The TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 3 started a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage on Saturday after generating nearly 19 billion kilowatt hours of carbon-free electricity and more than 658 days of operation.
“Outages are always important because it’s our best opportunity to do the necessary work in order to continue safely and reliably meeting the Valley’s energy needs,” said Steve Bono, Browns Ferry site vice president. “What’s more important is that we do this work safely and error-free to protect ourselves, the plant, and the health and safety of the public. That’s the definition of success.”
There are nearly 11,000 work activities scheduled for this outage, including the loading of 312 new fuel assemblies and a major upgrade of a digital control and monitoring system. Other outage work activities include maintenance and upgrades of plant equipment, inspections and repairs of reactor components and testing of valves and electrical components.
These tasks will prepare Unit 3 for the next two years of generating electricity, helping TVA fulfill its mission of service and economic development for the people of the Tennessee Valley, said officials. To complete this work, Browns Ferry’s regular staff will be supplemented by more than 900 additional TVA and contract employees.
Browns Ferry Unit 3 is one of seven operational TVA nuclear reactors. With the completion last year of an Extended Power Uprate on all three Browns Ferry units, the station is able to generate an additional 465 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough energy to power an added 280,000 new homes, increasing the total number of homes supported by Browns Ferry to 2.2 million.