Watts Bar Unit 2 Begins Scheduled Refueling and Maintenance Outage

Apr 15, 2025

Contact: Adam May

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SPRING CITY, Tenn. – The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 safely began a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage late Friday evening after generating more than 14.0 billion kilowatt-hours of reliable, affordable energy during 501 days of operation.

“Refueling and maintenance outages help ensure that we are better positioned to generate power for the people of the Tennessee Valley region for many years to come,” said Chris Reneau, TVA Watts Bar Site Vice President. “During this planned outage, the Watts Bar team will make numerous improvements to the systems and components of Unit 2 that can only be made when the unit is offline. These upgrades will help ensure that Unit 2 continues to deliver safe and reliable carbon-free energy for the 10 million people we serve throughout the Valley.”

Around 10,000 work activities are planned, including the loading of 92 new nuclear fuel assemblies, performing inspections of reactor components and steam generators, maintenance of plant equipment, and installing unit enhancements.

Watts Bar Unit 2 is one of seven operational TVA nuclear reactors. TVA’s nuclear fleet is the third largest in the nation, safely and reliably providing more than 40% of all electricity TVA generates.

Watts Bar Unit 1 is offline as the team performs maintenance work on the unit’s main generator.

About TVA

The Tennessee Valley Authority is the nation’s largest public power supplier, delivering energy to more than 10 million people across seven southeastern states. TVA has one of the most diverse energy systems – including nuclear, hydro, solar, gas, and advanced technologies. To prepare for the future, TVA is making significant investments in its power system toward new generation and transmission.

TVA is a corporate agency of the United States, receiving no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. TVA maintains some of the lowest energy costs and highest reliability in the nation. TVA’s retail rates are lower than 80 percent of the rest of the nation, while its industrial rates are lower than 95 percent of the top utilities. In addition, TVA provides flood control, navigation, and land management for the Tennessee River system, and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation.

Contact

Adam May
TVA Media Relations
[email protected]
865-632-6000

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