en.Wedoany.com Reported - Staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recommended in its latest safety evaluation report that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) be issued a construction permit for a GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) BWRX-300 boiling water reactor at the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This recommendation marks a key regulatory milestone for the small modular reactor project and sends a positive signal for the commercial deployment of advanced nuclear energy in the United States.
According to the report, NRC staff determined that TVA's application complies with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and relevant regulatory requirements, and generally meets the applicable guidance for commercial light-water reactor construction permit applications. The evaluation also concluded that, based on the current preliminary design, TVA can reasonably ensure that the final design will meet design bases and provide adequate safety margins, while possessing the capability to construct the facility in accordance with the permit and regulatory requirements. TVA's financial information, technical analysis, project plan, and organizational arrangements were also deemed sufficient to demonstrate its financial and technical qualifications for constructing the small modular reactor facility.
The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe-class boiling water reactor featuring a natural circulation design, emphasizing simplified plant architecture, passive residual heat removal, and coolant retention through reactor isolation. The U.S. Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), after completing its review of the safety aspects of TVA's application, concluded that the preliminary safety analysis report for the project has reached a sufficient level of completeness for the construction permit stage, which helps improve review efficiency. The ACRS also affirmed the safety approach adopted by GVH, noting that it links safety functions, classification of structures, systems, and components, deterministic analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, risk-informed special treatment, and defense-in-depth, facilitating the demonstration that fundamental safety functions are met.
The release of this safety evaluation report came earlier than originally planned. The NRC had previously informed TVA that the report was expected to be completed in November, but due to improved review efficiency and frequent, productive communication with TVA, the report was issued ahead of schedule. NRC staff currently estimate that completing the review and issuing the permit will require approximately 16,500 hours, lower than the 25,000-hour estimate communicated to TVA last year; contractor costs are expected to be approximately $1.4 million, unchanged from last year's estimate.
