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- Sep 29, 202690% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
NRC Issues TVA a Construction Permit for the Clinch River BWRX-300 SMR
- On 29 September 2026 the NRC issued TVA a construction permit for a BWRX-300 small modular reactor at the Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the first such permit for the design in the United States and, in the Breakthrough Institute's words, "the first construction authorization for a commercial small modular reactor in the United States"[1][4]
- The NRC completed its review in 14 months, four months ahead of schedule, helped by the Early Site Permit TVA already held for Clinch River, which sets a combined limit of 800 MWe; it is the NRC's second major new-reactor construction approval of 2026 after TerraPower's Natrium in March[4]
- TVA submitted its construction permit application in April 2025; the BWRX-300 is a 300 MW boiling-water SMR from GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, and the site sits within the Oak Ridge nuclear ecosystem near the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory[1]
- The permit allows TVA to build but not to run the reactor: TVA must complete construction and win a separate NRC operating licence before it can load fuel[2][4]
- No construction start date has been announced; TVA says it "continues negotiations with industry partners to ensure responsible cost sharing", plans as many as four 300 MW units at the site, and had projected the first BWRX-300 in revenue service by 2032 without committing to a firm date[3]
- Bechtel was selected to lead construction and Sargent & Lundy the detailed design; the NRC staff's safety evaluation recommended the permit in the summer of 2026[3][5]
References 581% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 81%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 5 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%gevernova.com/news/press-releases/nrc-issues-first-us-construction-permit-bwrx-300-small-modular-reactor-tva-clinch-rivergevernova.com· Posted Oct 3, 2026· Starts Sep 29, 2026 ✓· 22% of score
GE Vernova Hitachi, 29 September 2026: it "today welcomed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) issuance of a construction permit to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for a BWRX-300 small modular reactor at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee."
- [2]75%TVA Gets NRC Construction Permit for 300 MWe SMR at Clinch River Site - Energy Centralenergycentral.com· Published Oct 1, 2026· 21% of score
Quotes the NRC release: a separate operating licence is needed before fuel loading.[1]
- [3]80%NRC Construction Permit to TVA for BWRX-300 - Neutron Bytesneutronbytes.com· Published Sep 30, 2026· 21% of score
TVA's statement on cost sharing, the 2032 projection and the EPC team.[1]
- [4]85%RELEASE: The NRC Approves Construction Permit for TVA's Clinch River Small Modular Reactor - Breakthrough Institutethebreakthrough.org· Published Sep 29, 2026· 21% of score
Names the date, the 14-month review and that the permit does not authorise operation.[1]
- [5]75%Clinch River construction permit recommendation follows safety evaluation - ANSans.org· Published Jul 1, 2026· 15% of score
The staff safety evaluation that preceded the permit.[1]
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