Watts Bar Nuclear Plant

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant
Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 & 2 cooling towers and containment buildings.
Map
CountryUnited States
LocationRhea County, near Spring City, Tennessee
Coordinates35°36′10″N 84°47′22″W / 35.60278°N 84.78944°W / 35.60278; -84.78944
StatusOperational
Construction beganUnit 1: July 20, 1973
Unit 2: September 1, 1973[a]
Commission dateUnit 1: May 27, 1996
Unit 2: October 19, 2016[a]
Construction costMore than $12 billion
OwnerTennessee Valley Authority
OperatorTennessee Valley Authority
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
Reactor supplierWestinghouse
Cooling towers2 × Natural Draft
Cooling sourceTennessee River
Thermal capacity1 × 3459 MWth
1 × 3411 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 1167 MW
1 × 1165 MW
Make and modelWH 4-loop (ICECND)
Nameplate capacity2332 MW
Capacity factor68.10% (2017)
73.45% (lifetime)
Annual net output16,808 GWh (2022)
External links
Websitewww.tva.gov/Energy/Our-Power-System/Nuclear/Watts-Bar-Nuclear-Plant
CommonsRelated media on Commons

The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) nuclear reactor pair used for electric power generation. It is located on a 1,770-acre (7.2 km²) site in Rhea County, Tennessee, near Spring City, between Chattanooga and Knoxville. Watts Bar supplies enough electricity for about 1.2 million households in the Tennessee Valley.

The plant, construction of which began in 1973, has two Westinghouse pressurized water reactor units: Unit 1, completed in 1996, and Unit 2, completed in 2015. Unit 1 has a winter net dependable generating capacity of 1,167 megawatts. Unit 2 has a capacity of 1,165 megawatts. Unit 2 was the first of three new power reactors to enter service in the 21st century in the United States, followed by Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 and 4.
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