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Only the Unit 1 cooling tower has been needed at the Watts Bar plant since Unit 2 was never finished. (photo by Stephen Jerkins)

For all the talk of a nuclear renaissance in the U.S., only one reactor is technically “under construction” right now. Watts Bar has a nearly 40 year history. And the Tennessee Valley Authority’s effort to complete a second reactor on site isn’t going well.

Last year’s nuclear meltdown in Japan sent shockwaves through the world of atomic power, but it wasn’t enough to kill the buzz that’s been going since Congress passed new nuclear incentives in 2005. In February, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted the first construction license in more than 34 years. But that plant hasn’t gotten out of the ground. Watts Bar Unit 2 in Spring City, Tenn., has been out of the ground for decades, but crossing the finishing line is getting even more expensive.

The TVA board will be asked Thursday to approve an extra $2 billion and a three year extension to finish the reactor. That would nearly double the original budget and push a five-year timeline to eight.

TVA once had an ambitious plan for 17 reactors. But like many utilities around the country, it walked away in the 80s. Power demand was down, and fears of nuclear had grown after the disaster at Three Mile Island. But three-quarters of the work at Watts Bar had been done.

“Well guys, we’re standing inside the Unit 2 reactor building,” says TVA engineer Frank Koontz, while carting around a group of reporters.

Workers at Watts Bar Unit 2 scale scaffolding to run wires, check pipes and repaint the equipment installed decades ago. (photo by Stephen Jerkins)

In this cylindrical building of Watts Bar Unit 2, workers in full body harnesses scale several stories of scaffolding combing over equipment installed decades ago. Next door, Unit 1 has been powering 650,000 homes since 1996.

“Most of the major equipment in the plant is already installed,” Koontz says. “The reactor vessel is in here, all the major piping that goes to the steam generators is here.”

Slow Going

The refurbished reactor was supposed to be finished this year, but it’s nowhere close to splitting atoms.

TVA spokesman Terry Johnson says it’s a sensitive job that can be painstakingly slow.

“There’s typically very few people that work alone,” he says. “Part of that is due to the quality that is necessary. One person will do it. The other person will check it.”

Even with the attention to detail, TVA’s Office of Inspector General has caught at least two contractors cutting corners. Both pleaded guilty to falsifying records. Safety lapses piled onto other management issues and helped TVA burn through it budget and timeline.

Contractors stood behind TVA CEO Tom Kilgore as he talked about how to restart again at Watts Bar. (photo by Stephen Jerkins)

CEO Tom Kilgore stood before more than a thousand workers in hardhats this month to admit failure, but not defeat.

“So we’re here today to talk about how we restart,” he said.

Slowing down is the first step. The urgency that TVA had five years ago has eased as electricity demand has grown less quickly.

Taking Time

So after testing alarm equipment round-the-clock inside the Watts Bar control room, nuclear operator Rich O’Guynn and his team will take their time.

Rich O’Guynn is an operator in the Watts Bar control room. (photo by Stephen Jerkins)

“Instead of working two shifts a day, we’ll work one shift a day,” he says. “It’ll give us a little time and make sure we get it right.”

It also gives TVA time to incorporate new safety features following the meltdown at Fukushima, adding another $300 million.

But CEO Tom Kilgore says this will be the last request for more money, which ultimately comes from TVA’s 9 million rate payers.

“It’s bad to miss it once,” he says. “I don’t want to miss it twice.”

Stephen Smith has kept an eye on TVA and its nuclear ambitions for two decades. His organization – Southern Alliance for Clean Energy – got its start as a TVA watchdog.

“I will give Kilgore credit for not just brushing over the severity of the screw-up,” he says.

A retro logo on the wall of the Watts Bar control room symbolizes TVA’s goal to get Unit 2 online. (photo by Stephen Jerkins)

Despite the utility’s remorse, Smith questions its accounting and says TVA is downplaying the total costs accrued over decades.

Smith sees TVA repeating history. When it halted construction of reactors in the 80s, budgets had also ballooned.

“And we predicted this, very clearly,” he says. “We said these guys have underestimated this to get you back in, and once you’re in, you won’t be able to stop.”

And according to TVA management, stopping Watts Bar wasn’t even considered. But they say the snafu on Unit 2 has caused them to at least pause before restarting yet another half-finished reactor.

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