US utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have signed an agreement to evaluate economically a new generation of flexible, cost-effective advanced nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors (SMR).
ORNL said in a statement that the agreement will focus on ways to improve the economic feasibility of potentially licensing, building, operating and maintaining one or more advanced nuclear reactors.
ORNL said in a statement that the agreement will focus on ways to improve the economic feasibility of potentially licensing, building, operating and maintaining one or more advanced nuclear reactors.
The statement said advanced reactors offer the potential of lower-cost carbon-free energy through reduced construction times and greater operational flexibility.
According to the statement, TVA has not made a decision to build an advanced reactor and would first need approval from US regulator for a specific design.
TVA and ORNL started collaborating a decade ago, developing strategies and tools for operations of TVA’s Watts Bar-2 nuclear power plant, the statement said.
