Return to previous page
TVA News Briefs
TVA Nuclear Plants Rank Among Most Efficient for 2003
Transmission Employees Achieve Three Million Safe Work-Hours
Winchester to Open Manufacturing Plant in Mississippi
Repair Work Under Way at Kentucky and Watts Bar Dams
TVA Nuclear Plants Rank Among Most Efficient for 2003
All three of TVA’s nuclear-power plants – Browns Ferry, Sequoyah and Watts Bar – rank among the top 15 utilities in operating costs for 2003, according to an industry publication.
TVA is the only utility with two plants in the top five, as well as being one of three utilities with three plants in the top 15 for 2003. Southern Nuclear Operating Co. and Progress Energy also have three plants in the top 15.
The report on the most efficient nuclear generators is in the Sept. 23 issue of Nucleonics Week magazine.
Browns Ferry ranks fourth with power-production costs for 2003 at 12.52 mills per kilowatt-hour and a three-year average of 12.16 mills/kwh. Sequoyah is in the fifth spot with 13.05 mills/kwh for 2003 and average three-year costs at 12.11. Watts Bar placed 12th for 2003 with 14.98 mills/kwh and a three-year average of 14.43.
Mills per kilowatt-hour is an industry measure of how much it costs to produce each kilowatt-hour of electricity. Browns Ferry’s 12.52 mills/kwh equals a cost of 1.252 cents to produce each kilowatt-hour. TVA Chief Nuclear Officer Karl Singer says TVA is pleased with these results, but he says TVA also is working to improve the figures.
Transmission Employees Achieve Three Million Safe Work-Hours
TVA’s Transmission/Power Supply employees reached a major safety milestone Sept. 28 when they recorded three million work-hours without a lost-time accident.
This is only the second time in TVA history that TPS has reached this milestone. The other time was in November 2001. TPS employees then went on to an all-time record of 6.4 million safe workhours, which ended with a lost-time accident in March 2003. The current streak started Aug. 29, 2003.
Terry Boston, TPS Executive Vice President, credits the safety-first approach that is stressed in all work done by TPS employees, as well as the processes that have been developed to support safe job performance.
“TPS employees are to be commended for many achievements, including 99.999 percent reliability of TVA transmission systems for five years in a row,” says Boston. “But I am most proud of our safety record, since that means all of our employees have gone home safe at the end of each day.”
TPS currently has 1,537 full-time employees, many of whom perform five of the seven highest-risk jobs in the United States. High-risk jobs by TPS employees include cutting trees, building and maintaining transmission towers and substations, and doing high-voltage electrical work.
Winchester to Open Manufacturing Plant in Mississippi
TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough Jr. and Economic Development Senior Vice President John Bradley were on hand Tuesday, Sept. 7, for a ceremony announcing that Winchester Ammunition is locating a manufacturing operation in Lafayette County, Miss. Gray Swoope, Deputy Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority, attended on behalf of Mississippi and welcomed the company to the state.
Winchester will manufacture, package and ship .22-caliber rimfire ammunition and cartridges used in industrial power tools. The new facility, located in the former Emerson Electric Building in Oxford, will create about 150 jobs with a $3.5-million payroll in the area.
Winchester’s decision to select the Oxford area was due to the work of an economic-development team that included TVA, the Mississippi Development Authority, the Oxford-Lafayette Economic Development Foundation, the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors, the City of Oxford and the University of Mississippi.
“By bringing its operations to Mississippi, Winchester is demonstrating a level of confidence in the public-private partnership that will enhance Winchester’s productivity and reputation while fostering continued growth in the state,” says McCullough. “TVA is proud to have been on the team.”
TVA provided financial aid and technical assistance, which was part of a Mississippi Development Authority package that will allow Lafayette County to make infrastructure improvements to accommodate the Winchester plant. The county also will purchase the Emerson Electric Building, which will be leased to the company.
Noting Mississippi’s reputation for abundant outdoor recreational opportunities, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says he is pleased that Winchester Ammunition will become the state’s newest corporate citizen.
“Winchester has been a recognized leader in shooting sports for more than 100 years and is a major sponsor of conservation organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and Quail Unlimited,” Barbour says. “I commend Winchester on its leading role in advancing and supporting conservation, hunting education and the shooting sports and welcome them to Mississippi.”
Headquartered in East Alton, Ill., Winchester is a division of the Olin Corp. As one of the world’s most widely recognized brand names, Winchester is a major global supplier of sporting ammunition, canister powder and reloading components to recreational shooters and to military and law-enforcement agencies.
Repair Work Under Way at Kentucky Dam and Watts Bar Dam Bridge
Repair work is currently under way at or near two TVA dams, Kentucky and Watts Bar.
At Kentucky Dam, near Grand Rivers, Ky., in the western part of the state, work began on August 16 to repair the spillway apron. The project is scheduled to last until December. The spillway apron is a concrete ramp connected to the dam under the spillway gates. Water flows down the apron when the spillway gates are open.
TVA officials advise boaters and fishermen to keep a safe distance from work boats in the water and equipment on the riverbank in the area downstream of the dam while the work is in progress.
The apron’s concrete has eroded over the years and will be repaired underwater by divers using concrete pumped from the riverbank to the spillway.
Also on August 16, the Tennessee Department of Transportation closed the bridge over the Tennessee River at Watts Bar Dam in Rhea and Meigs counties.
The bridge will undergo major rehabilitation that will include removal and replacement of the entire bridge deck. It is expected to be reopened to traffic by January 16, 2005, and the project should be completed by May 15.
TVA owns the bridge and initiated this project due to the poor condition of the concrete deck. TDOT is contracting the deck replacement, and 80 percent of the funding will come from the federal Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program.
TVA worked with TDOT and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency to consider various alternatives to ensure the safest, most efficient, and least disruptive option for making the needed repairs. Closing the bridge was the best way to ensure that public safety and transportation issues were appropriately addressed. The project will not affect any emergency-evacuation routes since the bridge is not currently part of any such routes.
Portable message boards are being placed in the area to inform motorists of the closure, and detours will be posted.
The primary detour route around the bridge will be from U.S. 27 (SR 29) to SR 30 (Rhea County); from SR 30 to SR 58 (Meigs County); then from SR 58 to SR 68 (Meigs County). From Knoxville, those going to Watts Bar Nuclear Plant should take I-40 West toward Kingston (instead of taking I-75 South at the split with I-40 west of Knoxville). From I-40, they should take Exit 347 (Rockwood/Harriman) and head toward Rockwood/Spring City on Highway 27.
Recent TVA news releases, information on current issues, and media downloads are available in the TVA Newsroom.