Westinghouse Electric Company has won a contract to provide steam generator inspection and maintenance services for reactors at two US Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) NPPs – Watts Bar units 1 and 2 and Sequoyah units 1 and 2. The contract covers the period 2016 to 2021. The contract follows the recent award by TVA to Westinghouse of an outage services contract for the two plants. "Together, these two contracts provide important services that help ensure that the Watts Bar and Sequoyah units operate safely and dependably," Westinghouse said.
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in September renewed the operating licences of the two 1,148MWe Sequoyah units for a further 20 until 2040 (unit 1) and 2041 (unit 2). A 40-year operating licence for 1,100 MWe Watts Bar 2 – the first US reactor to be authorised to start operations since 1996 – was issued in October. The licence allows the unit to operate until October 2055. TVA had maintained Watts Bar 2 in an incomplete state since 1985 and extended the construction permit for the unit since then. In 2007, work restarted to complete the unit and TVA updated its operating licence application in March 2009.
