The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued Construction Permit No. CPAR-2 to the Tennessee Valley Authority for the Clinch River Nuclear Unit 1 reactor facility, together with the agency's record of decision on the project. The permit was issued September 28, 2026, and is immediately effective. The notice announcing it was filed for public inspection on October 2 and is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, October 5, 2026.
What the permit authorizes
The notice says the permit, "which is immediately effective, authorizes TVA to construct a power reactor facility in Roane County, Tennessee, as described in the CP application." As the notice describes it, the permit's scope is construction.
What the NRC decided
The NRC found that "the applicable standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations" have been met, and that any required notifications to other agencies or bodies "have been duly made." It found reasonable assurance that the activities the permit authorizes "will be conducted in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Commission," that safety questions "will be satisfactorily resolved by the completion of construction," and that, taking into consideration siting criteria, the facility "can be constructed and operated at the proposed location without undue risk to public health and safety, subject to the conditions listed in the CP." That last finding covers operation as well as construction. The notice does not list those conditions.
The agency also found TVA "technically and financially qualified to construct the facility," that issuance of the permit "will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public," and that conditions in the site's early site permit, ESP-006, "with the exception of those listed in the CP, had been met."
The environmental review
The notice says the NRC found that issuance of the permit was "in accordance with" subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, the agency's National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and that "all applicable requirements had been satisfied." Staff prepared a Safety Evaluation and a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, listed as a Supplement to NUREG-2226, "Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Construction Permit at the Clinch River Nuclear Site." The record of decision "incorporates by reference" the materials it contains.
Where the underlying documents are
The notice points to the NRC's ADAMS public document system for the Construction Permit (accession ML26243A056), the record of decision (ML26245A346), the Safety Evaluation dated June 24, 2026 (ML26168A505), the Supplement to NUREG-2226 dated April 1, 2026 (ML26035A285), TVA's construction permit application documentation from April 2026 (ML26119A628), and early site permit ESP-006 dated December 19, 2019 (ML19352D868).
What it does not say
The notice names no reactor design, vendor or power output for Clinch River Unit 1, and gives no construction schedule or target date for operation. It does not mention an operating license, and it does not describe what further approval, if any, operation would require. It opens no comment period.