Tennessee Valley Authority initiates coals ash protections against seismic events
In the wake of a December earthquake, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) officials said the utility is making a concerted effort to protect coal combustion residual (CCR) units from seismic activity.
To that end, TVA has invested about $2 million in developing a system to identify and respond to any CCR issue before it becomes an emergency. CCR sensors collect data as frequently as every five minutes while engineers look for any changes in the stability or water level sensors, which may signal a potential problem.
“There’s nothing more important than safety at TVA, and at our CCR facilities alone, we have more than 15,000 sensors installed to monitor impacts to ensure we keep the environment safe,” Nick McClung, GCP&S manager of risk and quality assurance, said. “If something moves we know about it. The information is stored in a database so we can review and track it over time. If something out of the norm happens, my team gets a notification alerting us to take action.”
Officials said the technology involves TVA engineers cross-checking data sent through the sensors called piezometers and inclinometers. The instruments are critical to determining any shifts or changes in CCR sites and are part of the cutting-edge network of devices providing comprehensive monitoring information for diagnosis and deployment.
