TVA, Holtec Splitting $800M in DOE Funding to Create SMR Nuclear Generation
The Tennessee Valley Authority and nuclear equipment firm Holtec International have gained the sizable financial blessing of the U.S. Department of Energy to advance small modular reactor projects in early-stage development.
The DOE selected federal utility TVA and private contractor Holtec Government Services to support separate deployments of advanced light-water SMRs in Tennessee and Michigan. The firms will receive up to $800 million in total federal cost-sharing funding on initial SMR projects.
“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 centers and AI growth, and reinforce a stronger, more secure electric grid,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, in a statement. “These awards ensure we can deploy these reactors as soon as possible.”
Conventional utility-scale nuclear reactors drive power generation at more than 90 plants nationwide and create nearly 20% of the country’s electricity, close to half of its carbon-free power.
No SMRs have been physically developed or commissioned in the U.S. yet, but the drive to meet power capacity needs of AI-enabled data centers is creating demand for these future technologies. Hyperscale digital infrastructure firms such as Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, Google and Meta are seeking SMRs or restarted nuclear plants to meet both power adequacy and carbon-emissions mandates.
The DOE selections of TVA and Holtec, both highly experienced in nuclear power generation, could help deliver new SMR units online by the early 2030s, according to the government announcement.
TVA will receive $400 million and plans to advance deployment of a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 (rendering at top) at the Clinch River Nuclear site in Tennessee, as well as accelerate the deployment of additional units with Indiana Michigan Power and Elementl. Additionally, TVA plans to work with the domestic nuclear supply chain partners Scot Forge, North American Forgemasters, BWX Technologies, and Aecon.
Other partners supporting the Clinch River project include Duke Energy, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the Electric Power Research Institute.
Holtec will secure the other $400 million and plans to deploy two SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station site in Covert, Michigan. Holtec is looking for 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 will be the electricity merchant selling the power to nearby utilities and end-users.
In March 2025, DOE issued a $900 million solicitation to de-risk the deployment of Gen III+ SMRs and the remaining $100 million will be awarded to support additional deployments and address key barriers in design, licensing, supply chain, and site readiness by the end of 2025.
SMRs are designed to be smaller footprint generating anywhere from 30 to 300 MW, as compared to the 1 GW units such as the recently expanded Vogtle station in Georgia. They are designed with passive safety features and calculated possibly to be less expensive construction projects, although some dispute that contention.
The looming energy crisis around new AI, cloud-based and industrial computing is mobilizing a new generation of support behind the “all of the above” power generation approach.
“That investment is happening but that investment by itself is not enough,” James Lee, partner at private equity investing giant BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, said during a keynote session at the Schneider Electric Innovation Summit North America last month in Las Vegas. “We need an all-of-the-above solution on baseload . . . Gas plants with carbon capture, next-gen geothermal and all forms of nuclear. We’ll need all of these to be able to meet the task at hand.”
About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.