Steamy temperatures Friday put the Tennessee Valley Authority in hot water again over thermal limits on the Tennessee River water used to cool its plants.
TVA was forced to limit power production at its biggest nuclear plant near Athens, Ala., Friday when the water in the Tennessee River approached the 90-degree limit, utility spokesman Terry Johnson said.
All three reactors at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant were reduced to 50 percent power Friday afternoon to limit the heat going into the river.
The power cutback happened as temperatures neared 100 degrees across TVA’s seven-state region. The utility on Friday expected the highest single-day sales of the summer so far, with peak demand topping 30,000 megawatts.
But that peak fell short of the all-time high of 33,482 megawatts in August 2007, and TVA had no trouble keeping the juice flowing to power air conditioners across the Tennessee Valley.
“We don’t expect any problem meeting the peak and next week it should be cooler with some rains,” said Scott Brooks, a TVA spokesman in Knoxville. “There is still plenty of power to purchase and our generation has held up well.”
River water is used to help cool the steam used to generate electricity at TVA’s nuclear plants. Under its operating permits, TVA must limit the heat of the cooling water when discharging it back into the Tennessee River.
Early last week, Browns Ferry’s reactors were scaled back on power generation when temperatures got above 89 degrees.
TVA uses cooling towers at its Sequoyah and Watts Bar plants in Tennessee and the utility is proposing a closed loop system with cooling towers at the Bellefonte nuclear site in Alabama.
Nuclear power critics contend that TVA is likely to get in even more hot water with global warming and increased nuclear power generation at Watts Bar and Bellefonte.
“As temperatures rise through global warming, every nuclear utility is going to face this problem and it’s a real limit on nuclear power generation during hot days,” said Louse Gorenflo, a member of a TVA advisory task force studying energy options for the future and a supporter of the anti-nuclear group BEST (Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team).
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So you have this nice old car with great air conditioning but there is a warning - do not use it when it is really hot!
Why does it seem strange that the design or the upgrade design of nuclear reactors is not recognized? It's as if TVA never heard of it getting hot in the South in the summer. Old technology, old thinking.
Why not let innovative free market utilities give it a try? Meanwhile you can count on rates going up to pay for old and outmoded power producing equipment.
What's this now? Six rate increases in a row?
Ernest Norsworthy
TVA announced that the new $13,000,000.00 parking garage in Chattanooga will be used for shade when TVA turns off the electricity via the smart grid during hot weather.
"We want to invite all Chattanoogans to bring their lawn chairs and coolers to the new parking garage when we turn off the electricity," said TVA spokesman Rippem A. Newone.
"Of course we'll still charge you, even though we aren't supplying electricity. After all, we have those million dollar bonuses to hand out every year for poor performance but Hey! We're TVA. What you going to do about it?"
Barry Goldwater was right. Should have sold TVA fifty years ago.
TVA's Browns Ferry plant is still a bargain. But it's time to install cooling towers and closed loop cooling system at the plant to cut thermal pollution..
Pro-nukes always claim you can't count on wind and solar. Well, when we need TVA's reactors to run the most to meet high electricity demand this week, the nuclear plants had to cut power to keep the river from getting too hot. Sounds like nuclear power isn't roo reliable either during hot weather, at least with the current design. The loss of 1,500 megawatts or more of power during Friday's peak at Browns Ferry will probably mean another fuel cost adjustment up in our rates next month.
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