Sequoyah Nuclear Generating Station
Encyclopedia
The Sequoyah Nuclear Plant is a nuclear power plant
located on 525 acres (2.1 km²) located 7 miles east of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
, and 20 miles north of Chattanooga, abutting Chickamauga Lake
, on the Tennessee River
. The facility is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA).
The plant has two Westinghouse
pressurized water reactor
s. Sequoyah units 1 & 2, as well as their sister plant at Watts Bar
, both have ice condenser containment systems. In case of a large loss-of-coolant accident, steam generated by the leak is directed toward borated ice which helps condense the steam creating a lower pressure, allowing for a smaller containment building.
Sequoyah's two units have a winter net dependable capacity of 2,333 megawatts, making Sequoyah the most productive of TVA's four nuclear plants. Sequoyah is the second-most powerful electric plant in the entire TVA system, second only to the Cumberland coal-fired plant northwest of Nashville. Following the restart of Brown's Ferry Unit 1, that plant again became most productive at 3,440 MW.
The operating license of Sequoyah's Unit 1 expires in 2020. Unit 2's operating license expires in 2021.
TVA constructed dry cask storage
facilities at Sequoyah and purchased special storage containers for the purpose of storing spent nuclear fuel. The storage facilities have been approved by the NRC.
TVA's Sequoyah operating license was modified in September 2002 to allow TVA to irradiate tritium
-producing burnable absorber rods at Sequoyah for the U.S. Department of Energy. The process of irradiating tritium-producing rods produces tritium, which is used in nuclear weapons. TVA began irradiating tritium-producing rods at its Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station
in 2003. As of February 2007, TVA had no plans to produce tritium at Sequoyah.
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone of 10 miles (16.1 km) radius (concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination), and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km) radius (concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity).
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Sequoyah was 99,664, according to 2010 U.S. Census data analyzed for msnbc.com, an increase of 13.8 percent in a decade. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 1,079,868 (increase of 13.8 percent). Cities within 50 miles include Chattanooga (14 miles to city center).
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
located on 525 acres (2.1 km²) located 7 miles east of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
Soddy-Daisy is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 11,530 at the 2000 census. The City was formed in 1969 when the communities of Soddy and Daisy, along with nearby developed areas along U.S. Highway 27, merged to form Soddy-Daisy. It is rapidly becoming a...
, and 20 miles north of Chattanooga, abutting Chickamauga Lake
Chickamauga Lake
Chickamauga Lake is a United States reservoir along the Tennessee River created when the Chickamauga Dam, as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, was completed in 1940. The lake stretches from Watts Bar Dam at mile 529.9 to Chickamauga Dam at mile 471.0 making the lake 58.9 miles long...
, on the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
. The facility is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
(TVA).
The plant has two Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s. Sequoyah units 1 & 2, as well as their sister plant at Watts Bar
Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station
The Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station is a Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear reactor used for electric power generation and tritium production for nuclear weapons. It is located on a 1,770-acre site in Rhea County, Tennessee, near Spring City, between the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville...
, both have ice condenser containment systems. In case of a large loss-of-coolant accident, steam generated by the leak is directed toward borated ice which helps condense the steam creating a lower pressure, allowing for a smaller containment building.
Sequoyah's two units have a winter net dependable capacity of 2,333 megawatts, making Sequoyah the most productive of TVA's four nuclear plants. Sequoyah is the second-most powerful electric plant in the entire TVA system, second only to the Cumberland coal-fired plant northwest of Nashville. Following the restart of Brown's Ferry Unit 1, that plant again became most productive at 3,440 MW.
The operating license of Sequoyah's Unit 1 expires in 2020. Unit 2's operating license expires in 2021.
TVA constructed dry cask storage
Dry cask storage
Dry cask storage is a method of storing high-level radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel that has already been cooled in the spent fuel pool for at least one year.. These casks are typically steel cylinders that are either welded or bolted closed. When inside, the fuel rods are surrounded...
facilities at Sequoyah and purchased special storage containers for the purpose of storing spent nuclear fuel. The storage facilities have been approved by the NRC.
TVA's Sequoyah operating license was modified in September 2002 to allow TVA to irradiate tritium
Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...
-producing burnable absorber rods at Sequoyah for the U.S. Department of Energy. The process of irradiating tritium-producing rods produces tritium, which is used in nuclear weapons. TVA began irradiating tritium-producing rods at its Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station
Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station
The Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station is a Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear reactor used for electric power generation and tritium production for nuclear weapons. It is located on a 1,770-acre site in Rhea County, Tennessee, near Spring City, between the cities of Chattanooga and Knoxville...
in 2003. As of February 2007, TVA had no plans to produce tritium at Sequoyah.
Surrounding population
The Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone of 10 miles (16.1 km) radius (concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination), and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km) radius (concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity).
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Sequoyah was 99,664, according to 2010 U.S. Census data analyzed for msnbc.com, an increase of 13.8 percent in a decade. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 1,079,868 (increase of 13.8 percent). Cities within 50 miles include Chattanooga (14 miles to city center).