SODDY-DAISY, Tenn. – The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Unit 2 started a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage early Saturday morning after generating nearly 14 billion kilowatt hours of carbon-free energy, following over 487 days of power operation.  

“This scheduled outage allows us to complete necessary work to ensure the people and businesses we serve can continue to rely on us to deliver reliable, low-cost, carbon-free electricity during these unprecedented times and beyond,” said Matt Rasmussen, TVA Sequoyah site vice president. “The team will load new nuclear fuel and perform key maintenance activities that can only be safely completed with the unit offline.”

According to Rasmussen, preparations for refueling outages begin years in advance. Planning for this outage began more than three years ago as part of the site’s standard work management practices to ensure all work can be completed safely and as scheduled. 

“Sequoyah’s highly skilled workforce is making the most of this opportunity to ensure Unit 2 continues to operate safely and reliably until its next refueling outage about 18 months from now,” added Rasmussen.

Over 10,000 work activities are planned, including loading new fuel assemblies, performing inspections of reactor components, maintenance of plant equipment and installing unit enhancements.

Recognizing the unique challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak, Sequoyah reduced the amount of work required for this outage, significantly reducing the number of supplemental workers that will be brought on site. The plant has also taken multiple, significant actions to help protect the health and wellbeing of employees and supplemental workers, including required health screenings prior to plant entry each day.

Sequoyah Unit 2 is one of seven operational TVA nuclear reactors across the Valley. Collectively, TVA’s nuclear fleet safely and reliably provides more than 40 percent of all electricity used by nearly 10 million people in the Tennessee Valley.

For more information about TVA and its 86-year mission of service to the Tennessee Valley, click here.