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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2014
Watts Bar 2
TVA’s
vision
is to be one of the
nation’s leading providers of low-cost
and cleaner energy by 2020. Even with
increases in energy efficiency and
demand response programs, TVA will
need more generating capacity to achieve
its vision and support economic growth
and job creation in the Tennessee Valley
region.
TVA’s
Integrated Resource Plan
calls
for future generation from a balanced
mix of reliable, cleaner and competitively
priced sources that include more nuclear
power.
TVA already is a leader in the
production of safe carbon-free nuclear
energy. Nuclear power provides about
one-third of the electricity generated by
TVA and about 70 percent of TVA’s clean
generation.
Nuclear is the best technology
for keeping reliability high and rates
competitive. It is cleaner than coal and
produces no harmful greenhouse gases.
And while expensive and complicated
to build,
nuclear units are economical to
operate
.
Industry-wide, nuclear is second
only to hydroelectric in
low production,
fuel, and operations and maintenance
costs
. TVA’s
nuclear fuel expenses
were
about a half cent per kilowatt-hour in
fiscal year 2011, compared with 3 cents
for coal and 4 cents for natural gas and
fuel oil. In 2010, TVA’s combined fuel,
operations and maintenance costs for
nuclear generation were less than 2 cents
per kilowatt-hour.
By increasing nuclear generation,
pursuing renewable energy sources and
promoting energy efficiency, TVA will
rely less on coal, continue steady progress
in reducing air emissions, and provide
reliable, economical power for the people
of our region.
TVA’s
Integrated Resource Plan
identified Watts Bar 2 as an essential new
source of nuclear generation. Completing
Unit 2 will put an existing asset to work
for TVA customers and add more than
1,100 megawatts of safe, clean, reliable
and economical base load generating
capacity to the TVA power system.
Not only will Unit 2 help meet
growing demand for electricity in the
Tennessee Valley, it will help replace
older, more costly and less efficient
coal
units that are being retired
. One nuclear
unit can make as much electricity as five
to 10 coal units without carbon emissions.
It is estimated that Watts Bar Unit 2 will
help TVA avoid coal-fired emissions
of 6 million to 8 million tons of carbon
dioxide a year.
Bringing Watts Bar Unit 2 online
will directly support TVA’s vision to be
one of the nation’s leading providers of
low-cost and cleaner energy by 2020 and,
specifically, to:
lead the Southeast in increased
energy efficiency, and
lead the nation in improving air
quality and increased nuclear
production.
Economic impact of Unit
2 construction
The Unit 2 construction project
employs around 2,400 contractor’s
personnel as of April 2012. About 290
permanent positions have been added to
support two-unit operation of the plant.
TVAprovidesfinancial compensation
to cities and counties affected by
construction of new generation. In 2012,
five counties and 18 cities affected by
the construction of Watts Bar Unit 2
will receive more than $2.9 million in
compensation from TVA.
Confidence in
Completion Schedule
TVA has high confidence in the new
completion schedule and cost estimates
for Unit 2.
The estimate to complete – called
the ETC – was prepared in collaboration
with TVA’s construction contractors and
outside experts. The ETC includes a root-
cause analysis of the factors that took the
project off track and detailed estimates of
the costs and time needed to complete the
remaining work.
TVA has taken corrective actions to
address the issues identified in the root
cause analysis and move the project
forward.
The ETC also includes detailed
estimates for:
the amount of conduit, cable,
piping and other materials still to be
installed;
support activities, like scaffolding,
insulation and painting; and
labor rates.
To validate these estimates, visual
inspections were conducted to assess
the work already completed, verify the
scope of work remaining and confirm the
quantity of materials needed.
To provide the highest degree of
confidence in the cost and schedule
forecasts, two independent assessments
were made to confirm the ETC. One
assessment reviewed the methodology to
prepare the ETC, and the other validated
the root cause analysis.
Construction Update
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2’s
completion targets continue to be met in
safety, quality, cost, and schedule where
the focus has shifted from large-scale
“bulk” construction to work required
to complete and test individual plant
systems.
During the sixth quarter, which
covers August to October 2013, more
than 3,300 highly skilled workers
achieved more than 22.8 million work-
hours without a lost-time incident, and
the Quality Control Acceptance Rate
remained high, with over 97 percent of
work presented for inspection meeting
quality control requirements.
