America’s newest nuclear reactor resumed power generation Tuesday following more than four months of repairs to fix a ruptured condenser that idled the $5 billion unit only five months after it first started producing electricity.
TVA President Bill Johnson said Tuesday that the Unit 2 reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is back on line “just in time to help us meet our peak demand during those hot August days ahead.”
TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said the Unit 2 reactor at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City, Tenn., resumed power generation at 2:24 p.m. Tuesday after plant workers repaired a ruptured condenser that broke apart when support beams failed on the unit on March 23.
“We will bring the unit up to full power gradually to ensure that all of the equipment is working properly,” Hopson said Tuesday night.
The newest reactor at Watts Bar became the first new commercial reactor added to the U.S. electric grid last October when TVA achieved full power at the Watts Bar reactor 42 years after construction began on the unit. But only five months after its commercial start, the Unit 2 reactor shut down when the support beams failed on one of the plant’s condensers, which help convert the steam generated within the reactor back into water for recirculation in the closed loop system.