Tennessee governor proposes $72.6 million for nuclear initiatives; supports small reactor

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee's proposed budget contains $72.6 million for nuclear energy initiatives and advocates for a small modular nuclear reactor project.

"The Volunteer State is on track to be the epicenter of energy innovation, and it couldn't happen at a more crucial time," Lee during his State of the State Address Feb. 10. "We're staring down the barrel of an energy crisis with an electrical grid that is on the fragile verge of being completely overwhelmed ... so Tennessee's ambition to lead in nuclear innovation is much bigger than just competing with other states. This is about securing the future of America."

The governor's fiscal year 2025-26 budget proposal includes $10 million in further investment in the state nuclear energy fund to attract advanced nuclear technology companies, $10 million to support nuclear workforce education, $2.6 million to develop a regulatory framework for commercial nuclear fusion power and $20 million for the federal grant-matching fund to support proposals from Tennessee universities and businesses applying for research funding from federal agencies.

Lee's budget proposal also includes $50 million to create a grant fund to support the Tennessee Valley Authority's Clinch River Nuclear small modular reactor project.

"Tennessee is home to one of the only federally approved undeveloped nuclear sites in the country," Lee said. "We've laid the groundwork. We have a willing partner in the White House. Now is the time to develop the Clinch River site and build the nation's first small modular reactor on Tennessee soil."

The TVA is in the final stages of a license and construction permit application it plans to submit this year to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build what could be the first utility-scale SMR in the country, utility President and CEO Jeff Lyash said Feb. 5.

The TVA is working with Ontario Power Generation on the GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 SMR design, which Ontario Power plans to build at its Darlington nuclear site.

The TVA is also leading an application for $800 million in US Energy Department grant funds for SMR development, alongside Duke Energy, American Electric Power and others, pursuing a project using the BWRX-300 design at the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.