Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced on April 19, 2022, that they will collaborate to build small modular reactors (SMRs) at their Darlington and Clinch River sites, respectively.[1] The agreement allows the companies to coordinate their explorations into the design, licensing, construction, and operation of SMRs. The collaboration will not include exchanges of funding, but the agreement will be mutually beneficial by reducing the financial risks of innovating new technology while taking advantage of the company’s experience, the press release said. OPG and TVA are both government-owned utilities with fleets that include nuclear and hydroelectric. Both utilities are also actively exploring SMR technologies. OPG plans to deploy an SMR at its Darlington nuclear facility, the only location in Canada licensed for new nuclear with all environmental assessments completed. TVA holds the only Nuclear Regulatory Commission Early Site Permit in the U.S. for SMR deployment at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

[1] https://www.tva.com/newsroom/press-releases/opg-tva-partner-on-new-nuclear-technology-development