TVA ready for review of possible nuke site

Clinch River small modular reactors are under TVA review in Oak Ridge, with Babcock & Wilcox and Bechtel advancing 125-megawatt mPower units; environmental studies, licensing, and plans aim to cut carbon and boost energy independence.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is ready to move ahead with an environmental review of a site along the Clinch River that could become one of the first locations in the country for a new generation of small nuclear reactors.

The 1,364-acre Clinch River Breeder Reactor site in Oak Ridge is one of several locations across the United States under consideration as possible sites for one of the small, modular nuclear power plants that are under development.

First, though, TVA officials need to know whether the Clinch River property — once the planned site of a controversial nuclear reactor that was later abandoned — would be a good fit for the facility.

The initial stages of an environmental review of the property could begin as early as October, said Ashok Bhatnagar, TVA's vice president of nuclear generation development and construction.

"That site has had multiple environmental reviews in the past, so the object is kind of to get all of that information back together" and then decide how to proceed, Bhatnagar said.

The initial phase should take about six months, but it could be years before the entire assessment is finished and a final decision is made. In general, Bhatnagar said, it can take two or three years to see a site study through to completion.

Meanwhile, manufacturer Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy Inc. announced Wednesday it has entered into an alliance with Bechtel Power Corp. to design, license and deploy the small power plants.

The new 125-megawatt mPower reactors would produce about one-tenth of the power generated by other nuclear reactors. Most power plants are 1,200 megawatts.

Jack Futcher, president of Bechtel's power business, said the new plants have the potential to be "a real game changer" for the nuclear power industry because they would make nuclear power more accessible to utilities and more affordable to consumers.

The companies hope to have the first plant in operation by 2020.

Several lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Pall Mall, attended the announcement and said the new reactors would provide cheap power and promote energy independence.

"My hope is that TVA, which is leading the country in new nuclear construction, will build the first small nuclear reactor, perhaps at Oak Ridge," U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Maryville, said in a statement.

TVA has signed a letter of intent as part of its long-range plans to possibly become the lead site for the new reactor, even as it scaled back its Bellefonte plan in Alabama, although no final decision has been made.

The Clinch River property that is under consideration was the planned site of a breeder reactor first envisioned by the U.S. Department of Energy in the early 1970s. The project finally was canceled in 1983 as a result of technical problems, cost overruns and opposition by environmentalists.

Bhatnagar said TVA believes the property would be a good location for the smaller power plants. The plan is to implement two of the 125-megawatt units at a time. That, he said, would mean that one of the units could be used to provide power to the U.S Department of Energy's Oak Ridge reservation at ORNL facilities.

"Their carbon imprint would be very significantly reduced across the board," he said.

Power generated by the other reactor could go into TVA's overall energy portfolio and could be parceled out however it's needed, Bhatnagar said.

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