SPRING CITY, Tenn. – The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 returned to operation on November 27 after completing a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage that will help support decades of additional reliable generation of carbon-free energy. The Watts Bar team safely completed more than 10,000 work activities to return the unit to full generating capacity and supply the energy for 650,000 homes.

“The Watts Bar team, along with the additional 900-plus people who joined us to support the outage, performed safe and error-free work to refuel the reactor, upgrade numerous safety-related components, and perform many preventive maintenance procedures that will allow us to continue to provide safe, reliable, carbon-free electricity for the next 18-month operating cycle,” said Tony Williams, Watts Bar site vice president. “We’re proud of our team members and proud to help meet the growing power needs of 10 million people throughout the Tennessee Valley who count on us on a daily basis.”

In addition to replacing 92 of Unit 2’s 193 fuel assemblies, the Watts Bar team performed detailed inspections of reactor components, steam generators, and other plant systems to ensure continued safe operation of all components, replaced or serviced plant equipment, and installed enhancements to help the unit continue safe, reliable operation for years to come.

Watts Bar Unit 2 is one of seven operational TVA nuclear reactors across the Valley. TVA’s nuclear fleet is the third largest in the nation, safely and reliably providing more than 40% of all electricity generated by TVA. Combined with other parts of TVA’s diverse generation system, nuclear power is the major contributor to the organization’s carbon reduction goal to be net-zero by 2050.