Nearly 43 years after construction began on the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, the Unit 2 reactor at the Spring City, Tenn., plant is nearly ready to begin power production. The latest round of plant assessments, called hot functional testing, demonstrated equipment performed as designed and nearly 60 important systems operated effectively together. Watts Bar operators used the heat generated by plant equipment to increase the temperature and pressure of systems to normal operating levels. The unit’s main turbine was also rolled up to normal operating speed using the plant’s steam. The next step is confirming integrity of the primary containment  and testing safety-related equipment, leading to an operating license and loading of fuel, currently scheduled for September.

See the article in timesfreepress.