Watts Bar at a glance
Location: TVA facility is built on a 1,770-acre site on the Tennessee River below the Watts Bar dam near Spring City, Tenn. History: Construction began in 1973, was suspended in 1985 and resumed for Unit 1 in the 1990s. Unit 1 began generation in 1996. Work to complete Unit 2 was resurrected in 2005. Type of reactors: Twin Westinghouse pressurized water reactors Power output: Each unit can generate 1,150 megawatts, enough electricity to supply 650,000 homes. Investment: TVA spent more than $6 billion on Unit 2 and since 2007 is spending another estimated $4.2 billion to finish Unit 2. It is the most expensive construction project ever in Tennessee. Status: Unit 1 is at full power; TVA projects Unit 2 should be finished sometime between September and next June. Staff: 1,050 full-time TVA employees; 2,600 temporary construction workers at Unit 2, most of who will be phased out by this summer Source: Tennessee Valley Authority
SPRING CITY, Tenn. – Nearly 42 years after the Tennessee Valley Authority began its construction, the Unit 2 reactor at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is nearing completion and will be put to a key performance test next month.
Nearly 2,600 contract and TVA employees are working around the clock to finish the building – and rebuilding – of the first nuclear reactor to be added to America’s electric grid in nearly two decades.
Mike Skaggs, the TVA senior vice president who is heading construction at Watts Bar, said Wednesday he is confident Watts Bar Unit 2 will be ready to generate power within the next year.
“We’re feeling pretty good about meeting our schedule and finishing up the unit prior to June 2016,” Skaggs said during a tour of the project Wednesday. “But we’ve got a lot of challenges and risks ahead of us and we’re not as worried about meeting our schedule as we are in making sure that when Watts Bar comes online it is safe and of high quality.”