Background: The BWRX-300, explained · Small modular reactors, explained: who is building them worldwide · Every Nuclear Plant Under Construction in the US in 2026
Current state
| Status | Licensed |
| Design | BWRX-300 (BWR, SMR) |
| Net capacity | 300 MWe |
| Country | United States |
| Vendor | GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy |
| Owner / operator | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Construction start | — |
| Original COD target | — |
| Current COD estimate | — |
| Schedule slippage | — |
Notes
First US construction permit for a BWRX-300 and the first for a commercial SMR. TVA submitted the application in 2025; the site already held an NRC early site permit (2019). TVA has not announced a construction start or an in-service date and says it is still negotiating cost sharing with industry partners, so no EPC is recorded and the COD fields stay empty. Capacity is the 300 MWe stated by the NRC and GE Vernova Hitachi.
Milestone log
- 2025-07-11 — NRC accepted TVA's construction permit application for Clinch River Unit 1 for review, with a 17-month review schedule (WNN report date) (source)
- 2026-09-29 — NRC issued the construction permit (CPAR-2) for Clinch River Nuclear Unit 1 after a 14-month review, four months ahead of schedule; operation requires a separate operating license (source)
The milestone log is append-only: corrections are recorded as new entries, never rewrites. Full history via /api/v1/changes.
NNN coverage
At Clinch River site
- Core Analysis: The license path is the product now 2026-07-10
- The 7 nuclear stories that mattered this week 2026-10-03
- NRC approves TVA’s Clinch River BWRX-300 permit 2026-10-01
- Bechtel splits with TerraPower on Natrium, files 200-job WARN notice 2026-09-20
- Top SMR developers in 2026, ranked by what they've actually built 2026-08-05
- Small modular reactors, explained: who is building them worldwide 2026-07-09
On the BWRX-300 design
- US, Japan and South Korea set SMR deployment plan 2026-09-27
- BWRX-300 vs AP300 vs Natrium: which SMR is actually winning? 2026-07-09
- The BWRX-300, explained 2026-07-09
- Poland's Orlen Synthos seeks CfD backing for 14 BWRX-300 SMRs 2026-07-09
- Poland starts long-lead procurement for first AP1000 2026-10-09
- Nuclear power for data centers, explained: every deal tracked 2026-10-01
Sources
- https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/news-releases/2026/26-079
- https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2624/ML26244A257.html
- https://www.gevernova.com/news/press-releases/nrc-issues-first-us-construction-permit-bwrx-300-small-modular-reactor-tva-clinch-river
- https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/first-construction-permit-issued-for-bwrx300-smr-in-us
- https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/clinch-river-application-accepted-for-review