The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded up to $800m in federal cost-shared funding to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Holtec Government Services to support early deployments of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs). Using US DOE SMR funding, the project teams will advance initial projects in Tennessee and Michigan and help expand US capacity while facilitating additional follow-on projects and associated supply chains.
TVA will receive $400m to advance deployment of a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR at the Clinch River Nuclear site in Tennessee, as well as accelerate the deployment of additional units with Indiana Michigan Power and Elementl. TVA plans to work with the domestic nuclear supply chain partners Scot Forge, North American Forgemasters, BWX Technologies, and Aecon. Other partners supporting the project include Duke Energy, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the Electric Power Research Institute.
Holtec Government Services will receive $400m to deploy two SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station site in Covert, Michigan, under the US DOE SMR funding plan. The goal is to demonstrate viability for additional orders both domestically and abroad. DOE said Holtec is pursuing an innovative one-stop-shop approach to SMR deployment by fulfilling the roles of technology vendor, supply chain vendor, nuclear plant constructor in partnership with Hyundai Engineering & Construction, plant operator, and electricity merchant selling the power to near-by utilities and end-users.
“President Trump has made clear that America is going to build more energy, not less, and nuclear is central to that mission,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “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 centres and AI growth, and reinforce a stronger, more secure electric grid. These awards ensure we can deploy these reactors as soon as possible.”
In March, DOE issued a $900m solicitation to de-risk the deployment of Gen III+ SMRs. The remaining $100m of US DOE SMR funding will be awarded later this year to support additional deployments and address key barriers in design, licensing, supply chain, and site readiness.
Holtec said the award will catalyse the first-of-a-kind (FOAK) deployment of Holtec’s dual-unit SMR-300 plant at the company’s Palisades Energy site where a formerly shuttered 805 MWe pressurised water reactor is poised for imminent restart with the support of a DOE loan. “Fittingly, the twin-unit SMR-300 plant has been named PIONEER 1&2, which captures its trailblazing mission to spearhead the rise of the SMR industry in the U.S. and the world.”
The project, which will add 680 MWe in a dual unit (340 MWe per unit) configuration, is envisaged to be built by Holtec with construction financing from the DOE’s Loan Programs Office. “With the financial pathway secured, we look with guarded confidence to implement our Mission 2030, which contemplates the Pioneer reactors being brought online in the first years of the 2030s.”
As part of the programme, DOE will provide milestone-based cost-share support to advance licensing, pre-construction, and supply-chain mobilisation for the Palisades SMR-300 project. Holtec’s proposal includes a multi-site deployment pathway that establishes a repeatable, fleet-scale model intended to drive down costs and shorten construction durations through standardisation and manufacturing efficiency.
Holtec said DOE’s support “is an essential enabler of the Palisades SMR-300 project, moving it from development to deployment by building on the government’s prior support for Holtec’s SMR technology under the 2020 DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) Risk Reduction for Future Demonstrations to support commercial readiness.”
Holtec CEO and Executive Chairman Dr Kris Singh said the future of nuclear energy as a source of reliable baseload electricity to power the economy of the future will be realised only if the industry makes reactors predictably cost competitive. “With a well-exercised and proven supply chain, a world-class (exclusive) alliance partner, Hyundai E&C, and the plant design marinated with four decades of practical corporate experience, we consider it our duty to lead the industry in building, owning, and operating the first SMR-300 plant in the United States.”
The Palisades restart project is due to be synchronised with the grid in early 2026, months ahead of the committed schedule and substantially below the allotted budget. Holtec President Kelly Trice, who has overseen the Palisades restart programme since its inception, will also guide the Palisades SMR-300 project.
GE Vernova Hitachi has similar ambitions for its BWRX-300 SMR to be the first SMR to start operation in the US. Welcoming the award to TVA, the company noted: “With commercial operation of the first BWRX-300 at the utility’s Clinch River Site targeted for the early 2030s, it would become the nation’s first commercial SMR.”
GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik noted: “The BWRX-300 is the only commercial SMR technology being built right now in the Western world, and this grant will accelerate its deployment in the US. We would like to recognise the DOE for its leadership in support of the nuclear industry and for championing public-private partnerships to advance the next generation of nuclear technology and bolster the nation’s energy security.”
TVA led a coalition of utility and industry partners, including GE Vernova Hitachi, in applying for funding through DOE’s Generation III+ SMR programme. In May, TVA submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build the first BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. NRC is currently reviewing the application.
