SMRs' U.S. Deployment to Boost Power Stability and Tech Leadership

U.S. Moves Forward with Innovative Nuclear Power Projects

In a significant development for nuclear energy, the United States is set to see the commercial deployment of advanced small modular reactors (SMRs). As highlighted by the Commerce Department, these reactors will not only stabilize electricity prices for Americans but also enhance the technological leadership shared by the U.S. and Japan.

Strategic Energy Investments

Resulting from a trilateral energy agreement, these projects are the fruit of a $550 billion trade deal signed last year between the United States and Japan. This agreement aims to boost economic growth, enhance supply chains, and reinforce U.S. national and economic security. The deals focus on critical energy infrastructure and expanding domestic power production through nuclear and natural gas hubs, thereby making energy more affordable.

As part of this initiative, GVH—a joint venture formed in 2007 between Japan's Hitachi and the U.S.'s GE Vernova—will deploy its 300-MWe BWRX-300 SMRs in Tennessee and Alabama. These units will contribute a total capacity of 3 GW.

Expansion of BWRX-300 Projects

The deployment in the U.S. is set to bolster GVH's growing portfolio of BWRX-300 projects. This reactor model evolves from GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy's earlier work on the gigawatt-scale ESBWR, offering a cutting-edge boiling water reactor design.

Construction on the first of such projects commenced last May with the Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington New Nuclear Project, which is slated for commercial operation by 2030.

Furthermore, last July, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began reviewing an application by the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A decision from the NRC is anticipated within 17 months.

In March, GE Vernova and Hitachi signed a memorandum of understanding, exploring BWRX-300 deployment opportunities in Southeast Asia. This agreement, reached during the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial & Business Forum in Tokyo, was attended by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa.