THe construction of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant

The Construction of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant

Author Name

Class The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN ) is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA , a government owned authority . The site is approximately ten miles south of Spring City , TN , approximately 1 .25 miles south of the Watts Bar Dam that it is named for , and on the west bank of the Tennessee River . There are two units , Unit 1 which is operational and Unit 2 which is unfinished

The Groundbreaking for Unit 1 took place in 1972 , with major construction

beginning in 1973 (TVA website . However Unit 1 did not begin commercial operation until 1996 - twenty-three years after major construction started and according to Munson (2002 ) at a cost of 7 billion - and Unit 2 has yet to be completed . Construction licenses for both units were awarded by the nuclear regulator of the time the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC ) in 1973 , and construction of both units was supended in 1985 . Unit 1 construction was restarted in 1990 and the full power operating license was issued in 1996 . Unit 2 remained only partially constructed until 2007 when TVA announced it would resume construction

Partial Chronology (NRC Website , WB Unit 2 Reactivation

Date

11 /14 /2006 TVA informs NRC that it is assessing the feasibility of resuming construction and licensing of WBN Unit 2

07 /14 /2000 TVA advises NRC that WBN Unit 2 is in deferred status

02 /07 /1996 WBN Unit 1 full power operating license issued

01 /1990 NUREG-1232 issued . Construction resumes at WBN Unit 1

09 /17 /1985 NRC issues 10 CFR 50 .54 (f ) letter to TVA

Mid-1985 Construction suspended at Watts Bar

09 /27 /1976 Operating License application d by TVA

01 /23 /1973 CP issued by the Atomic Energy Commission (NRC 's predecessor

05 /14 /1971 Construction Permit (CP ) application d by TVA

Source : NRC 2007

Detailed information about the original tender , construction process numbers of workers , time scales and original budgets is not available for Unit 1 as the project began in the early 1970s and the information is archived and not easily retrievable (Johnson , personal communication . However Unit 1 is typical of the reactors of its time so some general information is available . For example , in terms of the plant overall , figures from 1974 (Peterson , 2003 ) indicate that the construction of a typical nuclear plant required 40 metric tons (MT ) of steel and 190 cubic meters (m3 ) of concrete per average megawatt of electricity (MW (e ) generating capacity . With a capacity of over 1000 MWe , figures for the construction of Unit 1 can be estimated as over 40 ,000 MT of steel , and 190 ,000 m3 of concrete . Due to the geologic features of the site (see below , it is reasonable to assume that the real figures were even higher . There is some information with regards the restart of construction for Unit 2

Reactors

Both units are Westinghouse Four-loop Pressurized-Water Reactor (PWR as shown in the figure below (TVA website ) capable of...