The Tennessee Valley Authority, once the nation’s most ambitious developer of nuclear power of any U.S. utility, hasn’t started building a new nuclear reactor in nearly a half century.
But that may soon change. TVA President Jeff Lyash told a Senate panel studying the future of nuclear power on Thursday that he hopes TVA will bring online new small modular reactors in Oak Ridge within the next 11 years even as the federal utility extends the life of its existing fleet of seven reactors for decades in the future.”
“Our schedule is to have a small modular reactor (SMR) perhaps in service at Clinch River (in Oak Ridge) by 2032,” Lyash told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Our Clinch River site is the only site in the nation with an NRC-approved early site permit for small modular reactors. This effectively eliminates a number of risks that have stopped or delayed many nuclear projects previously.”
Although TVA was not selected last year to receive federal aid to develop one of the first Small Modular Reactor test sites, TVA is still pursuing plans to possibly build several SMRs on the 935-acre abandoned Clinch River Breeder Reactor site in Anderson County. TVA is currently conducting an environmental assessment of the new advanced nuclear technologies, which are designed to be simpler, more flexible and less costly to construct than the current generation of multibillion-dollar nuclear power plants.
The TVA board has yet to authorize the building of more nuclear reactors and the proposed new small modular reactors in Oak Ridge are still dependent upon an assessment of the plant site, SMR technology and TVA’s need for the power. But Lyash and other nuclear power leaders voiced support during Thursday’s congressional hearing for more nuclear generation to help provide the needed power to meet President Biden’s goal to build a “carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035” and reach net zero emissions by 2050.