Tennessee Valley Authority headquarters and TVA logoTVA seeks permit for small reactors
The Tennessee Valley Authority may be scrapping plans for a mothballed nuclear power plant in Alabama it says it no longer needs, but the federal utility is still pursuing plans to possibly build a new type of nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge.
The Tennessee Valley Authority has submitted an Early Site Permit Application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate small modular reactor (SMR) units at its Clinch River site near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
In a statement Friday, TVA said the new smaller modular reactors “offer clean energy technology that, if deployed, would play a key role in TVA’s continued mission of energy, environment and economic development” and position “TVA as an industry leader” in new energy development.
TVA is the first in the industry to submit any type of application related to SMRs. The NRC will use the application to review site safety, environmental and emergency preparedness requirements for potential construction of the next-generation nuclear technology at the 1,200-acre location.