The Tennessee Valley Authority said this week that hot functional testing of the new Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear reactor in Spring City, Tenn., had been completed, demonstrating the unit performed as designed.
“The latest rounds of tests, called hot functional testing, marks the first time nearly 60 important systems operated together,” TVA said in an announcement.
The testing took eight weeks. The operators at the plant used heat generated by plant equipment to increase temperature and pressure of the various systems to operational levels to see how they would perform under normal operating conditions. The new reactor's main turbine was also rolled up to normal operating speed using the plant's steam, TVA said.
“Successful completion of these tests demonstrates the key operational readiness of Watts Bar Unit 2 in preparation to load fuel,” said Mike Skaggs, senior vice president for Watts Bar Operations and Construction. “Good work by our team has brought us to where we are today as we validate the unit’s ability to operate safely and the station’s readiness for dual-unit operation.”
Hot functional testing is a critical pre-operational requirement leading up to TVA requesting an operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That license is required before fuel can be loaded into the reactor.
The data gathered from the most recent testing builds on information documented from earlier testing milestones – open vessel testing, cold hydrostatic testing and secondary hydrostatic testing – and further ensures that Watts Bar Unit 2 systems will support safe operation as designed and according to established NRC regulations.
Next on the schedule for Watts Bar Unit 2, operators will conduct additional testing focusing on the integrity of primary containment and important safety-related equipment, such as emergency diesel generators, the TVA said.
Watts Bar Unit 2 is now approximately 99 percent complete and remains on target to become the first new nuclear generation of the 21st century. When online, it will produce 1,150 megawatts of carbon-free electricity. Combined with the output of the operational Unit 1, the Watts Bar plant will then meet the power needs of 1.3 million homes.