Tennessee gov plans $50M to support TVA small modular reactor

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) proposed plans this week for his state to spend $50 million to support the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Clinch River small modular reactor project

Lee’s proposal during Monday’s State of the State address comes about a month after a TVA-led coalition submitted an $800 million grant proposal to the Department of Energy for development of a small modular reactor (SMR).

Funding for the SMR project was a topic of much discussion Thursday at the TVA board of directors’ quarterly business meeting. 

Lee’s proposal would create the Small Modular Reactor Grant Fund, which would be used at TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge. If approved, the SMR project would “further position TVA as a leader in next generation nuclear energy, said TVA CEO Jeff Lyash.

The TVA chief executive said Lee has been a longtime supporter of TVA and the nuclear ecosystem. Lee also wants to allocate another $10 million toward the state’s nuclear energy fund to attract advanced nuclear technology companies.

Small modular reactors are reactors with electric generating capacity of 300 megawatts or less, in contrast to an average of about 1,000 megawatts for existing commercial reactors. Those who support SMRs say the technology is safer, more reliable, cheaper, and easier to build than larger commercial reactors.

This week’s quarterly meeting is one of the last for Lyash, who recently announced plans to retire this year after six years at the helm of TVA and 40 years in the nuclear industry. 

Don Moul, the TVA Chief Operating Officer, further elaborated on the $800 million proposal submitted by TVA last month to DOEt. He said their partners in the effort, Bechtel, Sargent & Lundy, and GE Hitachi, will support initial planning and evaluation to help with creating schedule and cost estimates. “We are following a very deliberative and thoughtful evaluation process as we look at SMRs,” Moul added. “These actions are for initial steps as we explore reliable, affordable and clean nuclear energy to serve the valley region for decades to come.”