Browns Ferry Reactor Running Again

The Unit 2 reactor at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Athens, AL, was nearly back to full power last Thursday after a problem with an electrical cable triggered an automatic shutdown of the unit Saturday.

Unit 2 was at 95 percent power Thursday afternoon, said Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) spokesman Ray Golden. The incident caused no disruption of power to TVA customers, he said.

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According to a report TVA filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), about 2 p.m. Saturday workers were testing the reactor’s systems after scheduled maintenance when a faulty cable interrupted power to the reactor’s protection system, causing it to enter an automatic shutdown mode.

Workers had the reactor back in operation by about 2 p.m. Thursday, and have gradually been bringing it back up to full power, Golden said.

The incident did not affect the other two reactor units at Browns Ferry, which remained operating at 100 percent power. TVA was able to maintain service, Golden said.

The incident happened after the Unit 2 reactor had set a record of 562 days of continuous service, Golden said. The previous record was 530 days.

The Unit 2 reactor is able to provide power to 650,000 homes and businesses and all three reactors at Browns Ferry can generate power for more than 2 million people.