NUKE PLANT UPRATE: Final reactor being modified

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Unit 2 of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant was taken offline Saturday as part of a scheduled refueling outage, according to a press release from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Before being taken offline for the outage, Unit 2 generated electricity for 695 days, including a consecutive run of 401 days. During the outage, an augmented workforce will assist in the completion of 11,000 work activities, including modifications that will enable to reactor to produce more power.

TVA’s augmented workforce includes an estimated 2,100 additional contract employees. In addition to installing 320 new fuel assemblies, workers will assist in repairs and inspection of reactor components and key safety systems.

Once the work is completed and tested, Unit 2 will become the third and final unit able to generate more electricity under an Extended Power Uprate approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The uprate will enable Browns Ferry to generate a total of 465 megawatts of additional electricity, or 3,933 megawatts total. The release said that would be enough to power an additional 280,000 homes and help TVA “fulfill its mission of service and economic development.”

“Being able to generate more power than ever before at Browns Ferry is the result of a lot of good, hard work by TVA employees and our vendor partners to uphold our top priority — protecting the health and safety of the public — while increasing our ability to meet the current and future energy needs of the Tennessee Valley,” said Lang Hughes, Browns Ferry site vice president.

TVA expects to spend approximately $475 million implementing EPU at Browns Ferry. Unit 3 started generating electricity at the higher EPU power rating in mid-July 2018 while Unit 1 started generating at full EPU power in late January of this year.

“We learned a great deal upgrading Units 1 and 3 to generate more power and will apply those lessons as we install modifications on Unit 2 during this outage and conduct extensive testing to ensure safety and verify plant response,” Hughes said.