TVA, Trump officials talk South Korea deal that could bring reactor to TN | Exclusive
TVA, Trump officials talk South Korea deal that could bring reactor to TN | Exclusive
Mariah Franklin, Knoxville News SentinelFri, October 30, 2026 at 9:07 AM UTC
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The nation’s largest public utility is talking with the Trump administration about funding from a South Korean trade deal that could bring new nuclear reactors to Tennessee.
Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Mike Skaggs told Knox News the utility, which provides power to seven states and millions of ratepayers across the South, is part of the conversation about how the U.S. will apply a $120 billion South Korean investment in nuclear energy.
The investment would go toward eight new reactors in the U.S. as part of a project that involves Westinghouse, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. Two of the reactors are slated to have a South Korean design, with the others using Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor design.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said at a press briefing in late September that Tennessee is among the places new reactors could be built, along with Kentucky, Ohio and South Carolina. All of Tennessee is served by TVA, and so is part of Kentucky.
The U.S. government will decide by the end of 2026 where the new reactors will go, according to Tim Walsh, who serves in the U.S. Department of Energy as assistant secretary for environmental management.
If Tennessee is selected, the South Korean trade deal could put another reactor in a state that values nuclear energy as the Trump administration aims to quadruple U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050. It also would represent the second time in 2026 an international trade deal has delivered a boost to TVA’s nuclear ambitions.
As part of a trade deal with the Japanese government, TVA’s plans are set for a boost of up to $40 billion. Japan’s investment in U.S. energy will offset some costs for a nuclear buildout, Walsh said, and South Korea’s investment could do the same.
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Nuclear power is more expensive to build than many other sources of electricity generation, according to a July report from Lazard, a multinational advisory and investment firm. TVA has previously estimated that one reactor could cost about $5.4 billion, before tax credits and interest.
Unlike most federal organizations, TVA doesn’t get its money from Congress and instead relies on electricity sales. As U.S. energy needs grow after years in which demand stayed largely the same, TVA's ability to borrow for projects such as new power plants is capped by federal law at $30 billion.
“We're very pro-new nuclear,” Skaggs said. “We're advocates for new nuclear. But these plants do cost more than your average plant, and so based on the federal act, we can't build these plants by ourselves because it would not meet the act.”
The utility has cut nearly $1 billion from its operations and maintenance costs, Skaggs said. The constraints TVA faces, he said, are related to capital needs.
Knox News reached out to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the White House and the Department of Commerce with questions about the arrangement. The White House deferred questions about the deal to the Department of Commerce, which, along with the foreign ministry, did not respond.
Mariah Franklin reports on technology and energy for Knox News. Email: mariah.franklin@knoxnews.com. Signal: mariahfranklin.01
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TVA, Trump officials talk South Korea deal that could bring reactor to TN | Exclusive
Source: “AOL Money”
