Watts Bar 2 supplies first US electricity

Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Watts Bar unit 2 nuclear power plant, located near Spring City, Tennessee, has provided its first power to the local grid.

The 1.1 GW net pressurised water reactor has begun running 40 years after construction started on the unit in 1972, reports World Nuclear News. Work was suspended on the unit in 1985 halfway though construction, and TVA resumed work in 2007, offering an EPC contract to Bechtel to complete the plant.

WNN reports that post-Fukushima regulatory requirements were incorporated into the design, adding $125mn on the plant’s $4.5bn cost.