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For members: TVA could test new nuclear reactors in Oak Ridge

Posted at 2:31 pm February 14, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

 

TVA Clinch River Site

The Tennessee Valley Authority could use the potential nuclear reactor site in west Oak Ridge to test new reactors and nuclear technologies.

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TVA Clinch River Site

The Tennessee Valley Authority could use the potential nuclear reactor site in west Oak Ridge to test new reactors and nuclear technologies.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Filed Under: Business, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Premium Content, Slider, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Clinch River Nuclear Site, environmental impact statement, Federal Register, nuclear reactor, NuScale Power, small modular nuclear reactor, small modular reactor, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NRC could finish design review of small reactor by 2020

Posted at 12:39 pm July 26, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Cross-sectional view of the NuScale Power small modular reactor building. (Image courtesy NuScale Power)

NuScale Power of Portland, Oregon, said Monday that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed the second and third phases of its review of NuScale’s design for a small modular nuclear reactor, and the NRC is on track to complete the design review by September 2020.

This could be important to Oak Ridge because small modular reactors are possible at the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge, although there are additional approvals that would be required.

The completion of the second and third phases of the NuScale design review is six weeks ahead of schedule, the company said in a press release on Monday.

“Completing phases 2 and 3 of the NRC’s design review certification process is a critical milestone for our company and the advanced nuclear industry,” said NuScale Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Hopkins.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Clinch River Nuclear Site, Idaho National Laboratory, John Hopkins, NRC, nuclear power plant, nuclear reactor, NuScale design review, NuScale Power, small modular nuclear reactor, small modular reactor, small reactor, SMR, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems

NRC has public hearing on Clinch River Nuclear Site in August

Posted at 12:57 pm July 24, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Clinch-River-Nuclear-Site-Map-EIS-April-2019.jpg
This image shows the location of the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge. (Image by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from the April 2019 “Reader’s Guide” for the “Final Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit at the Clinch River Nuclear Site.”)


The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will have a mandatory hearing on August 14 regarding an application for an early site permit for one or more small modular nuclear reactors at the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge. It’s the final step in the agency’s review of the application.

The Commission hearing will include testimony and exhibits from the Tennessee Valley Authority, which applied for the early site permit, as well as from the NRC staff. The testimony and exhibits will be about the question of whether the NRC staff’s review adequately supports the findings that are necessary to issue a permit, a press release said.

The August 14 hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in the Commission Hearing Room at NRC Headquarters at 11555 Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland. The hearing will be open to public observation and webcast. A detailed agenda and presentation slides will be available in advance on the Commission’s meeting page.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Government, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Clinch River Nuclear Site, early site permit, NRC, Oak Ridge, small modular nuclear reactor, small modular reactor, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NRC has hearing on Oak Ridge site that could host small nuclear reactors

Posted at 6:16 pm July 1, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image by the NRC from the April 2019 “Reader’s Guide” for the “Final Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit at the Clinch River Nuclear Site.”

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a hearing for an application for a site in west Oak Ridge where small modular nuclear reactors could be built.

The hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, August 14, at the NRC in Rockville, Maryland.

The NRC will discuss an early site permit application submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority for the Clinch River Nuclear Site. TVA has proposed using the 935-acre site, which is along the Clinch River south of Heritage Center (the former K-25 site), to build two or more small modular reactors. The site once hosted the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project.

During the August 14 hearing, the NRC will have an evidentiary session to hear testimony and receive exhibits in the uncontested proceeding for TVA’s early site permit application, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on Monday.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, Clinch River Nuclear Site, early site permit, environmental impact statement, NRC, nuclear power plant, safety evaluation report, small modular nuclear reactor, small modular reactor, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Small reactors can be safely located on Clinch River site, NRC says

Posted at 1:30 pm June 20, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Two or more small modular nuclear reactors could be built on a 935-acre area of the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge, south of Heritage Center near Highway 58. (Image from the “Final Safety Evaluation Report for the Early Site Permit Application for the Clinch River Nuclear Site” published by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June 2019.)

Two or more small nuclear reactors could be safely located on a site in west Oak Ridge, a federal agency said this month.

The reactors could be built on the Clinch River Nuclear Site. That’s a 935-acre site south of Heritage Center (the former K-25 site) in the Roane County portion of Oak Ridge. The plant would be off Bear Creek Road near Highway 58 on a peninsula surrounded by the Clinch River on the east, south, and west.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed a final safety evaluation report for an early site permit application for the site.

“The report concludes there are no safety aspects that would preclude issuing the permit for the site,” the NRC said in a press release Tuesday. The report, which is about 600 pages, had been expected this month.

The Tennessee Valley Authority applied for the early site permit in May 2016. The NRC’s final safety evaluation report for the site was published Friday, June 14.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Government, Slider Tagged With: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, Clinch River Nuclear Site, early site permit, environmental impact statement, final safety evaluation report, Jim Hopson, NRC, nuclear power plant, nuclear reactor, safety evaluation report, small modular reactor, small nuclear reactor, SMR, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Public can comment Tuesday on potential environmental impacts at Clinch River site

Posted at 9:59 am June 5, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Clinch-River-Site-Bear-Creek-Road-Entrance-March-27-2016

The small nuclear reactors that could be built along the Clinch River in west Oak Ridge could provide enough electricity to power several cities the size of Oak Ridge. The Bear Creek Road entrance to the Clinch River Site, where the reactors could be built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, is pictured above on Sunday, March 27, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with the public in Kingston today (Tuesday, June 5) to discuss a draft conclusion that environmental impacts would be small enough to allow an early site permit to be issued for the Clinch River site in west Oak Ridge, where a small modular nuclear reactor could be built.

While in Kingston, the NRC staff will discuss the agency’s draft environmental impact statement on the early site permit application for the 1,200-acre Clinch River site, which is south of East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) and east of State Route 58.

“The NRC is interested in the public’s views on the agency’s overall draft conclusion that environmental impacts would be small enough to allow the agency to issue the permit,” a press release said.

The NRC will be at Noah’s Event Venue, which is at 1200 Ladd Landing Boulevard in Kingston, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. (as needed) on Tuesday, June 5. NRC staff will describe the environmental review process and the conclusions of the draft environmental impact statement. Each meeting will conclude with a formal public comment period, the press release said. NRC open houses, which are scheduled from 1-2 p.m. and 6-7 p.m., will provide the public the opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government Tagged With: Clinch River Site, early site permit, early site permit application, environmental impact statement, environmental impacts, environmental review, modular nuclear reactor, Noah’s Event Venue, NRC, nuclear power plant, reactor licensing, small modular nuclear reactor, small modular reactor, SMRs, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NRC seeks comment on environmental matters at Clinch River Nuclear Site

Posted at 2:00 pm May 10, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

TVA-SMRs-at-NRC-Meeting-April-12-2016

The Tennessee Valley Authority has applied for an early site permit that could allow small modular nuclear reactors at the Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge, possibly as soon as the mid-2020s. Pictured above at a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting on the early site permit on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, is Dan Stout, TVA senior manager, small modular reactors. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission will seek public comments on what environmental matters it should consider during its review of the early site permit application for the Clinch River Nuclear Site in west Oak Ridge.

The NRC will seek the comments during two meetings in Oak Ridge on Monday that are part of the process used to develop an environmental impact statement.

The first meeting is from 1-4 p.m. Monday, May 15, in the Pollard Technology Conference Center Auditorium at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge. The second meeting is from 6-9 p.m. that same day.

The Tennessee Valley Authority submitted an application last May for the early site permit for small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, at the Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge. The early site permit application is for two or more SMRs. The NRC accepted the application for “docketing and detailed technical review” in December.

A specific reactor design has not been selected. TVA has identified parameters for a surrogate nuclear plant, and the NRC will use them to evaluate the site’s suitability for building and operating a new nuclear plant. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Government, Slider Tagged With: Clinch River Nuclear Site, Clinch River Site, Dan Stout, early site permit, environmental impact statement, NRC, Oak Ridge, Patricia Vokoun, Pollard Technology Conference Center, Scott Brooks, small modular nuclear reactor, small modular reactor, SMR, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Guest column: ECA highlights local government’s role with Energy Secretary Moniz

Posted at 6:39 pm July 1, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

ECA Board and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz

From left to right are Aiken County Council Chairman Ronnie Young, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, Los Alamos County Councilor Fran Berting, Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, ECA Executive Director Seth Kirshenberg, Secretary Ernest Moniz, Aiken County Council Member Chuck Smith, Kennewick Mayor Steve Young, SRSCRO Executive Director Rick McLeod, Los Alamos County Administrator Brian Bosshardt, and ECA Deputy Executive Director Allison Finelli. (Submitted photo)

 

On June 23, the Energy Communities Alliance Executive Board met with U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to highlight the importance of the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup, national security, nuclear energy, and waste management missions. The ECA Executive Board, including Chair and Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, and other elected local government officials also stressed the importance of regular communication and partnership between DOE and the local governments that are adjacent to DOE facilities. Secretary Moniz agreed that working with local governments is important to the success of DOE.

Earlier in the day, the ECA Executive Board also met with National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Frank Klotz, Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Dave Huizenga, and other DOE and administration officials, as well as congressional staff.

Mayor Beehan stated that local governments can be DOE’s asset for gaining support for missions and for infrastructure development at the sites, but in order for that to occur, local governments must be involved in decision-making. Mayor Beehan also stressed the importance of land transfer to local communities. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Guest Columns, Oak Ridge, Opinion, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Aiken County Council, Allison Finelli, Brian Bosshardt, budget, Chuck Smith, Dave Huizenga, defense waste, DOE, ECA, ECA Executive Board, Energy Communities Alliance, environmental management, Ernest Moniz, Fran Berting, Frank Klotz, Hanford Site, Kennewick, land transfer, local government, Los Alamos, Mark Watson, National Nuclear Security Administration, NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, nuclear waste, Oak Ridge, Rick McLeod, Ronnie Young, Savannah River CRO, Seth Kirshenberg, small modular reactor, SMR, SRSCRO, Steve Young, technology transfer, Tom Beehan, U.S. Department of Energy, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, WIPP

B&W seeks investors on program to build small nuclear reactors in Oak Ridge

Posted at 9:04 am November 14, 2013
By John Huotari 11 Comments

TVA Clinch River Site

The Babcock and Wilcox Co. has invested more than $360 million in a project that could result in a small nuclear reactor at the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor Site in west Oak Ridge, pictured above. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority)

The Babcock and Wilcox Co. has already invested more than $360 million in a project that could result in a small nuclear reactor in west Oak Ridge, and now the North Carolina company is looking for investors and possibly majority owners.

The mPower small modular reactor, or SMR, program is expected to have a nuclear power plant operating at the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor Site by 2022. Initially, it could have two small reactors, a “twin pack,” and produce 360 megawatts.

On Wednesday, Marshall Cohen, B&W vice president for government affairs and communications, said the company is seeking major corporations who are interested in taking a “strong position,” up to and including ownership, including majority ownership.

“We would reduce our ownership to one that really matches the scope of work going forward,” Cohen said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Federal, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: B&W, Babcock and Wilcox Co., Bechtel, Christofer Mowry, Clinch River Breeder Reactor Site, DOE, E. James Ferland, Generation mPower LLC, GmP, investors, JP Morgan, majority owners, Marshall Cohen, mPower, mPower small modular reactor, nuclear fuel, Oak Ridge, reactor module, small modular reactor, Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support Program, small nuclear reactor, SMR, Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Department of Energy

Nuclear goes Hollywood: New film sheds light on old debate

Posted at 5:47 pm July 24, 2013
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory 9 Comments

Pandora's Promise Panel Discussion

Jeff Binder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate lab director of nuclear science and engineering, answers an audience question during a panel discussion following a screening of “Pandora’s Promise” in Knoxville on Saturday. (Submitted photo)

By Scott Jones

About 300 people attended a showing of the new pro-nuclear film “Pandora’s Promise” and heard a panel discussion about nuclear energy on Saturday, including perspectives from Oak Ridge National Laboratory staff.

The lab worked with Regal Entertainment Group to bring the film to the Downtown West theater from July 19-25.

Few phrases carry the ideological weight of the words “nuclear power.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Federal, Government, Movies, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories Tagged With: Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, Doug Kothe, environmental, film, fission, fusion, Gordon Petersen, ITER, Jeff Binder, Lawrence Townsend, Mike Cohen, Ned Sauthoff, Nuclear Energy, nuclear engineering, nuclear power, nuclear reactors, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Pandora’s Promise, Regal Cinemas Downtown West, Robert J. Whalen, Robert S. Eby, Robert Stone, small modular reactor, SMR, Tennessee Valley Authority, United States Enrichment Corporation, University of Tennessee, USEC, utilities

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Classifieds

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Final environmental assessment available for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

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