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from the watch-out-for-the-three-eyed-fish dept.
Late last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its first new operating license in nearly two decades. It was issued to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has finally completed the Watts Bar 2 reactor over 40 years after work was started on the site. The plant may begin generating electricity before the year is out.
Construction on the site was put on hiatus in 1985, but efforts to complete it were restarted in 2007. After work had restarted, the Fukushima disaster led to significant revisions of the safety regulations in the US; Watts Bar 2 becomes the first plant to meet all these requirements. Its license is good for 40 years.
According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the total cost for completion was $6 billion.
The NRC's announcement is here. [PDF]
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday October 27 2015, @05:35PM
"We" own it. Yeah, right. As if it makes any difference.
You are right, it makes no difference. The massive C02 reduction will happen no matter who owns it.
C02 per mWh is about 200 lbs from coal (about half that for natural gas). So that's a reduction of up to 230,000 lbs of C02 emissions per year.
reference [eia.gov]