US Poised To Greenlight New Nuclear Reactor As Power Demand Surges

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday issued the Tennessee Valley Authority a construction permit for a small modular reactor in Tennessee.

The greenlighted build marks only the second commercial advanced reactor project to receive a U.S. construction permit and the first using the BWRX-300 design, WATE reported Monday. The NRC said the approval establishes a “clear, repeatable licensing pathway” for future SMR applicants, potentially making subsequent projects using the technology easier to license, NucNet reported.

The TVA sent the application for the permit in May 2025.

The TVA would also become the first U.S. utility permitted to begin construction of a BWRX-300, according to NucNet. The BWRX-300 is a smaller boiling-water reactor design that the TVA has helped develop alongside GE Vernova Hitachi and international partners. The utility has said the project could provide a template for deploying additional reactors around the country.

The milestone follows the NRC’s March approval of a construction permit for TerraPower’s Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 in Wyoming.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced in December 2025 that it had selected the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Holtec Government Services to receive up to $400 million each to advance small modular reactor (SMR) projects in Tennessee and Michigan, according to a May DOE press release. The $800 million in cost-shared funding is intended to help bring Generation III+ SMRs online in the early 2030s and establish supply chains for additional reactors.

“President [Donald] Trump has made clear that America is going to build more energy, not less, and nuclear is central to that mission,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said when DOE announced the awards. “Advanced light-water SMRs will give our nation the reliable, round-the-clock power we need to fuel the President’s manufacturing boom, support data centers and AI growth, and reinforce a stronger, more secure electric grid.”

TVA plans to deploy GE Vernova-Hitachi’s BWRX-300 reactor at its Clinch River Nuclear Site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Unlike many proposed advanced reactors, the TVA project has already entered the federal licensing process. The TVA submitted its construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in April 2025, and regulators are currently reviewing the application, according to the NRC.

The agency completed its supplemental environmental impact statement for the project in April 2026.

The TVA also plans to use the project to help accelerate additional BWRX-300 deployments alongside Indiana Michigan Power and Elementl. The utility is working with domestic nuclear suppliers including Scot Forge, North American Forgemasters and BWX Technologies, according to the DOE.

The second $400 million award is backing Holtec’s plan to construct two SMR-300 reactors next to the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert, Michigan.

Holtec submitted the first portion of its phased construction permit application for the two reactors, dubbed Pioneer Units 1 and 2, in December 2025. The NRC accepted the application for review in February and released a draft environmental impact statement in August, according to the agency.

The proposed SMRs would sit alongside the existing Palisades reactor, which Holtec is separately working to restart after the plant shut down in 2022. The federal government is supporting that effort with a loan of up to $1.52 billion, according to the DOE.

Holtec is attempting to consolidate much of the SMR development process under one company, acting as the reactor developer, supply-chain provider and plant operator while working with Hyundai Engineering & Construction on construction.

The projects are part of a broader federal effort to increase nuclear generation as electricity demand rises from artificial intelligence, data centers and manufacturing.

Trump signed four nuclear-related executive orders in May 2025 directing the federal government to accelerate reactor licensing and deployment and pursue an expansion of U.S. nuclear capacity from roughly 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts by 2050, according to the DOE.

The president’s administration has since backed projects ranging from restarting shuttered reactors to developing new advanced designs. The NRC issued TerraPower a construction permit for its Natrium advanced reactor in Wyoming in March 2026, while regulators are also reviewing applications for other advanced reactor projects around the country, according to the department.

The TVA and Holtec awards originated from a $900 million DOE solicitation for Generation III+ SMRs designed to reduce the financial and technical risks associated with building the first reactors of their kind.

The two projects, however, still have to clear federal licensing and construction hurdles before producing electricity. The TVA’s BWRX-300 remains under NRC review, while Holtec’s two proposed Michigan reactors are moving through a phased construction permitting process.