Some 800 workers will lose their jobs at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 2 project under a renegotiated contract with primary contractor Bechtel Power Corp.
TVA has announced it will take over more of the management responsibilities for completing the reactor. In a statement, TVA vice president Mike Skaggs said, "As we announced this past summer, the pace of construction at Watts Bar unit 2 has been slower than originally planned for the aggressive five-year project … Therefore, TVA has been evaluating the best path forward to efficiently complete the project with a primary focus on safety, quality and cost. The company is taking a deliberate approach in the review and development of the overall construction and licensing schedule."
Bechtel was awarded the $1 billion contract to help finish the partially completed unit in 2007. Services within the contract included engineering, procurement and construction, but the Chattanoogan newspaper reported TVA will now take a more active role in managing the project and will more clearly define each entity’s responsibilities.
As a result, TVA said, 600 craft workers and 200 support staff members will no longer work on the project. Most are employed by Bechtel or Day & Zimmerman.