Blue Energy begins nuclear construction permit filing for Texas project

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Blue Energy has submitted the first part of a construction permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the first BWRX-300 small modular reactor planned at Port of Victoria, Texas, according to a September 16 announcement by GE Vernova. Submission of an initial portion does not mean that a permit has been granted or that nuclear construction has started at the site.

The development concept combines gas-fired and nuclear generation within one project framework. GE Vernova said the proposed facility is expected to pair its 7HA.02 gas turbines with BWRX-300 reactors in the 300-megawatt class. Blue Energy selected the reactor design earlier this year and has since worked with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) on engineering and licensing activities.

Blue Energy expects to submit the remaining portion of the application in 2027 after completing one calendar year of site-specific data collection required by the NRC. Such data helps the regulator assess the characteristics of the particular location and their relationship to the proposed design.

The Texas filing is part of a broader effort to develop repeat deployments of the same reactor design in the United States. GE Vernova said the Tennessee Valley Authority separately submitted a construction permit application for a BWRX-300 at Clinch River, Tennessee, where the NRC review is approaching a decision. In Ontario, Canada, construction is under way on the first BWRX-300 at the Darlington New Nuclear Project. The projects have different owners, sites and licensing processes; progress at one does not confer approval on another.

The companies say that shared technology, engineering, licensing, manufacturing and supply-chain experience could be reused on later projects. Standardization may support their fleet ambitions, but it should not be read as evidence that costs or construction times have already fallen. While regulatory review remains ahead, the project is still at a development stage awaiting permitting and construction decisions.