TVA’s Watts Bar Unit 2 Begins Commercial Operation - Nuclear Energy Institute

TVA’s Watts Bar Unit 2 Begins Commercial Operation - Nuclear Energy Institute

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TVA’s Watts Bar Unit 2 Begins Commercial Operation

Nation’s 100th Reactor Produces Zero-Carbon Power for 650,000 Homes, Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The new Watts Bar Unit 2 is producing electricity for more than 650,000 homes and businesses after successfully completing the rigorous power ascension testing program and operating at 100 percent power output for more than three weeks. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s 1,150 megawatt reactor is providing carbon-free electricity to consumers in its seven-state service territory.
“This is a historic day. At a time when our nation and the world are seeking cleaner sources of affordable, reliable energy, Watts Bar Unit 2 is poised to produce tremendous environmental and economic benefits for communities in the Tennessee Valley for decades to come,” said Marvin Fertel, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s president and chief executive officer. “On behalf of the nuclear energy industry, the Nuclear Energy Institute congratulates TVA and its supporting contractors and suppliers for this outstanding accomplishment.”

Watts Bar Unit 2, situated 60 miles southwest of Knoxville, becomes the 100th reactor operating in the United States. Nuclear energy facilities in 30 states generate 19 percent of America’s total electricity and nearly 63 percent of its carbon-free electricity.
“Nuclear energy along with wind and solar are the foundation for achieving our clean air goals, as reflected in the recent commitment between the United States, Canada and Mexico to cleanly generate one-half of North America’s electricity by 2025,” Fertel said. “We must take advantage of the strengths each of these energy sources offers.”
Based on the historic capacity factors of the respective power sources, Watts Bar Unit 2 will generate electricity equal to one-third of the production from all wind turbines installed in the United States in 2015, and it will do so around-the-clock. From a clean air standpoint, the Watts Bar power station will prevent the emission of approximately 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking more than three million cars off the road.
TVA’s long-range goal is to develop a cleaner portfolio of generation sources. The addition of Watts Bar Unit 2, along with other decisions to lower carbon output, will help TVA achieve its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 60 percent over 2005 levels within the next four years.
Full-scale operations of Watts Bar Unit 2 also will produce positive economic impacts in the region. The two-unit plant combined will provide nearly 1,000 permanent jobs paying above-average wages and contribute an average $470 million in goods and services each year to the regional economy that will help drive the expansion of existing businesses and new business formation.
“We’re in a hotbed for industrial growth and have been meeting with clients that are heavy industrial users of electricity,” said Dennis Tumlin, executive director of the Rhea (County) Economic & Tourism Council. “Watts Bar Unit 2 is a big plus for us in attracting new businesses because they value the additional, reliable power knowing we can meet their needs.”
Watts Bar Unit 1 began operating in 1996. Combined, the two reactors produce 2,300 megawatts of electricity for nearly 1.3 million households.
“Thousands of men and women committed to completing Watts Bar Unit 2 safely and with high quality, and achieving commercial operations is a testament to their ability to deliver on that promise,” said Joe Grimes, TVA’s executive vice president of generation and chief nuclear officer.