The Tennessee Valley Authority restarted its newest nuclear reactor Tuesday as the utility prepares to raise the power generation for the unit to 100 percent power for the first time. TVA shut down the Unit 2 reactor at its Watts Bar Nuclear Plant last Wednesday after raising power for the new reactor up to 75 percent of its 1,150-megawatt capacity.
TVA will now move toward bringing the unit up to full power in the next few days through a series of hold points as part of its ongoing power ascension testing program. Watts Bar Unit 2, which TVA began building in 1973 and suspended in 1988 for next two decades, is the first new nuclear plant to be added to America's electric grid since 1996. TVA began limited power production at the new unit in May.
"Our intent is to move the unit to 100 percent power and then conduct the next set of tests that we perform at that level," TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said. "Everything seems to be going very well and we're obviously excited to get the reactor to full power for the first time."
Once the plant operates at full power for at least 20 consecutive days and achieves other testing milestones, it will be declared a commercial nuclear unit and TVA will begin to amortize the $4.7 billion debt incurred over the past decade to finish the unit.