DECATUR – After generating more than 20 billion kilowatt hours of carbon-free electricity and achieving the station’s first-ever breaker-to-breaker run, TVA’s Browns Ferry Unit 2 was safely taken offline Friday night for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage that will prepare the unit for the next two years of providing carbon-free energy to the people of the Tennessee Valley.
Before being taken offline, Unit 2 became the first Browns Ferry reactor to run continuously from the end of its previous refueling outage to the start of this one, producing power for more than 665 consecutive days, which is also a new unit record. This demonstrates TVA’s commitment to equipment reliability, continuous improvement and the safe operation of its nuclear units.
“A breaker-to-breaker run is a prize every nuclear professional wants to claim and is a testament to both the hard work and commitment of Browns Ferry employees and TVA’s continued investment to keep our plants running safely and reliably.” said Browns Ferry Site Vice President Manu Sivaraman. “With new fuel, equipment upgrades, priority maintenance, inspections and testing, outages like this one thoroughly prepare our units for long operational runs, safely generating the carbon-free energy needed by homes and businesses throughout the Tennessee Valley.”
The Browns Ferry team will replace Unit 2’s main generator rotor to improve reliability and longevity. The 414,000-pound replacement rotor is the turning element that creates electricity and has been thoroughly overhauled and upgraded.
TVA’s investment in improvements at all three nuclear power stations helps ensure the energy needs of the Tennessee Valley are met for decades to come. These upgrades also support TVA’s intention to extend the service life of its reactors with pending subsequent license renewal requests to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Browns Ferry is scheduled to be the first TVA station to do so.
The Unit 2 outage will have more than 10,800 work activities, including the installation of 328 new fuel assemblies. Scheduled outage work also includes inspections of reactor components and maintenance of key safety systems. More than 800 contractors and shared resource employees from other TVA nuclear stations will help Browns Ferry employees complete the Unit 2 outage.
Browns Ferry Unit 2 is one of seven TVA nuclear reactors generating low-cost and carbon-free energy across the Valley. TVA’s nuclear fleet is the third largest in the nation, safely and reliably providing about 40 percent of all electricity used by nearly 10 million people in the Tennessee Valley.
Media Release/Jim Hopson/TVA Public Relations
