TVA Recognized for Nuclear Fuel Inspection Program

July 25, 2007

The Nuclear Energy Institute has presented TVA with a special recognition award for the “vision and leadership demonstrated” in its nuclear fuel assembly inspection program.

“The inspection program has contributed to improvements in fuel reliability in our reactors,” said TVA Chief Nuclear Officer Bill Campbell. “This is a good example of our employees using their creativity and teamwork to improve the performance of TVA’s nuclear power plants with better processes and programs. This application was also recognized as one of TVA’s strengths by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations in its most recent review of nuclear reliability at TVA.”

A program that a team of TVA employees developed for inspecting fuel assemblies to identify potential problems before their reuse in a nuclear reactor resulted in the NEI recognition. Each fuel assembly in a nuclear reactor is used for up to three operating cycles before it is depleted of useful energy.

After moving fuel assemblies from the reactor to a storage pool, nuclear engineers visually inspect used fuel assemblies before reloading them into the reactor. They use a high resolution underwater camera system to inspect the fuel.

Each assembly is evaluated for unacceptable conditions such as the presence of structural defects, presence of foreign material or other unusual conditions. This fuel inspection program is the most comprehensive program used in the nuclear industry today.

Four TVA nuclear engineers developed the fuel inspection program. Watts Bar’s Dale Greer of Knoxville, Browns Ferry’s Mike Keck of Decatur, Ala., and TVA Nuclear corporate employees Jim Lemons and Greg Kniedler, both of Chattanooga, worked as a team to develop the inspection program. They sought to develop an efficient program to inspect these fuel assemblies to identify and correct these defects.

“Using technology and improved processes such as these are enhancing safety and potentially saving millions of dollars by helping avoid unscheduled outages due to fuel problems,” said Campbell.

Each year, NEI presents awards to recognize excellence in the U.S. nuclear industry. NEI presented the special award to TVA along with 14 of its Top Industry Practice Awards, recognizing nuclear power employees across the industry for developing and implementing new processes or practices that address safety, cost-savings, productivity/efficiency, innovation and transferability across the nuclear industry. TVA has received six TIP awards in the past.

TVA operates six nuclear reactors at three generating sites – one reactor at Watts Bar in Spring City, Tenn., two reactors at Sequoyah in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., and three reactors at Browns Ferry in Athens, Ala.

TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financing. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 8.7 million consumers in seven southeastern states. TVA also manages the Tennessee River and its tributaries to provide multiple benefits, including flood damage reduction, navigation, water quality and recreation.

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Terry Johnson, Chattanooga, (423) 751-6875
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000

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