TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant wins innovation award

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant earned a Top Innovative Practice award from the Nuclear Energy Institute for its project that enables the plant to produce more carbon-free energy from its three units.

The project, called an “extended power uprate,” recognizes the use of innovative technology to design, fabricate and install new replacement steam dryers on all three Browns Ferry units. This equipment handles the increased steam flow produced by the power uprate. The higher power output means that the three units can generate up to 465 megawatts of added electricity. This brings the plant’s total capacity to more than 3,800 megawatts. TVA’s power supply is now approximately 60 percent carbon-free.

“This tremendous honor recognizes the hard work, commitment, and technological excellence exhibited by everyone who contributed to making the extended uprate project a success at Browns Ferry,” Steve Bono, Browns Ferry site vice president, said. “This includes the dedicated TVA employees and contract partners who installed the upgrades and modifications that prepared our units to safely and reliably generate even more carbon-free energy. That reliability is reflected as we mark more than 600 days of continuous operation for unit 1.”

The steam dryer innovation is the result of a collaboration between the at Browns Ferry and two vendor partners, Sargent & Lundy and General Electric-Hitachi.

“This is another proud moment for TVA, Browns Ferry, the EPU project team and our vendor partners,” Tim Rausch, TVA chief nuclear officer, said. “Beyond demonstrating TVA’s commitment to meet the Valley’s ongoing energy needs, this is part of TVA leading the industry in expanding nuclear generation.” Last year, nuclear energy supplied about 40% of TVA’s energy for the seven-state region.

The TIP awards are sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute and four major nuclear energy companies to showcase new and creative ideas and practices developed in the industry.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for businesses and local power companies serving nearly 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states.