– The Unit 1 reactor at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant returned to service at 8:16 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, October 29, following the successful completion of a planned refueling and maintenance outage. Plant operators will be raising power over the next several days until the unit once again achieves full power.
“The Browns Ferry team worked hard to refuel and prepare Unit 1 for the next two-year cycle of generating safe, reliable and carbon-free electricity for those we serve across the Tennessee Valley,” said Browns Ferry Site Vice President Keith Polson.
“The team’s performance during this outage demonstrates their continued commitment to fulfilling a top TVA
Keith Polson
priority for all three of our units – achieving sustained operational excellence.”
During the Unit 1 outage, more than 11,000 work activities were completed, including the installation of 308 new fuel assemblies in the reactor core.
In addition to refueling activities, the team installed brand-new pump motors on a key reactor safety system, marking the end of a multi-year initiative to replace every pump motor on two safety systems for all three units – 24 motors in all. The team also installed modifications that support Browns Ferry’s move to a new, risk-based fire protection system.
Both activities help TVA fulfill its commitment to the safe and reliable operation of all its nuclear units. More than 850 supplemental nuclear workers joined the Browns Ferry team to complete this outage work.
Unit 1 is one of three reactors in operation at Browns Ferry, which together generate more than 3,300 megawatts of electricity — about 14 percent of TVA’s total power output. Along with the three additional operating units at the Sequoyah and Watts Bar plants in Tennessee, TVA’s nuclear fleet produces enough power for more than 3.6 million homes.
A second nuclear unit at Watts Bar is currently scheduled for completion at the end of 2015 and will become this country’s first new nuclear power generation of the 21st century.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power distributors serving 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. In addition to operating and investing its revenues in its electric system, TVA provides flood control, navigation and land management for the Tennessee River system and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation.
MEDIA RELEASE/TVA/GERALDINE CODY/JIM HOPSON
