TVA First Mover on New Nuclear in US  

On May 20, 2025, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) a construction permit application (CPA) for the GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) small modular reactor (SMR) BWRX-300 technology.  

The TVA is a wholly owned government corporation established by federal law signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 18, 1933. The establishment was an extremely controversial New Deal program with many politicians calling it an example of the introduction of “socialism.” Today it provides electricity at wholesale to municipal utilities serving 10 million customers in ten states. The TVA is governed by a nine-member board of directors appointed by the President and confirmed by the US Senate.  

The TVA expects to spend $15 billion over the next three years to meet regional growth with a projected need of 5,500 MW of new generating capacity to 2029. The TVA is financed by its own cash flow and debt. The debt is not guaranteed by the US government, but investors believe there is implicit support by the US government due to government ownership.  

The TVA current generation fleet includes:  

• 4 fossil plants (25 active units) 

• 3 nuclear plants (7 units) 

• 29 hydro plants (109 units) 

• 1 pumped storage hydroelectric plant (4 units) 

• 9 natural gas combustion turbine gas plants (87 units) 

• 8 natural gas combined cycle gas plants (14 power blocks, 35 units [21 gas turbines, 14 steam turbines]) 

• 1 diesel generator site (5 units) 

• 9 solar energy sites

 

The GE Hitachi SMR unit, to be located at a site at Clinch River, is a 300-Mwe capacity nuclear power plant designed with built-in natural circulation and passive cooling technology and an expected lifespan of 60 years. The engineering firms Bechtel and Sargent & Lundy will work with GE Hitachi on construction of the units.  

The TVA did not announce any total budget for this nuclear power project but did indicate it would apply for a $800 million DOE grant to offset some of the Clinch River project’s costs as well as for a $8 million DOE grant to support the NRC license review cost.  

The final NRC decision on the operating license might not come until 2031 or early 2032, this is not far off from TVA’s projected in service date of December 2032. 

The TVA announcement puts the new nuclear construction program in the US on the same basis as the rest of the world – government financed. There are 65 reactors under construction in 15 countries, mostly in Asia, according to the World Nuclear Association.  

These are government funded as will be the US’s newest announced unit at TVA’s Clinch River site. Successful licensing and construction at this TVA site may lead to investor-owned utility (IOU) return to the nuclear generation option.