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Various news outlets report that Unit 2 of the Watts Bar nuclear power plant, owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), has begun operation. The reactor is rated at 1.15 GW and cost $4.7 billion ($4.09 per watt). Ground was broken on the project in 1973; construction work was suspended from 1985 to 2007.
Watts Bar Unit 1, which began operation in 1996, is one of three plants which manufacture tritium under contract to the U.S. government for use in hydrogen bombs.
Around the United States, 99 other commercial nuclear reactors are in operation and four others are under construction:
[...] Scana Corp./SCE&G's V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 in South Carolina and Southern Co.'s Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia.
In related news, the TVA is taking bids for its unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station in fabulous Hollywood, Alabama. It has received a bid of $38 million.
coverage:
- VOA News (U.S. government source)
- Fresno Bee
- Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Knoxville News Sentinel
- Bloomberg BNA
- The Hill
- Power Magazine
previously:
US Regulators Issue First Nuclear Plant Operating License Since 1996
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:52AM
Did anyone else think $4.09 per watt is a bit of strange metric? What does it tell you? Wouldn't it be more interesting to divide this number over the planned running time?
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 26 2016, @10:37AM
Would 95% of the power necessary to energize a flux capacitor suit you better?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Wednesday October 26 2016, @06:30PM
Came looking for a Back To The Future reference, was not disappointed. Bravo!
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:21PM
It is strange but not for that reason. Nuclear (like most large scale power plants) tends to have their cost expressed as "cost per installed kW nameplate capacity" to more easily compare (powerplants exist at roughly every 20MW interval between 20 and 800MW and every 50MW up to about 1450MW so $/kW is very handy for comparisons).
4090$/kW puts it at about normal for US (slightly above france, quite a bit above s.korea, russia and china).
Search on the phrase "overnight costs" to see how it often is used.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday October 26 2016, @05:25PM
construction cost that is