TVA’s mini nuclear reactors will boost energy production, cost less to build | News

Stuart Rymer, the nuclear life extension director for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s fleet of nuclear plants, says the federally owned utility is planning to construct more nuclear plants over the coming years to boost its energy- producing capabilities.

But they won’t resemble the sprawling nuclear facilities at Sequoyah, Watts Bar and Browns Ferry, where seven massive reactors generate more than 50% of power distributed throughout the Tennessee Valley.

Due to a $30 billion debt ceiling that was imposed by the U.S. Congress in 1979, which is not adjusted for inflation, TVA will instead focus on constructing nuclear facilities that don’t come with a more than $30 billion price tag and take greater than a decade to design and construct.

Conventional reactors such as the ones at Sequoyah, Watts Bar and Brown Ferry produce nearly 8,300 megawatts of continuous power to millions of homes and businesses.

TVA also generates energy via hydroelectricity, solar, gas and coal.

Stuart, who is also tasked with working with federal regulators to extend the life of TVA’s existing fleet of nuclear plants to nearly 100 years of operation, told members of the Rotary Club of Cleveland the utility will unveil smaller nuclear plants in the coming years.

Called modular reactors, the mini units can produce approximately 300 megawatts and cost less to construct.

“They’re literally produced in a plant, put on a trailer, shipped to site, and plugged in,” he said, adding that TVA expects demand for electricity will double by 2050.

Focusing on building smaller nuclear reactor units fits within TVA’s budget constraints, according to Rymer.

“That’s why we’re looking at small modular units, because we can afford to build one unit and then pay down the debt over a year and then build another one,” he said. “We can’t afford to build a $36 billion plant right now.”

TVA’s board of directors has approved $350 million for the development of small modular reactors at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge.

On Jan. 17, TVA announced it is seeking $800 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for the construction of a modular reactor at the Clinch River nuclear site.

“We believe advanced nuclear technologies will play a critical role in our region and nation’s drive towards greater energy security,” Jeff Lyash, TVA’s president and CEO, said in a press statement. “Enabling and accelerating this technology will take innovation and partnership, as well as discipline and hard work.”

Rymer said it is vital for TVA to meet the level of energy consumption that is expected to rise in the Tennessee Valley in the coming decades as companies increasingly rely on energy-demanding technologies such as network servers and artificial intelligence.

Expanding TVA’s nuclear power-generating facilities is essential as the uncertainty of geopolitics threatens to disrupt natural gas supply chains.

As a result, producing energy at TVA’s gas-fired plants could become more costly.

“Gas prices fluctuate like nobody’s business,” Rymer said. “And so our fear is — depending on what Russia does and depending on what Europe does — our gas prices can go haywire, and that’ll cause our costs to just escalate.”