The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said the agency has selected the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Holtec Government Services to support early deployments of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. The DOE on December 2 said project teams with the two groups will receive up to $800 million in “federal cost-shared funding” targeted for projects in Tennessee and Michigan.
The agency on Tuesday said the funding also is designed to “expand the Nation’s capacity while facilitating additional follow-on projects and associated supply chains.” It added, “The selections announced today will help deliver new nuclear generation in the early 2030s [and] strengthen domestic supply chains.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a news release said, “Advanced light-water SMRs will give our nation the reliable, round-the-clock power we need to fuel the president’s manufacturing boom, support data centers and AI [artificial intelligence] growth, and reinforce a stronger, more secure electric grid. These awards ensure we can deploy these reactors as soon as possible.”
The money will support teams as they develop and build the first U.S. Gen III+ SMR facilities. The TVA’s $400 million is for deployment of a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 at the Clinch River Nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The DOE also is supporting deployment of additional units with Indiana Michigan Power and Elementl. TVA plans to work with the domestic nuclear supply chain partners Scot Forge, North American Forgemasters, BWX Technologies, and Aecon. Other partners supporting the project include Duke Energy, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the Electric Power Research Institute.
Holtec Government Services will receive $400 million for deployment of two SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station site in Covert, Michigan. Holtec also is restarting an 800-MW single pressurized water reactor at the Palisades location; that reactor was shut down in 2022 and had been set for decommissioning.
The DOE in March of this year issued a $900-million solicitation to de-risk the deployment of Gen III+ SMRs. The remaining $100 million will be awarded later this year to support additional deployments and address key barriers in design, licensing, supply chain, and site readiness, according to the agency.
Both SMR projects are targeted for operation in the early 2030s. Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova, in a statement Tuesday said, “The BWRX-300 is the only commercial SMR technology being built right now in the Western world, and this grant will accelerate its deployment in the U.S. We would like to recognize the DOE for its leadership in support of the nuclear industry and for championing public-private partnerships to advance the next generation of nuclear technology and bolster the nation’s energy security.”
TVA submitted a construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in May of this year for the BWRX-300 at Clinch River. The NRC is currently reviewing the application.
GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Samsung C&T, a construction and engineering company, in October of this year announced a strategic alliance to advance deployment of the BWRX-300 SMR in markets outside of North America.
DOE funding support for nuclear power has included billions of dollars for projects over the past 15 years, beginning with the Obama administration’s more than $8 billion of loan guarantees in 2010 for construction of two new reactors at the Plant Vogtle site in Georgia. The Trump administration in November of this year loaned Constellation Energy Corp. $1 billion to restart a nuclear reactor at the Three Mile Island site in Pennsylvania.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
