Lauren Bellero reports that the TVA plans to pursue a permit for a possible nuclear power plant near Oak Ridge, Tenn., that would utilize a smaller type of nuclear technology. The federal utility said it will file an early site permit application in May with the U.S. NRC that would potentially pave the way for one or more small modular reactors, or SMRs, on the Clinch River site.
The NRC said it will hold two meetings in Oak Ridge in mid-April on the process for evaluating early site permit applications for SMRs, which will include safety and environmental assessments to take place during the evaluation. Early site permits are valid for 10 to 20 years, with the possibility of being renewed for another 10 to 20 years, the agency said. A separate license would be required to build and operate a reactor even if the site is deemed suitable for a SMR, according to the NRC.
Among potential advantages to SMRs are improved safety and security, less construction time and lower financing costs, according to the TVA. The SMR containment systems are built completely underground and the smaller size allows components to be constructed mostly in factories and be shipped to the site on railroads and trucks, increasing standardization and quality, the utility said.
The TVA has not made a final decision on the construction of SMRs, spokesman Jim Hopson said in an email. Hopson noted that if the permit is granted, the NRC must also certify one or more of the SMR designs, after which the TVA board of directors could make a final decision on whether or not to move forward with construction.
SMRs were the only form of nuclear energy to qualify as clean energy in a March 2015 executive order issued by President Obama to cut greenhouse gas emissions from federal government agencies (The is not true...it said nothing, but did mention SMRs). The executive order applied to the U.S. DOE-affiliated research institution Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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