TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant has completed one of its final major pre-operational tests to support readiness for licensing and fuel load for Unit 2.
TVA said Wednesday the week-long tests verified the performance of hundreds of engineered safety features systems designed to safely shut down the reactor in response to specific plant conditions.
"The Integrated Safeguards Test verified two critical factors," TVA Chief Nuclear Officer Joe Grimes said Wednesday. "First, that the safety features performed as designed in protecting the core, and in turn the safety and health of the public and employees. Secondly, that site personnel are focused on their roles as nuclear professionals in safely completing, integrating and operating Unit 2 in a dual-unit station."
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to soon issue an operating license for TVA to load fuel in its new reactor at Watts Bar. The unit is scheduled to become the first new nuclear reactor to be added to America's electric grid in nearly two decades when it begins power generation in late 2015 or early 2016.
Mike Skaggs, senior vice president of Watts Bar Operations and Construction, said completion of the latest tests "represents a significant milestone, one that moves Unit 2 closer to fuel load and Watts Bar closer to becoming a dual-unit station."