Atomic Bellyflop: America’s 1st ’21st Century Nuclear Reactor’ Fails, Shuts Down After 5 Months bureau EnviroNews DC News Bureau ,by Julia Travers July 3, 2017
Spring City, Tennessee — On March 23, 2017, after less than six months of operation, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Watts Bar 2 nuclear power unit (Watts Bar 2) was shut down. Failing components in the condenser caused America’s first 21st Century nuclear reactor to cease functioning, and as of July 3, it remains shut down.
“Nuclear technology is very unforgiving… The nuclear industry is very optimistic about its projections of performance. This is more evidence that they need to temper that optimism,” David Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), told The LA Times .
Lochbaum was specifically referencing the importance of the condenser, which cools down the steam used to drive the unit’s generating turbines. The unit will now be offline until sometime this summer, preventing it from providing electricity during peak demand in the TVA service region…..http://www.environews.tv/070317-atomic-bellyflop-americas-1st-21st-century-nuclear-reactor-fails-shuts-5-months/