Dormant Browns Ferry Reactor Energized Once Again

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). After nearly five years and $1.8 billion spent to refurbish and reclaim Browns Ferry Unit 01, nuclear power is once again being generated for distribution by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) once mothballed reactor.

“We’re at 50% and ascending this morning, and everything’s going good so far,” said a plant contact. The excitement was obvious, but a sense of trepidation was also noticeable.

Browns Ferry Nuclear Generating Station (Decatur, Alabama) had lost the unit for more than a year in the mid-1970s due to a fire. Yet, it was repaired and operated until 1985, when the TVA concluded that the unit no longer met the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) standards for a safe and reliable-operating nuclear reactor. Consequently, the unit was mothballed in 1985 with only 10 years of generation output in total, decades short of its anticipated lifespan.

Years of research and feasibility studies led to today’s gleeful announcement. TVA now operates the most recently re-commissioned nuclear unit in the country. Moreover, plant management anticipates a return to full capacity (1,200 megawatts) by late-week.

Click on the link to view a Browns Ferry Unit 01 fact sheet.

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