Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station
| Watts Bar Nuclear Plant | |
|---|---|
Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 & 2 cooling towers and containment buildings.
|
|
 Location of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Tennessee
|
|
| Country | United States |
| Location | Rhea County, near Spring City, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 35°36′10″N 84°47′22″W / 35.60278°N 84.78944°WCoordinates: 35°36′10″N 84°47′22″W / 35.60278°N 84.78944°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1973 |
| Commission date | Unit 1: May 27, 1996 Unit 2: 3 October, 2016 |
| Operator(s) | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | pressurized water reactor |
| Reactor supplier | Westinghouse |
| Cooling source | Tennessee River |
| Cooling towers | 2 |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 x 1,121 MW 1 x 1,218 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 2,339 MW |
| Capacity factor | 102.3% |
| Estimated generation | 17,975 GW·h |
|
Website www.tva.gov/power/nuclear/wattsbar |
|
The Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant is a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) nuclear reactor used for electric power generation. It is located on a 1,770-acre (7.2 km²) site in Rhea County, Tennessee, near Spring City, between the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville. Watts Bar supplies enough electricity for about 1,200,000 households in the Tennessee Valley.
The plant, construction of which began in 1973, has two Westinghouse pressurized water reactor units: Unit 1, completed in 1996, and Unit 2, completed in 2015. Unit 1 has a winter net dependable generating capacity of 1,167 megawatts. Unit 2 has a capacity of 1,165 megawatts. Unit 2 is the most recent civilian reactor to come on-line in the United States and the first new reactor to enter service in the United States after a 20 year hiatus.
Unit 2 was 80% complete when construction on both units was stopped in the 1980s due in part to a projected decrease in power demand. In 2007, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board approved completion of Unit 2 on August 1, and construction resumed on October 15. The project was expected to cost $2.5 billion, and employ around 2,300 contractor workers. Once finished, it will create an estimated 250 permanent jobs.
In response to severe damage to Japan's Fukushima-Daichi nuclear facility as a result of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued 9 orders to improve safety at domestic plants. Two applied to Watts Bar Unit 2 and required design modifications: "Mitigation Strategies Order" and "Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation Order". In February 2012, TVA said the design modifications to Watts Bar 2 were partially responsible for the project running over budget and behind schedule. The plant cost a total of US$4,700,000,000.
TVA declared construction substantially complete in August 2015 and requested that NRC staff proceed with the final licensing review; on October 22, the NRC approved a forty-year operating license for Unit 2, marking the formal end of construction and allowing for the installation of nuclear fuel and subsequent testing. On December 15, 2015, TVA announced that the reactor was fully loaded with fuel and ready for criticality and power ascension tests. On May 23, 2016, initial criticality was achieved. As of August 31, 2016[update], a transformer fire had delayed the start of commercial operation past the late summer goal. Commercial operation started in October 2016, once the affected transformer was replaced, operators completed the inspection on the switchyard affected equipment and the final full power testing was completed. On October 19, 2016 the Watts Bar 2 was the first United States reactor to enter commercial operation since 1996. It is likely the last Generation II reactor.
...
Wikipedia