Opening of Tennessee’s Watts Bar 2 reactor contributes to clean air goals

The Watts Bar 2 nuclear power plant in Tennessee recently began full commercial operations, delivering 1,150 MW of clean energy to seven states within the Tennessee Valley Authority’s service area.

“The fact that Watts Bar 2 produces no carbon dioxide not only can offset the total greenhouse gases being emitted elsewhere in Tennessee, it also can replace the electricity produced by those plants, allowing greenhouse gas emissions to further decrease,” the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said.

The opening of the first new nuclear reactor in the U.S. since 1996 – when Watts Bar 2’s sister reactor, Watts Bar 1, was opened – has been greeted with enthusiasm by climate scientists and environmentalists.

Climate scientists welcomed the addition of more clean energy sources. Scientists have said that nuclear could make the difference between the world meeting or missing its climate targets.

Nuclear power is continuing to play a role in addressing concerns about carbon emissions in the United States, with Watts Bar 2 intended to replace several coal-fired power plants in the near future.

With Watts Bar 2, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s share of nuclear-generated electricity rises to about 40 percent, and the plant will offset Tennessee’s CO2 emissions, equating to 55 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan carbon reduction target, the NEI said.