Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. government-owned utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said on Friday that it is seeking an $800 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop nuclear technology.

The company, in partnership with Duke Energy , American Electric Power and others, will apply to receive funding under the DOE's Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor $(SMR)$ Program.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The U.S. nuclear industry, which has faced expansion challenges in recent decades, is witnessing a surge in demand as Big Tech seeks alternative energy sources for their power-intensive data centers, spurred by the Biden administration's push for investment in cleaner energy sources.

With technologies such as SMRs, which are smaller-sized nuclear reactors, harnessing nuclear energy can become more cost-effective and easier to deploy than full-sized models, which can take decades to build.

CONTEXT

The program aims to accelerate the development of new nuclear technologies by forming cost-shared partnerships with teams that include utility, reactor vendor, constructor, and end-users or power off-takers, according to the DOE's website.

The program also has access to up to $900 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, enacted in 2021 under President Joe Biden.

WHAT'S NEXT

TVA said the funding, if awarded, would accelerate the construction of GE Vernova's SMR technology at TVA's Clinch River project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, by two years, targeting commercial operation planned for 2033.

KEY QUOTES

"Not only will this funding allow us to accelerate our own SMR ambitions, but this partnership will also allow us to collectively advance the entire industry," American Electric Power's CEO Bill Fehrman said.

Separately, Duke Energy said it would collaborate as a group to assess risks and foster U.S. heavy manufacturing and supply chain capabilities, a move that could lead to cost reductions and cooperation across deployments.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)

((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))