ATHENS – Unit 3 at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant safely resumed operation on Monday, April 4, following the completion of a scheduled maintenance and refueling outage. The unit is now prepared to generate carbon-free energy for the people of the Valley for the next 24 months.
After replacing four high-pressure feedwater heaters, the unit is prepared to deliver reliable service for a longer period of time – potentially for decades to come. This is yet another example of TVA’s active investment in its nuclear fleet – the nation’s third largest – which also supplies the majority of the region’s carbon-free energy.
The new 50-ton heaters are significantly larger than the models they replace and prepare Unit 3 to surpass its own recently-achieved TVA record of 690 consecutive days of operation. During that period, the unit produced more than 20 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity – enough carbon-free electricity to supply the needs of 1.3 million homes.
“This investment helps ensure Browns Ferry is ready to serve local power companies – and their customers – as we enter the region’s summer peak season and beyond,” said Matt Rasmussen, Browns Ferry site vice president. “The work completed during the outage also demonstrates our team’s high level of commitment to TVA’s mission and to the people living in the communities we serve.”
The team completed a number of additional outage activities, including maintenance on the reactor component and routine safety systems, installation of 328 new fuel assemblies and a refurbished low-pressure turbine rotor, and the modification, repair and testing of other plant equipment.
Browns Ferry Unit 3 is one of seven operational TVA nuclear reactors, safely and reliably providing approximately 40 percent of all electricity used in the Tennessee Valley.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies serving nearly 10 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/Jim Hopson/TVA Public Relations
