Construction permit for Watts Bar 2 extended
14 July 2008
The construction permit for the unfinished second unit at Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) Watts Bar nuclear power plant has been extended by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The permit has been extended until 31 March 2013. TVA requested the extension on 8 May. The company has told the NRC that it intends to complete Watts Bar 2 by 2013 and request an operating licence in 2012. When completed, the reactor will be an 1100 MWe, Westinghouse-designed pressurised water reactor (PWR), essentially the same as the operating unit Watts Bar 1, which started up in 1996. TVA received a construction permit for both units in 1973. Initial construction on Unit 2 stopped in 1985. In October 2000, the NRC extended the Unit 2 construction permit to 31 December 2010. In August 2007, the TVA board decided to complete construction of Watts Bar 2 to help meet growing demand for power. Completion is estimated to take five years and cost $2.5 billion.