The Tennessee Valley Authority today resumed power generation at its newest reactor at the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant near Soddy-Daisy.
Operators are continuing a planned power ascension process to return the unit to its full capacity, generating 1,150 megawatts, or enough power for 650,000 homes.
In addition to replacing 81 of the unit's 193 fuel assemblies, detailed inspections of the reactor vessel were conducted over the past several weeks to confirm all components continue to meet design requirements. Other major maintenance activities included replacing or refurbishing a number of motors, valves and other plant components, as well as several modifications for improving safety.
"The entire Sequoyah team, supported by more than 700 supplemental contract workers, completed approximately 12,000 activities," Sequoyah Site Vice President Tony Williams said in a statement today. "Our team takes great pride in the work they do to ensure the Sequoyah plant continues to reliably serve the people of the Tennessee Valley."
Sequoyah Unit 2 is one of seven operational TVA nuclear reactors across the Valley, which are capable of supplying over one-third of all electricity used by the 9 million people served by TVA.
TVA is still repairing its newest nuclear reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City, Tenn., where a condenser ruptured on March 23 when support beams failed on the non-nuclear portion of the plant. TVA expects the $5 billion unit to be offline until later this summer because of the difficulty of replacing and repairing the condenser equipment in the tight quarters around the condenser.