GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy
Data verified as of Jul 17, 2026
Summary
GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH, formerly GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy) is the Wilmington, North Carolina-based nuclear alliance formed by GE (60%, now GE Vernova) and Hitachi (40%) in 2007, combining reactor design, services for the global boiling-water-reactor fleet, and fuel manufacturing through Global Nuclear Fuel. Its flagship BWRX-300 small modular reactor — a 300 MWe natural-circulation design derived from the NRC-certified ESBWR — is the first grid-scale SMR under construction in the Western world, with Ontario Power Generation building the first of four units at Darlington for service by the end of 2030. In the US, TVA's Clinch River construction permit application cleared its NRC staff safety evaluation in June 2026, backed by a $400M DOE award, and in March 2026 the US and Japanese governments announced up to $40B to deploy up to 10 BWRX-300s (3 GW) in Tennessee and Alabama under the US–Japan strategic investment framework. The order book extends across Poland (ORLEN Synthos Green Energy), Sweden (down-selected by Vattenfall), the UK (Generic Design Assessment completed December 2025), Estonia, Hungary and Saskatchewan. GVH also co-developed the Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor with TerraPower, which began construction in Wyoming in 2026. Jason Cooper became President & CEO in January 2026.
Main Products
300 MWe Gen III+ boiling-water small modular reactor derived from the NRC-certified ESBWR, using natural circulation and passive safety systems, a 60-year design life, and proven GNF fuel. Designed for a power block that fits within two soccer fields and 24–36 month nth-of-a-kind construction. The first grid-scale SMR under construction in the Western world.
Unit 1 under construction at OPG's Darlington site (construction began May 2025; in service by end of 2030, four units planned); TVA Clinch River construction permit in final NRC review with the mandatory hearing set for August 13, 2026; up to 10 further US units planned under the $40B US–Japan program; selected or down-selected in Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Hungary and Saskatchewan; UK Generic Design Assessment completed December 2025.
GE Vernova-led fuel alliance with Hitachi producing advanced BWR fuel assemblies (GNF2, GNF3, GNF4) that improve plant performance and fuel-cycle economics for the operating reactor fleet worldwide.
Manufacturing at Wilmington, North Carolina (operational since 1969) and Kurihama, Japan (since 1970); GNF fuel is also the fuel basis for the BWRX-300.
Lifecycle services for the global BWR fleet (and PWR services) — outage execution, performance upgrades, inspections, non-destructive examination and VR-based training — built on GE's boiling-water-reactor lineage dating to the first privately financed reactor at Vallecitos in 1957 and the NRC-certified ABWR/ESBWR designs.
Run as GVH's Installed Base business; services span more than six decades of industry experience across the worldwide fleet.
345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten-salt thermal storage that can boost output to 500 MWe for over five hours, co-developed with TerraPower under a 2020 joint development agreement. The first plant is being built at Kemmerer, Wyoming.
NRC construction permit granted March 4, 2026; TerraPower and Bechtel began nuclear plant construction at Kemmerer Unit 1 in April 2026 with a workforce of roughly 1,600.
What's Next
NRC decision on Clinch River construction permit
The NRC's mandatory uncontested hearing on TVA's construction permit for the first US BWRX-300 is set for August 13, 2026 (record open until August 27), after NRC staff recommended issuance in their June 2026 safety evaluation. A permit would clear TVA to start physical construction at Oak Ridge.
Darlington Unit 1 completion and grid connection
OPG targets construction completion of the first BWRX-300 in late 2029 and commercial operation by the end of 2030 — which would make it the Western world's first operating grid-scale SMR. OPG applied for the 20-year operating licence in March 2026; shaft excavation was completed in early 2026 and tunnel-boring assembly is underway.
First US BWRX-300 online at Clinch River
TVA targets commercial operation of the first US BWRX-300 at its Clinch River site in the early 2030s, supported by a $400M DOE Gen III+ award — positioned as the nation's first commercial SMR and the anchor of the $40B US–Japan Tennessee/Alabama deployment program.
Operations & Revenue
Revenue-generating nuclear fuel (Global Nuclear Fuel) and BWR fleet-services business, with the flagship BWRX-300 program in execution: first unit under construction at Darlington (in service by end of 2030), first US construction permit in final NRC review at TVA's Clinch River, and a multi-country order pipeline across Europe and North America.
Revenue Streams
Nuclear fuel (Global Nuclear Fuel)
GNF, a GE Vernova-led alliance with Hitachi, manufactures GNF2/GNF3/GNF4 fuel assemblies for the global BWR fleet at plants in Wilmington, North Carolina (since 1969) and Kurihama, Japan (since 1970).
Outage services, plant upgrades, inspections, non-destructive examination and PWR services for the worldwide reactor fleet, drawing on more than six decades of BWR experience; run as a dedicated Installed Base business under CEO Craig Ranson.
Key Metrics
Timeline
At a March 2026 White House meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi, the US and Japan announce up to $40B under their strategic investment framework to deploy up to 10 BWRX-300s (3 GW) in Tennessee and Alabama; the same month OPG applies for the Darlington operating licence and TerraPower's GVH-co-developed Natrium receives its NRC construction permit.
The CNSC grants OPG a licence to construct in April 2025, OPG takes its final investment decision (CAD $7.7B for Unit 1, CAD $20.9B for all four units), and construction of the first BWRX-300 begins in May 2025 — the first grid-scale SMR construction in the Western world.