Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant
| Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant | |
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Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant (NRC image).
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 Location of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Athens, Alabama |
| Coordinates | 34°42′14″N 87°7′7″W / 34.70389°N 87.11861°WCoordinates: 34°42′14″N 87°7′7″W / 34.70389°N 87.11861°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1966–77 |
| Commission date | Unit 1: Dec. 20, 1973 Unit 2: Aug. 2, 1974 Unit 3: Aug. 18, 1976 |
| Operator(s) | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | boiling water reactor |
| Reactor supplier | General Electric |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 3,297 MW (3 reactors) |
| Capacity factor | 73.5% |
| Average generation | 21,227 GWh |
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Website www.tva.gov/power/nuclear/brownsferry |
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The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant is located on the Tennessee River near Decatur and Athens, Alabama, on the north side (right bank) of Wheeler Lake. The nuclear power plant is named after a ferry that operated at the site until the middle of the 20th century. The site has three General Electric boiling water reactor (BWR) nuclear generating units and is owned entirely by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Browns Ferry was TVA's first nuclear power plant; its approval occurred on June 17, 1966 and construction began in September 1966. In 1974, the time of its initial operation, it was the largest nuclear plant in the world. It was the first nuclear plant in the world to generate more than 1 gigawatt of power.
In 2006, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renewed the licenses for all three reactors, extending them for an additional twenty years.
The NRC defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Browns Ferry was 39,930, an increase of 12.3 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 977,942, an increase of 11.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Huntsville (28 miles to city center).
At 5:01 PM on April 27, 2011, all three reactors scrammed due to loss of external power caused by a tornado in the vicinity of the plant. Control rod insertion and cooling procedures operated as designed with no physical damage or release of radiation. Diesel backup generators provided power after a brief period of outage. An NRC Unusual Event, the lowest level of emergency classification, was declared due to loss of power exceeding 15 minutes. Additionally, a small oil leak was found on one generator. Due to widespread transmission grid damage from the storms, Browns Ferry was unable to produce power for the grid and significant blackouts occurred throughout the Southeastern United States.
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