Overview
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the construction permit for Clinch River Unit 1 on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, making TVA the first U.S. utility cleared to build a GE Vernova/Hitachi BWRX-300.
- The NRC completed its technical review in 14 months, a timetable officials said shows faster, more predictable licensing that other BWRX-300 applicants could follow.
- TVA has not announced a construction start date and is negotiating cost-sharing with industry partners to avoid passing first-of-a-kind costs to regional ratepayers.
- The BWRX-300 is a roughly 300-megawatt small modular reactor designed for factory-built components to speed assembly, but it is unproven at U.S. commercial scale and first-of-a-kind capital costs remain uncertain.
- The permit builds on federal support for advanced reactors, including DOE programs and 2024 congressional reforms, and follows other U.S. advanced-reactor milestones such as TerraPower’s March construction permit in Wyoming.