Browns Ferry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Brown's Ferry nuclear power plant is located on the Tennessee River near Athens, Alabama. The plant is named after a ferry that operated at the site until the middle of the 20th century. The site has three boiling water reactor (BWR) nuclear generating units and is owned entirely by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
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[edit] Unit One
Unit One is a 1,065 MWe BWR built by General Electric which originally came online on Dec. 20, 1973, and is licensed to operate through Dec. 20, 2033. However, Unit One shutdown for a year after a fire on 22-Mar-1975 caused major damage to the unit. The unit was subsequently repaired and operated from 1976 through 1985, but has not operated since. Efforts are now under way to restore Unit One to operational status. The TVA is spending $1.8 billion (U.S.) to do so. The present schedule is to bring Unit One back online in 2007.
The fire was caused when a worker using a candle to search for air leaks accidentally set cables on fire.
From NRC IE BULLETIN NO. - 75-04A:
The fire started in the cable spreading room at a cable penetration through the wall between the cable spreading room and the reactor building for Unit 1. A slight differential pressure is maintained (by design) across this wall, with the higher pressure being on the cable spreading room side. The penetration seal originally present had been breached to install additional cables required by a design modification. Site personnel were resealing the penetration after cable installation and were checking the airflow through a temporary seal with a candle flame prior to installing the permanent sealing material. The temporary sealing material was highly combustible, and caught fire. Efforts were made by the workers to extinguish the fire at its origin, but they apparently did not recognize that the fire, under the influence of the draft through the penetration, was spreading on the reactor building side of the wall. The extent of the fire in the cable spreading room was limited to a few feet from the penetration; however, the presence of the fire on the other side of the wall from the point of ignition was not recognized until significant damage to cables related to the control of Units 1 and 2 had occurred.
This later resulted in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission making significant additions to the standards for fire protection through Appendix R. Unit Three was not affected by the accident. This event was pivotal not just for firestopping in the nuclear field, but also in commercial and industrial construction. While the nuclear field went to installations of silicone foam, a wider array of firestops became prevalent in non-nuclear construction.
[edit] Unit Two
Unit Two is a 1,113 MWe BWR built by General Electric which originally came online on Aug. 2, 1974, and is licensed to operate through June 28, 2034. Unit Two generated 8,911,261 Megawatthours of electricity in 2003, achieving a capacity factor of 94.1%.
[edit] Unit Three
Unit Three is a 1,113 MWe BWR built by General Electric which originally came online on Aug 18., 1976, and is licensed to operate through July 2, 2036. Unit Three generated 9,260,078 Megawatthours, achieving a capacity factor of 99%.
[edit] External links
- DOE Browns Ferry Site
- TVA Website
- Maps and aerial photos
- WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
- Street map from MapQuest or Google Local
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
- The Fire at the Brown's Ferry Nuclear Power Station
