Construction of the second nuclear reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station is nearing completion, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said in a report in Industrial Info Resources on Tuesday.
The TVA said the construction process at the plant near Spring City in east Tennessee is approximately 98 percent complete. Approximately $4 billion to $4.5 billion will be spent in order to complete the project. A TVA representative said the reactor is expected to go online in 2016.
According to a report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the TVA expects that electricity demand will see its slowest growth rate over the next 20 years. Following the completion of the second nuclear reactor at the Watts Bar nuclear facility, the utility said it will likely only need smaller generators powered by natural gas and solar panels in order to meet the expected electricity output demand.
In June, the TVA said the Watt Bar plant is the first plant in the U.S. to complete necessary upgrades and expansions in order to meet post-Fukushima safety protocols.
The current reactor at the generating station has an output capacity of 1,121 megawatts. The TVA said that Unit 2 is expected to have a capacity of 1,150 megawatts.
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