ATHENS, Ala. – After generating more than 17 billion kilowatt-hours of carbon-free electricity and recording 677 days of operation, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 2 started a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage early Saturday morning.

“The work we do during this outage will improve the safety and reliability of plant equipment and prepare Unit 2 to generate reliable, low-cost electricity for the next 24 months serving the energy needs of the people of the Tennessee Valley,” said Steve Bono, site vice president. “In addition to loading new fuel, we’ll also do important maintenance work and upgrades that will improve Unit 2’s performance and enhance our ability to protect the health and safety of the public.”

Browns Ferry’s regular staff will be supplemented by more than 1,300 additional TVA and contract employees during this scheduled outage. More than 12,500 work activities are planned, including loading 288 new fuel assemblies, performing inspections and repairs on reactor cooling system components, conducting maintenance and upgrades of plant equipment and installing modifications to further enhance the safety of the unit.

In addition, modifications will be made that support the pending extended power uprate program. Once approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the program will allow Browns Ferry to generate an additional 465 megawatts of across all three units, enough to power an additional 280,000 homes.

Browns Ferry is one of three TVA nuclear facilities with a total seven generating units that contribute nearly 40 percent of all electricity used by more than 9 million people across the Tennessee Valley.