Further contract for Watts Bar 2 completion

Thursday, 17 September 2009

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has awarded a $50 million contract to Day & Zimmermann to provide services towards the completion of unit 2 of the Watts Bar nuclear power plant.

 

Watts Bar (Image: TVA)

TVA started construction of Watts Bar units 1 and 2 - both 1270 MWe Westinghouse-designed pressurized water reactors - in the mid-1970s. The company suspended construction of both units in 1985, citing a projected decrease in electricity demand. However, construction on unit 1 resumed in 1990 and the unit has now been operating for over ten years. Watts Bar 2 was some 80% complete when construction work was suspended and in August 2007 TVA's board of directors approved a five-year, $2.5 billion project to finish it.

 

Under the latest contract, Day & Zimmermann will provide managed task, maintenance, modification and refurbishment services including the replacement, refurbishment, modification and installation of major plant components in the plant's turbine building.

 

Bechtel has the lead role in completing the engineering design, procuring equipment and materials and finishing the physical construction of Watts Bar 2 with oversight from TVA.

 

Another major contractor is original vendor Westinghouse with a $200 million deal for equipment upgrades and support services. The company will upgrade and replace most instrumentation and control systems and supply new reactor coolant pumps and cranes. It will service steam generators and conduct probabilistic risk assessments, licensing services and safety analyses.

 

Scheduled to come online in 2012, Watts Bar 2 will be the first completed new nuclear reactor in the USA in two decades.

 

Last month, Day & Zimmermann announced that it had formed a joint venture with France's Areva to offer engineering, construction and maintenance services to US nuclear utilities. The joint venture - to be known as Areva DZ - will implement balance of plant modifications.