Nuclear power
alive and well By Terry Johnson
Work on Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 officially began in October 2007, with a target completion in five years. Work to finish the second unit now is in full swing. Completing Unit 2 involves two major activities: physical construction and preparation for operation, says Unit 2 Engineering Manager Ed Freeman. “We started construction by ramping up engineering to prepare work packages the crews doing the physical work would need to complete the unit.” Contract staff members have completed about 2.6 million hours of design work, producing more than 570 design plans and 2,300 calculations. Installation of the upgraded high-pressure and three low-pressure turbines that drive the generator is nearly complete. The moving component, or rotor, of the generator was installed in early December after the stationary windings of the generator were replaced. Brady Queen-Peden, project controls specialist with TVA, integrates the activities to complete the turbine generator and its auxiliary systems into the overall project schedule. She says installation of the moisture separator reheaters is the next large task in the turbine building. “The six reheaters are arriving by barge after shipment to Houston from Korea,” says Queen-Peden. “Moving the 137-ton reheaters from the river to the turbine floor requires careful planning, special equipment and an intense focus on safety at every step.”
TOP LEFT: Rigging International Ironworker Darrin Lecroy fabricates components of a temporary rail system that will be used to move the moisture separator reheaters, or MSRs, on the turbine deck floor. TOP RIGHT: Robert Musick, Day & Zimmerman carpenter steward, assists with the installation of scaffolding on the turbine deck. BOTTOM: Bechtel Engineering Manager Jim Robertson (left) and Watts Bar Unit 2 Engineering Manager Ed Freeman study the system turnover schedule.
6 | March 2010 | Inside TVA