All Topics  
Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station
 
 
  Topics Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station Topic Home

The Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station is a Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, Flood, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression....
 (TVA) nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled, and sustained at a steady rate, as opposed to a nuclear bomb, in which the chain reaction occurs in a fraction of a second and is uncontrolled causing an explosion....
 used for electric power generation and tritium
Tritium

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The atomic nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of Hydrogen atom contains one proton and no neutrons....
 production for nuclear weapons. It is located on a 1,770-acre (7.2 kmē) site in Rhea County, Tennessee
Rhea County, Tennessee

Rhea County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 28,400. Its county seat is Dayton, Tennessee....
 near Spring City
Spring City, Tennessee

Spring City is a town in Rhea County, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,025 at the 2000 census....
, between the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville. Watts Bar Unit 1 was the last civilian reactor to come on-line in the United States. Watts Bar supplies enough electricity for about 250,000 households in the Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley

The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina....
.

This plant has one Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric Company

The Westinghouse Electric Company is a multi-national nuclear reactor technologies company, a part of the original Westinghouse Electric . The company's operations incorporate various nuclear services, nuclear power plant, nuclear fuel, inspection equipment, advanced welding services, and remote handling equipment to utilities and government...
 pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor

Pressurized water reactor are Generation II reactor nuclear reactors that use ordinary water under high pressure as coolant to remove heat generated by nuclear chain reaction from nuclear fuel, and as the neutron moderator to thermalise the neutron flux so that it interacts with the nuclear fuel to maintain the chain reaction....
, one of two reactor units whose construction commenced in 1973.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station'
Start a new discussion about 'Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station is a Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, Flood, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression....
 (TVA) nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled, and sustained at a steady rate, as opposed to a nuclear bomb, in which the chain reaction occurs in a fraction of a second and is uncontrolled causing an explosion....
 used for electric power generation and tritium
Tritium

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The atomic nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of Hydrogen atom contains one proton and no neutrons....
 production for nuclear weapons. It is located on a 1,770-acre (7.2 kmē) site in Rhea County, Tennessee
Rhea County, Tennessee

Rhea County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 28,400. Its county seat is Dayton, Tennessee....
 near Spring City
Spring City, Tennessee

Spring City is a town in Rhea County, Tennessee, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,025 at the 2000 census....
, between the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville. Watts Bar Unit 1 was the last civilian reactor to come on-line in the United States. Watts Bar supplies enough electricity for about 250,000 households in the Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley

The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina....
.

This plant has one Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric Company

The Westinghouse Electric Company is a multi-national nuclear reactor technologies company, a part of the original Westinghouse Electric . The company's operations incorporate various nuclear services, nuclear power plant, nuclear fuel, inspection equipment, advanced welding services, and remote handling equipment to utilities and government...
 pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor

Pressurized water reactor are Generation II reactor nuclear reactors that use ordinary water under high pressure as coolant to remove heat generated by nuclear chain reaction from nuclear fuel, and as the neutron moderator to thermalise the neutron flux so that it interacts with the nuclear fuel to maintain the chain reaction....
, one of two reactor units whose construction commenced in 1973. Unit 1 was completed in 1996, and has a winter net dependable generating capacity of 1,167 megawatts.

Unit 2 was about 80% complete when its construction was stopped in 1988. The official reason given for halting construction was a decrease in demand for electricity, but the decision was hailed as a victory by anti-nuclear
Anti-nuclear

The anti-nuclear movement is a loosely-linked international new social movements opposed to the use of nuclear technology. The chief focus of the movement is opposition to nuclear power , but also includes other issues such as:...
 activists. Unit 2 remains partly completed (several of its parts being used on other TVA units), but on August 1, 2007 the TVA Board approved completion of the unit. Construction resumed on October 15, 2007, with the reactor expected to begin operation in 2013.

Tritium production

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Nuclear Regulatory Commission is a United States government agency that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 in 1974, and was first opened January 19, 1975....
 operating license for Watts Bar was modified in September 2002 to allow TVA to irradiate
Irradiation

Irradiation is the process by which an item is exposed to radiation. The exposure can be intentional, sometimes to serve a specific purpose, or it can be accidental....
 tritium-producing burnable absorber rods at Watts Bar to produce tritium
Tritium

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The atomic nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of Hydrogen atom contains one proton and no neutrons....
 for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Nuclear Security Administration
National Nuclear Security Administration

The United States National Nuclear Security Administration is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy....
. The Watts Bar license amendment currently permits TVA to install up to 240 tritium-producing rods in Watts Bar Unit 1. Planned future license amendments would allow TVA to irradiate up to approximately 2,000 tritium-producing rods in the Watts Bar reactor.

TVA began irradiating tritium-producing rods at Watts Bar Unit 1 in the fall of 2003. TVA removed these rods from the reactor in the spring of 2005. DOE successfully shipped them to its tritium-extraction facility at Savannah River Site
Savannah River Site

The Savannah River Site is a nuclear materials processing center in the United States state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken_County,_South_Carolina, Allendale_County,_South_Carolina and Barnwell_County,_South_Carolina Counties adjacent to the Savannah River, 25 miles from Augusta, Georgia....
 in South Carolina
South Carolina

South Carolina is a U.S. state in the Southern United States of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north....
. DOE reimburses TVA for the cost of providing the irradiation services, and also pays TVA a fee for each tritium-producing rod that is irradiated.

See also

  • Watts Bar Dam
    Watts Bar Dam

    Watts Bar Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Meigs County, Tennessee and Rhea County, Tennessee, USA. The dam is one of nine dams on the main Tennessee River channel operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in early 1940s to provide flood control and electricity and to help create a continuous navigab...


External links