of electricity; about one-third the size of traditional nuclear units,” and says their modular design “allows major components to be built in factories and shipped to the site, which reduces construction time, cost, and complexity.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n World Nuclear News calls the BWRX-300 a “water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems.” The same outlet says the design “leverages the design and licensing basis of the ESBWR boiling water reactor developed by GEH,” meaning GE Hitachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TVA is now the first U.S. utility permitted to build a BWRX-300. By its count, this is “only the second advanced reactor construction permit ever issued in the nation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This construction permit is more than a regulatory achievement, it’s foundational for America’s nuclear future,” Skaggs, TVA’s interim president and CEO, said in remarks carried by World Nuclear News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TVA’s chief nuclear officer, Matt Rasmussen, said “The NRC’s strong engagement with the industry is essential to support America’s energy leadership and help build the foundation for the nation’s advanced nuclear future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jason Cooper, CEO of GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, said in GE Vernova’s release<\/a> that “Fleet deployment is essential to scaling nuclear energy in the United States.” He went on, “A standard design, combined with a predictable and efficient regulatory environment, allows us to apply common technology, licensing experience, supply chain capabilities and lessons learned from one project to the next. Clinch River brings us another step closer to making that fleet model a reality.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “In April 2025, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) issued Ontario Power Generation (OPG) a License to Construct the first BWRX-300 at its Darlington New Nuclear Project site, where nuclear construction is now underway,” GE Vernova’s release says, and that unit is the first of four units planned east of Toronto<\/a>. “In March 2026, OPG submitted its License to Operate application for the first unit, which is currently under review by the CNSC.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n World Nuclear News says “There are also projects advancing for fleet deployment of BWRX-300 units in Poland and the UK,” where a Polish energy group wants to build small reactors in Britain<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “America’s nuclear renaissance runs through Tennessee, and TVA’s Clinch River site is a big reason why,” Blackburn said in TVA’s announcement. “This permit brings TVA one step closer to building one of the nation’s first small modular reactors that will power Tennessee homes and businesses with clean, reliable energy, and I applaud TVA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for making this moment possible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fleischmann told Spectrum News the process usually takes several years and said it was expedited due in part to the Trump administration’s support of nuclear advancements. “Our great state has been ranked No. 1 by outside sources for nuclear [power] in the country,” he said. “No other state is near us. Everything is coming together in such a great way, and we are fortunate that it is happening in the state of Tennessee.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “TVA cleared a regulatory hurdle that will help future projects move even faster. This is a big win not just for TVA, but for the country, and it’s happening right here in East Tennessee,” Burchett said in TVA’s announcement. “I am also looking forward to the new jobs that this project will create, and I want to thank President Trump for encouraging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to update their plan of action, which helped streamline this process. Nuclear energy is national security.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n WATE reported that Blackburn told the ceremony Tennessee has 229 nuclear companies employing more than 40,000 people, and that when Burchett talked up work for welders and electricians, Skaggs said TVA does not yet have a specific number of jobs expected from Clinch River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TVA has not announced a construction date, and its announcement says it “continues negotiations with industry partners to ensure responsible cost sharing and financial accountability throughout design and construction.” Skaggs framed it this way: “Our priority is ensuring the people of the Valley do not shoulder the costs of first-of-a-kind technology that benefits the nation and world. Strategic partnerships enable shared responsibility, shared value, and shared progress as we deploy advanced nuclear infrastructure to meet our nation’s energy security and AI dominance goals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n This summer, Knox News reported that “TVA in 2024 estimated the price of one small modular reactor at about $5.4 billion before interest and tax credits,” that the utility “won $400 million for the project from the federal government” the year before, and that TVA “aims to complete the first reactor in the 2032 fiscal year, according to the agency report.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Energy analyst David Schlissel, in testimony before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission that the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy highlighted in 2025, said “One of the key claims by supporters of SMRs is that the reactors will be less expensive to build because key reactor modules will be manufactured in factories and assembled on site. Yet, to my knowledge, no SMR vendor has yet opened a single factory.” He also testified that “It is extremely likely that any future SMRs or large reactors will cost far more and take far longer to build than the nuclear industry and its supporters now claim.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NRC’s pace also matters for Westinghouse’s plans for up to 91 new units<\/a>, and the agency earlier gave NuScale approval for its US460 design<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat the BWRX-300 is<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
TVA and GE Vernova talk about a repeatable path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tennessee politicians talked about speed and jobs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Cost and timing are still open<\/h2>\n\n\n\n