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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: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 26 2016, @10:46AM
While you lot are all "boo, nukes" and "hiss, nuclear waste", my question is: how is the added warmth going to affect the fishing patterns in the lake they use for cooling water? Fish go where they go and bite when they bite based on a lot of things but one of the big factors is water temperature. Also, how will this affect the thermocline (line in the water between the hot water above and cold water below, below which there is not enough oxygen to support fish, so they stay shallow-ish) in the summer? And you lot thought fishing was simple...
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @11:23AM
Use to live close to such a lake.
From the old timers, not that much was changed (maybe some algae, but that's debatable) except for more people visiting the lake throughout the year because it was warm water. It was actually an odd though not unpleasant feeling jumping in and not feeling much of a chill at all. More like a tepidly warm shower.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 26 2016, @11:42AM
I was thinking more of the flatheads. They're a warm weather catfish and are damned difficult to catch in the winter because of the cold water. A nuke plant warming things up could make all the difference. Also the crappie tend to move to deep brush in the winter and this also might change that.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @11:53AM
Oh definitely fishing areas moved, but it is hard to say whether that was expressly from the warm water or hoards more people splashing around in the water.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 26 2016, @12:01PM
Yeah. Since I'm actually living in TN at the moment and go fishing every chance I get, this isn't a purely theoretical question for me.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.