TVA gets the first U.S. permit to build a small modular reactor; Canada's twin costs about $4.3 billion
The NRC cleared TVA's 300-megawatt GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 at Clinch River, Tennessee, four months early. TVA has not given a price, but Ontario's first identical unit is budgeted at C$6.1 billion.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday issued the Tennessee Valley Authority a construction permit for a small modular reactor at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the American Nuclear Society reported. It is the first U.S. construction permit for a commercial small modular reactor, and the first for GE Vernova Hitachi's 300-megawatt BWRX-300 design in the United States. The NRC finished its review in 14 months, four months ahead of schedule, according to a release from the Breakthrough Institute.
The permit lets TVA build, not run. It still needs a separate operating license before it can load fuel. Commercial operation is targeted for the early 2030s. Details of the review are on the NRC's Clinch River page.
The number TVA has not given
TVA has not published a cost estimate for Clinch River, and none was reported with the permit. The closest yardstick is the same reactor being built in Canada. Ontario Power Generation received its license to build the first of four BWRX-300s at Darlington in April 2025, and Ontario approved a C$20.9 billion budget for all four, World Nuclear News reported. The first unit is budgeted at C$6.1 billion, plus C$1.6 billion for systems shared by all four.
| Darlington BWRX-300 budget | Canadian dollars | U.S. dollars* |
|---|---|---|
| First 300 MW unit | C$6.1 billion | about $4.3 billion |
| Shared systems | C$1.6 billion | about $1.1 billion |
| All four units (1,200 MW) | C$20.9 billion | about $14.8 billion |
*Converted at 1.414 Canadian dollars per U.S. dollar, the Fed's September 25 rate via FRED.
On those figures, a first-of-a-kind unit costs about $14,400 per kilowatt of capacity. That is why the federal help matters but does not settle the question. The Energy Department in December 2025 selected TVA for up to $400 million in cost-shared funding, the ANS reported, and TVA has put in $150 million of its own. Together that is $550 million, or roughly an eighth of what Ontario is spending on its first unit. Costs of U.S. and Canadian builds will differ, but the gap shows how much TVA's ratepayers or partners may still have to carry.
Who it matters to
For GE Vernova, which closed up 1.40% at $963.06 on Tuesday according to Nasdaq, a second licensed site makes the BWRX-300 a product with a U.S. customer rather than a one-off. Bechtel and Sargent & Lundy are TVA's other named partners.
For businesses in TVA's service area, the reactor is a long-term supply story, not a near-term bill cut. A plant running in the early 2030s does nothing for this winter's power costs, and the first unit's price will eventually be recovered through rates. For data center developers hunting for firm power, the permit is a signal that the regulatory step is moving faster than the build itself.
What to watch
A TVA board decision and cost estimate for full construction, the Darlington unit's progress toward its 2030 target, and further NRC action on other small-reactor applications.
Sources: American Nuclear Society, Breakthrough Institute, NRC, World Nuclear News, FRED, Nasdaq. Currency conversions and per-kilowatt cost calculated by The Company Chronicle. This is market information, not investment advice.
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