TVA refuels oldest nuclear reactorOct 6 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Dave Flessner Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
The Tennessee Valley Authority' is refueling its oldest reactor this week. The Unit 1 reactor at TVA's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama was shut down late Friday for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. An additional 850 TVA and contract employees will supplement the site's regular staff of almost 1,400 employees during the outage. The project will involve more than 163,000 work-hours until the outage is completed later this month. "The outage is a routine and carefully planned activity so fuel can be replaced and maintenance can be safely performed on key equipment and systems," Keith Polson, Browns Ferry Plant site vice president, said in a statement today. "Browns Ferry Units 2 and 3 will both continue to safely operate during the outage." Unit 1 operated continuously for 254 days during its most recent fuel cycle. Nuclear reactors typically must be refueled every 18 months. At full capacity, Browns Ferry's three units generate a combined 3,300 megawatts of electricity, which is 10 percent of TVA's total generation capacity and enough electricity to power 2 million homes. TVA also operates two units at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., and one unit at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City, Tenn., where a second unit is scheduled for completion in late 2015. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=33895312& |