another nuke story - this time in Alabama

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng


Area: USA, State of Alabama, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Athen

Description:

Electricity production at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant near Athens has been cut by two-thirds after a series of problems this week, including Friday's shutdown of the plant's Unit 1 reactor. The Unit 1 reactor was shut down at 5:30 a.m. Friday to fix a leak in a device that monitors the temperature of steam produced by the reactor, said Jason Huffine, a spokesman for the Tennessee Valley Authority plant. "There's no danger to the work force, to the community or to the environment," he said. Heat from nuclear reactors creates steam to turn large generators that make electricity. TVA cut power production from Unit 1 and the plant's other two reactors by half Thursday to keep discharged water from warming the Tennessee River beyond state standards. The plant's cooling towers normally would chill the water before releasing it to the river. But the towers stopped working after two electricity transformers failed this week. Huffine said it is not known how long repairs will take. Plant officials had been keeping an eye on a possible problem with the monitoring of steam temperature on Unit 1's steam tunnel, so when the power was cut back 50 percent, workers got a chance to investigate further, Huffine said. When the problem was identified, TVA officials decided to shut down Unit 1 to make repairs, he said. Unit 1 has been subjected to additional inspections and oversight by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this year after five unplanned automatic shutdowns in the months following its May 2007 restart. TVA restarted the reactor, which had been shut down for 22 years, after a five-year, $1.9 billion restoration. When at full power, the three reactors together are capable of producing enough electricity to power nearly 2 million homes, according to TVA estimates. TVA provides electricity to large industries and 159 power distributors that serve about 8.8 million consumers in seven Southeastern states, including areas of north Alabama. Bessemer and Tarrant are among the cities that get power from TVA. Reduction in power at Browns Ferry has not affected TVA's ability to provide electricity to customers, Huffine said. "We have a robust power system."
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used to cool... AND its already hotter water... I just never understood it.. always made more sense to me in a colder environment.

due to the water coming from the Gulf being too hot.

this summer or next, the water is going to be too hot.

Bunch of crooks.. I hope McCain does take Crist.. oh wait, that's right, he doesn't have to give up his seat if he's running around sniffing up McCain's ass.

back in the 1980's that a significant portion of TVA's electrical output was sent to the area around Washington D. C., in addition to the seven-sate area it's supposed to serve.

I guess it's more prudent to have the nuke plants down here, so in case something goes wrong, only the rednecks suffer.

Right in the middle of the desert in Arizona! Has been since the '80's and my air conditioning bill gives thanks every day.



Not to mention that it actually provides power at a very competitive rate.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Verde_Nuclear_Generating_Station

it's not like Browns Ferry has had a lot of problems or anything like that over the years.

Just a little fire there in 1975 that was the worst incident at a nuclear power facility in the US before the one at Three Mile Island. Plus the fact that its reactors have been shut down about as much as they've been in actual operation. Of course, TVA's web site doesn't dwell on that part of the story too much.