22 Oct (NucNet): The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with a 40-year operating licence for the Watts Bar-2 nuclear reactor unit which is nearing completion near Knoxville in Tennessee.
In a statement today the NRC said Watts Bar-2, a 1,165-megawatt Westinghouse pressurised water reactor unit, is the first US reactor it has authorised to operate since 1996, when it issued the licence for Watts Bar-1. The Unit 2 licence allows operation until 22 October 2055.
TVA said construction of the unit is 99 percent complete and significant milestones towards operation have been completed including hot functional testing, hydrostatic pressure testing, and containment testing, which demonstrated the integrity of the steel containment structure and associated systems and components designed to contain accidental releases of radioactive material.
The NRC said it had devoted more than 200,000 hours over eight years conducting extensive safety reviews and inspections at Watts Bar-2 and is satisfied it is safe to operate.
“We already monitor Unit 1’s performance through our reactor oversight process, which is used at all reactor sites throughout the country, and we’re adding Unit 2 to that system,” a spokesman said. “Staff from our Region II office in Atlanta will ensure TVA meets its requirements as it loads fuel into Unit 2 and runs tests before the unit starts generating electricity.”
TVA had maintained Unit 2 in an incomplete state since 1985 and had extended the unit’s construction permit since then. In 2007, the utility began efforts to complete Unit 2 and updated its operating licence application in March 2009.
The NRC said Watts Bar is the first site to comply with the agency’s Fukushima-related orders on mitigation strategies and spent fuel pool instrumentation. The NRC has two resident inspectors at Watts Bar for day-to-day oversight of site activities, and an additional resident inspector for continued oversight of start-up activities at Unit 2.
The Watts Bar-2 decision means there are now 100 US commercial reactors licensed to operate, the NRC said.
